Entries have officially closed for the 2017/2018 Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition in Australia with the first round of the selection process revealing the Top 30 successful bartenders.
After another record year of entries, Bacardi brand ambassadors, Loy Catada, Andy Wren and Peter Hollands, have chosen the 30 best Bacardi cocktails they believe have potential to become a legacy. The chosen bartenders are now one step closer to representing Australia in 2018’s Bacardi Legacy Global Final in Mexico City.
Now in its fifth chapter, Bacardi Legacy was established to challenge the best contemporary bartenders in the world to create their own cocktail legacy and join the likes of Fred Siggins, Alissa Gabriel, Andrew Bennett and Dave Kerr in representing Australia on the international stage.
“The selection of the top 30 ultimately came down to well thought-out recipes and an obvious passion behind the drinks; we could certainly have the next Global Legacy cocktail come out of Australia,” says Catada.
The Top 30 must now submit a video entry of themselves presenting their original Legacy cocktail at their hometown bar. This will be viewed and judged alongside the taste test conducted by the brand ambassadors where each of the Top 30 cocktails will be evaluated to then cut it down to the country’s Top 8.
The top 30 bartenders advancing to the next stage of the competition are:
Andres Walters
Angus Payne
Cheng I Chang
Damien Kos
David Rofe
Elise Godwin
Ella Rhodes
Jack Stacey
James Connolly
James Irvine
Josh O’Brien
Josh Trovato
Kelhan Waterfield
Kennedy CK Chung
Lachlan Gunner
Leroy Martin-McEwen
Liam Watt
Matthew Blackburn
Matthew Colliard
Mitchel Contessi
Nicholas Corletto
Oliver Churcher
Rusty Russell
Ryan Snedden
Samuel Tripet
Simone Sanna
Vini Wang
Will Krepop
Zachary Morgan
Zachary Underwood-Mynott
The Top 8 or ‘Ocho’ bartenders will be invited to Melbourne to make and present their original Legacy cocktail and the Bacardi Daiquiri in front of a judging panel for the national semi-finals. The ‘Three Most Promising’ will then be mentored by dedicated brand ambassadors and partner with Bacardi to promote their cocktail with a budget of $1,000 plus complimentary stock of the Bacardi rum featured in their cocktail.
During the promotional period Bacardi will help these aspiring bartenders, through financial, developmental support aligned with Bacardi’s marketing and experiential initiatives.
Based on the success of their drink and overall campaign, one of the ‘Three Most Promising’ will be selected as the 2017 Bacardi Legacy Australian Cocktail Competition winner at the final held in February 2018 in Sydney.
The Australian winner will compete on the international stage in Mexico City for the ultimate title in the Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition.