DIAGEO RESERVE WORLD CLASS™ Grand Finals were held on Monday night. The nation’s top 25 bartenders were tasked with concocting delicious drinks in a series of intense challenges.
Jack Sotti from Boilermaker House and Eau De Vie in Melbourne has been crowned Australia’s 2015 ‘Bartender of the Year’. Jack’s World Class Cocktail submission,‘The Conversation’, blended Johnnie Walker Double Black and Bundaberg Small Batch, wowed the judges and set him apart from the other talented finalists.
DIAGEO RESERVE WORLD CLASS Grand Finals were judged by industry heavyweights including MasterChef host Matt Preston; global whisky expert Dave Broom; Three Blue Ducks restaurateur Darren Robertson; Founder/Director of renowned Edinburgh bar and restaurant, Bon Vivant- Stuart McCluskey; and former World Class winners Tim Philips, Luke Ashton and Charlie Ainsbury.
Each challenge was designed to champion the gifted, and was judged against tough criteria including artistry, innovation, balance, technique and visual aesthetic.
Later this year Jack will battle the world’s best bartenders at Diageo’s seventh annual Global DIAGEO RESERVE WORLD CLASS™ Competition to be held in Cape Town, South Africa
The competition also recognised achievements in each category, crowning winners for each challenge: ‘Beauty of Blends’: Thalita Alves from The Gresham (Brisbane); ‘The Veggie Revival’: Rowan Furlong from The Victoria Room (Sydney); ‘The Welcome Drink’: Jenna Hemsworth from Lui Bar (Melbourne); ‘World Class in a Cocktail’: Sasha Leonard from Double Happiness (Melbourne); and ‘Against the Clock’: Pez Collier from Lychee Lounge (Brisbane).