Diageo chooses bartender spirit competition ideas

An English whisky infused with Blackberry and a spiced vintage jenever are amongst the bartender-created spirits through to the final of Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition.

Four finalists for Diageo’s Show Your Spirit competition have been chosen

The drinks group asked bartenders around the world to send in their ideas for a new spirit that would eventually join Diageo’s Reserve Brand portfolio next to the likes of Ketel One, Johnnie Walker and Zacapa.

After an “over whelming response” from the bartending community, the panel of judges, which included Syl Saller, Diageo global innovation director and mixologist Salvatore Calabrese, chose a shortlist of five products to take through to the bootcamp developmental stage.

The first four ideas have been selected by the judges, while the fifth will be down to the bartending community and general public to decide from a shortlist of 19.

The four through to the final are:
– Atalay Aktas, Germany, with a a pink grapefruit liqueur called ‘PomBelle’
– Dee Davies, UK, with an earthy and spicy spirit, distilled from Sake, with “subtle notes of ginger and a balanced citrus undertone from lemongrass” called ‘Jin’
– Fjalar Goud, Netherlands with a spiced vintage jenever with malt wine and a “unique, experimental aging ritual” called ‘Cooper’
– Naomi Mason, UK, with an English whiskey blended with vanilla and the juice of blackberries called ‘Ripley Forge’

The fifth and final place will be decided by a public vote at showyourspiritcompeition.com, the deadline for which is 21 April.

“Boot Camp will bring the finalists’ brilliant product ideas to life, from developing the flavour profile through to bottle design,” said Calabrese. “I will be looking for uniqueness, a product that will have strong stand out on the back bar and one that inspires me to add it to my cocktail list. I’m so excited to see and sample the products at the live finals, and have no doubt choosing the overall winner will be a difficult decision.”

Once chosen, the five finalists will spend four days at Diageo’s Innovation Centre to develop their product and packaging before facing the judges once more.

The overall winner, who will receive 5% of the product’s net sales for the first five years, will be announced on 24 May 2013.

“Show Your Spirit was launched to celebrate the creativity, passion and talent of bartenders, and these finalists have proved they have exactly that, with innovative and exciting ideas,” added Saller. “As the people who work with and drink our products, it’s important to us that we involve the public and bartender community, giving them a chance to choose the fifth finalist.

“I’m looking for the winning idea to not only be unique and appealing to bartenders and consumers, but to have scale – the potential to be a global success.  As a company with brands that have been around for decades, even centuries, it should have substance that can engender real longevity.

“There are too many new products launched in the drinks business that look like they’ll be here today, gone tomorrow.”