Edgerton Pink Gin Masters champion revealed

Tensions ran high this week as 12 talented bartenders took part in the inaugural Edgerton Pink Gin Masters, but there could only be one winner – and Edinburgh bartender Miran Chauhan stole the show.

Miran Chauhan has been crowned winner of the inaugural Edgerton Pink Gin Masters

During the competition, held at London’s The Ivy, Chauhan, bartender at Edinburgh’s The Bon Vivant, captured judges’ attention with his Bond-inspired cocktail, Skyfall, which was served from oysters from the Isle of Skye and featured Talisker 10 Year Old in homage to his Scottish roots.

Entrants had been tasked with creating a unique cocktail to showcase the base spirit, Edgerton Pink Gin, in their own interpretation of the quintessentially English pink gin drink, which was once heralded as a Royal Navy cure for seasickness and is now enjoyed as a tasty gin cocktail.

The pressure was on for the finalists, who had been handpicked from a vast selection of entries, as they took to the bar to give a detailed 10-minute demonstration before our esteemed panel of judges: Mike Sweetman, chairman of the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild (UKBG), Armand Fasola, committee member of the UKBG, Claudio Martins, international sales manager for London Distillers, Becky Paskin, editor of The Spirits Business, and Daisy Jones, associate publisher of The Spirits Business.

The 12 soon became four as judges picked their favourites from the group, challenging the remaining contenders with a “mystery box” round where bartenders were required to come up with an original cocktail containing Edgerton Pink Gin in just 10 minutes using their choice of ingredients from the box.

Following frenzied mixology and tense marking, judges crowned Chauhan the champion of the day for his mystery box concoction, A Little Row Boat.

Second place was awarded to bartender Michael Stringer, and joint third to Claudia Carrozzi and Dawid Samulczyk for their equally inspiring cocktails.

Managing director of Edgerton Pink Gin, Bill Mattu, said: “It’s been a fantastic day. Miran was a deserving winner, and judges were very fair. I was very impressed by the broad spectrum of knowledge from the bartenders – the level of expertise shown throughout the event was inspiring.”

Richard Phillips, company secretary of Edgerton Pink Gin, added: “It’s wonderful to hear what bartenders think of our product. They presented with such enthusiasm and it was clear they’d done their homework.”