The final heat of The Wenneker Swizzle Masters 2017 gave bartenders the task of creating the classic Scotch serve Blood and Sand, which takes its name from Rudolph Valentino’s 1922 silent film.

Bartender Michal Katiuszyn

For this final instalment of this year’s competition, bartenders were challenged to take on the classic Scotch serve and make it their own using Dewar’s 12 Year Old – along with at least a dash of any Wenneker Liqueur.

Judges gathered at private members’ club The Kings Head in London’s Dalston, where bartender Michal Katiuszyn crafted the top 10 selected recipes to their exact specifications.

Nicola Thompson, director of Fifteen71; Julie Cambell, wine and spirits consultant; and Nicola Carruthers, senior staff writer at The Spirits Business, were charged with tasting the shortlisted recipes.

The results of this heat will be published in the October 2017 edition of The Spirits Business magazine.

Click through the following pages to view finalists’ recipes in the Blood and Sand heat of The Wenneker Swizzle Masters 2017.

Energie by Janneke Timmerman

Ingredients
20ml Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 10ml Wenneker Blueberry, 10ml Wenneker Wild Strawberry, 10ml Wenneker Sour Apple, 5ml Wenneker Amaretto, 15ml fresh orange

Garnish
Strawberry, mint and apple

Method
Shake

Glassware
Cocktail glass

The Arena by Enitan Allison

Ingredients
0.5oz Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 0.25oz Wenneker Raspberry, 0.25oz Johnnie Walker Green Label, 0.5oz Suze D’Autrefois, 1oz pineapple juice

Garnish
Gold straw, pineapple wheel, cocktail sword pick, 2 drops Wenneker Raspberry on pineapple wheel

Method
Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously 10 times. Strain into a chilled Champagne saucer. Garnish with a pineapple wheel. Using festive colourful cocktail picks, create a fenced barrier leaving a gap for the bull and matador to enter from. Using a pipette, add two drops of Wenneker on the top of the pineapple wheel to depict blood, add the sword pick in the centre of the wheel and add the gold straw

Glassware
Champagne saucer

Gallardo by Joshua Powell

Ingredients
30ml Dewars 12 Year Old, 15ml Wenneker Red Rhubarb Liqueur, 20ml Dubonnet, 5ml Cockburn’s Fine Ruby Port, 20ml freshly squeezed and strained orange juice, pinch of salt

Garnish
Orange twist

Method
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake hard with good ice for 8 seconds. Fine strain into a large chilled coupette leaving a good wash line. Garnish with an orange twist over the side of the glass

Glassware
Coupette

Wish and Craving by Roger Javier Guevara Talavera

Ingredients
50ml Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 20ml Wenneker Butterscotch, 15ml Wenneker Mango, 20ml Ice cider, 20ml tamarind juice, 20ml quail egg white, 3 dashes chocolate bitters, smoke from American barrel shavings

Garnish
Edible flower and slice of dehydrated pitahaya

Method
In the glass of a shaker place 3 to 5 rocks of ice, add all the ingredients including the smoke from the barrel shavings. Stir vigorously until a homogeneous mixture is obtained

Glassware
Whisky glass

Pink Love Cocktail by Slime Shad

Ingredients
2oz Dewar’s 12 Year Old, dash of Wenneker Strawberry, 1oz hollandia yogurt, 1 dash Angostura bitters

Garnish
Strawberry

Method
Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and shake well. Strain into a well chilled cocktail glass and garnish with strawberry

Glassware
Cocktail glass

Bloodthirsty by Phúc Nguyễn

Ingredients
50ml Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 15ml Wenneker Parfait Amour, 10ml Wenneker Sloe Gin, 10ml Wenneker Elderflower, 20ml dry vermouth, 60ml grapefruit juice, 1 slice ginger muddled gently

Garnish
Flamed grapefruit zest and cherry
Method
Shake and double strain

Glassware
Champagne saucer

Ruldoph’s Tipple by Jimmy Rhodes

Ingredients
30ml Dewars 12 Year Old, 15ml Wenneker Cherry Brandy, dash Wenneker Chocolate, 15ml Antica Formula, 1 whole blood orange

Garnish
Square of dark chocolate

Method
Blend ingredients with crushed ice until a nice thick consistency

Glassware
Coupette

Bitter Sweet Shore by Solomon Sanderson

Ingredients
35ml Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 15ml Wenneker Chocolate Mint, 15ml Wenneker Cherry Brandy, 5ml Martini Rosso, sliced blood oranges, sliced limes, grape juice

Garnish
Grapes and chocolate shavings

Method
Squeeze the blood oranges and limes into a glass then add the fruit. Add cubed ice and the Martini Rosso and stir. Add the rest of ingredients and pack with crushed ice. Add a splash of grape juice

Glassware
1/2 pint tumbler glass

Entre Naranjos by Soul Bartender

Ingredients
40ml Dewar’s 12 Years Old, 15ml Wenneker Carrot, 15ml Sherry Don Pablo Manzanilla, 10g Tiptree Crystal Orange Marmalade, 20ml fresh lemon juice

Garnish
Three cocktail cherries

Method
Chill coupe glass, shake all ingredients for 10 seconds with ice and strain with fine strainer into glass

Glassware
Coupe

The Blood Ballet by Pete Byron Jenkins

Ingredients
50ml Dewar’s 12 Year Old, 10ml Wenneker Vanilla, 10ml Dessert Balsamic, 20ml fresh lemon juice, 2 dashes plum bitters, 2 strawberries

Garnish
White rose petal and dessert balsamic

Method
Muddle strawberries in shaker. Add ingredients then hard shake 20 times then double strain into a into a dessert balsamic splattered coupe glass

Glassware
Coupe