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Cardrona debuts cocktail competition in UK and NZ
Spirits producer Cardrona Distillery has unveiled its inaugural cocktail competition, which is open for entries to bartenders in the UK and New Zealand.
The 2022 Cardrona Club Competition invites bartenders to submit a signature cocktail using 25ml of any of Cardrona’s spirits, including its vodka, gin, liqueurs and single malt whisky.
The New Zealand-based distiller will select 12 bartenders to compete in 10 regional finals across the UK and its home country during April and May 2022.
UK regional finals will be held in Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton and London. Regional finals in New Zealand will be held in Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland.
One finalist from each round (six from the UK and six from New Zealand) will be selected to attend the grand final in Cardrona, New Zealand, in September 2022.
To enter the competition, the participating bartender must work at a bar where at least one Cardrona product is stocked, and a Cardrona cocktail must appear on the venue menu’s between 1 November 2021 and 31 March 2022. Entries must be submitted online, along with a social media post featuring the cocktail, by the end of this month.
The national judging panel comprises: Ben Alcock, owner of Bristol bars Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Filthy XIII; Mikey Ball, hospitality professional and former head bartender at Dandelyan (now known as Lyaness) in London; and Nick Munday, owner of Cork Bar Wanaka in New Zealand.
The UK regional judges are: drinks journalist Becky Paskin; Will Meredith, head bartender at Lyaness, London; Andrea Dionori, of Milroys of Soho, London; Adrian Whitehouse, owner of Cottonmough in Nottingham; Siân Buchan, owner of Edinburgh-based Uno Mas bar; and Dave Marsland, owner of Manchester Rum Festival.
The New Zealand regional judges include: Adam Neal, owner of Parasol & Swing in Auckland; Alastair Walker, co-owner of Auckland bars Caretaker and Deadshot; Wellington-based bartender Dan Felsing; hospitality consultant Andy Griffiths; bartender Jamie Hughes, a regular on the cocktail competition circuit; and Mat Pedley, owner of Mr Pickles Bar & Eatery in Hamilton.
To enter the competition, visit cardrona-cocktail-competition.mailchimpsites.com.
Cardrona Distillery was founded in 2015.