Live Naked Bar Swap winners revealed

The 2023 bartender engagement programme from Scotch whisky brand Naked Malt has concluded, with five bars crowned national winners.

The winners are: Cuckoo Bar in Tainan, Taiwan; The Cambridge Public House in Paris, France; Zest in Seoul, South Korea; Ruby in Copenhagen, Denmark; and Fitz’s Bar in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

During the three-stage competition, the bars reinterpreted Naked Malt’s signature serve, a Whisky Sour. Participants shared their creation and their process on social media before being invited to a national final to present their cocktail in front of the judges.

The final stage of the competition asked bartenders to create a cocktail using mystery ingredients.

The winners will now take part in a global bar exchange, with two bartenders from each location swapping with a pair from another winning bar. Naked Malt hopes to create a ‘culturally immersive experience’ and develop participants’ knowledge and relationships in the global bartending community.

The winners will also have a place on the judging panel of the 2024 competition.

Isac Melander, global brand ambassador at Naked Malt, said: “This year’s Live Naked Bar Swap was a spectacular celebration of the very best industry talent working across the globe.

“After an incredibly challenging period for the hospitality industry, we wanted to reunite our community over a Naked Sour serve.

“We aimed to inspire a new generation of bartenders and consumers to explore the very best of Scotch whisky and challenge conventional thinking. Through liberating, inspirational, and educational experiences bartenders were able to reconnect, share their creativity, their skills and most importantly experience what it means to ‘live Naked’.”