Yesterday the Bartender Magazine Australian Bartender of the Year, proudly sponsored by Monkey Shoulder & Hendrick’s Gin, kicked off over one epic day at The Abercrombie in Sydney.
It was a massive day of competition that started with a 73-question written exam, with a packed house of competitors turning up at 10am to take the test at Lil Sis (The Abercrombie’s excellent wine bar).
A huge turnout and a massive challenge for all those who showed up. The top 9 competitors from the written test all achieved scores of 50 points or more so it goes to show that studying is essential.
The Top 9, pictured here included some veterans of the competition, including a past winner, Mr Dan Gregory, from The Gresham in Brisbane, James Irvine and of course, last year’s number two Mr Liam Shephard.
These 9 competitors were tasked with a challenging afternoon. The speed round involved making a cocktail from mystery box on the fly and a Tom Collins, in two minutes. The time proved a challenge with two of our top nine not getting their drinks in the glass, which was gutting for them. Following this was a blind tasting of four products, which always proves a massive challenge and it’s an achievement to determine and Irish whiskey from a Scotch.
Scores were tallied, and the top three were revealed. James Irvine from Merivale, Liam Shephard from Brisbane’s Ghanem Group and Shirley Yeung from Perth’s Foxtrot Unicorn were the lucky three to make it through. And they had to hustle. They only had a couple of hours before they had to be ready to roll for the finals live on stage at The Abercrombie, kicking off at 7pm making a Monkey Shoulder and a Hendrick’s Gin cocktail.
Consummate professional, James Irvine, a legend of the industry, took out top honors with his two stunning drinks – ‘Goes Na-nana-nana’ and ‘Crust off’. “What an awesome experience and another very, very fun event,” said James after the win.
The judges on the night were: The legendary Ivy Mix, American bar owner of Leyenda and founder of Speed Rack; David Spanton, Founder of Australian Bartender magazine, Sydney Bar Week and bar owner; Ross Blainey, Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich & The Balvenie; Priscilla Leong, Bartender of the Year 2022 and; Cara Devine, Drinks expert, writer and acclaimed author.
All three wowed the judges with their technical prowess and presentations. At the end of it all, after the full day’s scores were tallied there were just decimal points, separating the winner and second place.
Consummate professional, James Irvine, a legend of the industry, took out top honors with his two stunning drinks – ‘Goes Na-nana-nana’ and ‘Crust off’. “What an awesome experience and another very, very fun event,” said James after the win.
Coming in second for the second year in a row, was Liam Shephard, with Shirley taking out third place. We hope to see both of them throw their hat in the ring again in 2024.
James will now head over to Scotland in 2024, hosted by Wee James Macrae, Hendrick’s Gin Brand Ambassador, visiting the homes of Monkey Shoulder and Hendrick’s Gin. Of course, he also has the honour of being the Australian Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year for 2023 and he will be back to judge the comp next year.
Huge thanks to both Jono Carr and Cara Devine for writing the exam, to Jono for facilitating the speed round and for hosting the finals and to Sam Benetatos for barbacking (and manning the door for the finals!). And of course, to James Macrae, Ross Blainey and Monkey Shoulder’s new ambassador, Rachael Bartlett for supporting the event and bringing it to life under one roof, on one day.
The finals were followed by an absolutely jam-packed House of William Grant Party which kicked off following the winner announcement with bagpipers making their way down Broadway.
Sydney Bar Week is well underway, just head to our socials @australianbartender and @sydneybarweek for all the updates.