Whisky Focus - Diageo Reserve 2019 World Class GB Top 100 Bartenders

Diageo Reserve has named its 2019 World Class Top 100 bartenders. The digital entry stage this year attracted a record number with a 50 per cent increase from the 2018 GB competition. The following competitors have all been chosen as the top 100 and will now be invited to submit their next entry online between 10th April and 1st May for the in-bar judging process when judges will travel across the UK to taste-test each entry drink. This entry stage is a ‘Tartan Tiki’ serve, integrating Talisker 10 Year Old into a tiki-style serve, demonstrating inspiration from Britain and showcasing British flavours.

Following the in-bar judging, the top 100 will be whittled down to 20, who will then come together to compete for the crown - GB World Class Bartender of the Year 2019 - before representing GB in the World Class Global Final hosted in Glasgow later this year.
 

First Name	Last Name	Bar Name	City
Alex	Palumbo	Fazenda	Edinburgh
Alexander	Taylor	Pennyroyal	Cardiff
Andras	Forray	Home House	London
Andrea	Paleari	Bloomsbury Club Bar	London
Andrei	Marcu	The Edgbaston Hotel & Cocktail Lounge	Birmingham
Andrew	Gray	The Finnieston Bar & Restaurant	Glasgow
Andy	Crowder	The Curiosity Shop	Lincoln
Anton	Ruschev	Hicce	London
Arnaud	Volte	The London EDITION	London
Ashley	Barnett	Church Street Gin House	Wimborne
Ashton	Williamson	Lyaness	London
Bartosz	Miedeksza	High Water	London
Benjamin	Higginson	The Barologist	Edinburgh
Benji	Davies	Little Mercies	London
Bryn	Lovell	Public	Sheffield
Calum	Robb	The Box Social	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Cameron	Attfield	Disrepute	London

Charlotte	Pemberton	Nomadic Bartender	Sheffield
Conor	Moncrieff	Cail Bruich	Glasgow
Cosmin	Tigroso	Do Not Disturb	London
Cristian	Silenzi	American Bar at The Savoy	London
Cyril	Francoise	Kettner's Townhouse	London
Daniel	Williams	No.6 Bar	Swansea
Dario	Arranz	Oblix	London
David	Hall	Terroir Tapas	Bournemouth
Dom	Horsley	The Botanist York	York
Elysa	McGuire	Below Stairs	Leeds
Emanuel	Blaj	144 on the Hill	London
Emanuele	Mensah	Disrepute	London
Eric	Kedroff	Stable Bar	London
Ethan	Youel	Mark's Bar at HIX Soho	London
Gabor	Molnar	The Pig	Brockenhurst
Georgi	Petrov	The Italian Orchard	Preston
Giacomo	Guarnera	The Churchill Bar & Terrace	London
Giancarlo	Quiroz Jesus	Happiness Forgets	London
Giovanni	Tavano	Kwānt	London
Gregorio	Soriente	American Bar at The Savoy	London
James	Purcell Lacey	Coppa Club	Maidenhead
James	Rawcliffe	Tigerlily	Edinburgh
James	Hawkins	Sexy Fish	London
Jamie	Gilmour	The Washhouse	Manchester
Jamie	Moran	Wheesht	Glasgow
Jo	Last	Beaufort Bar at The Savoy	London
Joanna	Durczak	Public	Sheffield
Joe	Senington	The Larder House	Bournemouth
Jonathan	Arthur	Bramble Bar	Edinburgh
Juan	Nosti	Nine Lives	London
Kieran	Grieves	Cairn Group	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Leigh	Donaldson	Brewhemia	Edinburgh
Leonardo	Renzi	The Edgbaston Boutique Hotel & Cocktail Lounge	Birmingham
Liam	Dervey	The Leaky Boston	Carlisle
Liam	Scott	The Corinthian Club	Glasgow
Liam	Grogan	Tiki Bar & Kitsch Inn	Glasgow
Luke	Robinson	Lyaness	London
Luke	Bensley	Nocturnal Animals	Birmingham
Marco	Semeraro	The Arts Club	London
Mark	McClintock	Every Cloud	London
Martin	Zemanovic	The Hide Bar	London
Matteo	Vaccargiu	Hide Below	London

Matteo	Carretta	Mr Fogg Society of Exploration	London
Matteo	Battistello	White City House (Soho House)	London
Matthew	Cusworth	Hoot the Redeemer	Edinburgh
Matthew	Galloway	Tigerlily	Edinburgh
Max	Allison	Scout	London
Michael	Fox	Revolution Lincoln	Lincoln
Michael Dylan	Edwards	Aether	Liverpool
Michel	Paszto	Simon Radley Arkle Bar at The Chester Grosvenor	Chester
Mike	Canham	Red Light	Bristol
Mikey	Pendergast	East London Liquor Company	London
Miriam	Nini	The Groucho Club	London
Mycol	Cavalieri	Coco Tang	Nottingham
Oliver	Braybrook	Revolution Stafford	Stafford
Oliver	Wood	Original Sin	London
Paras	Rajauriya	Hilton London Syon Park	London
Peter	Konkoly	COYA Mayfair	London
Pierre	Bedouillat	COYA Mayfair	London
Ping Fan	Chen	Oblix	London
Robert	Simpson	The Clove Club	London
Roberto	Conti	The Bloomsbury Club Bar	London
Ross	Edwin	Montieths	Edinburgh
Ryan	Snedden	Lucky Liquor Co.	Edinburgh
Sam	Baxendale	KIN	Edinburgh
Samuel	Cronshaw	BrewStone	Swansea
Sean	Fennelly	Fitz's	London
Sebastian	Irimus	Hide Restaurant	London
Simone	Sanna	Cub	London
Stefano	Frau	Tigerlily	Edinburgh
Stevie	Kane	Cub	London
Thomas	Ryan	Board	Exeter
Thomas	Payne	Revolution Cornerhouse	Nottingham
Thomas	Auger	Genuine Liquorette	London
Thomas	Loosli	Original Sin	London
Timothy	Batchelor	The Pig Hotel Brockenhurst	Brockenhurst
Tom	Kirk	Below Stairs	Leeds
Tom	Wishart	The Amsterdam	Glasgow
Tommy	Matthews	The Edgbaston	Birmingham
Valerio	Vitiello	Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum Parlour	London
Vasili	Panagopoulos	Kelvingrove Cafe	Glasgow
William	Campbell- Rowntree	Artesian	London
Yoann	Tarditi	The London EDITION Lobby Bar	London

Those competitors in the top 100 listed above must submit their ‘Tartan Tiki’ serve online at the www.theworldclassclub.com and post a picture of the drink to social media using #WorldClassGB2019 between 10th April and 1st May. Cocktails must be in the form of a highball and include at least 30ml of Talisker 10 Year Old as a base spirit.

The winner of the GB World Class 2019 Competition will win a prize package consisting of:

• A trip to Glasgow to represent your country in the World Class Global Finals 2019.
   
• A tour of a selection of key Diageo owned distilleries covering the four corners of Scotland.
   
• A guest bartending shift at a European city.
   
• Cocktail Kingdom bar tools and equipment.
   
• Offers for paid event work with Diageo GB leading up until next year’s competition.
   
• Nationwide exposure and dedicated PR for the World Class GB Winner and their bar throughout the year.
   
• Professional signature serve and profile photo shoot with top industry photographer.

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