Appleton Estate Hosts its 5th National Cocktail Competition

Some of the country’s top bar tenders are competing for the top prize at Appleton Estate Rum’s fifth Cocktail Invitational over the next week.

The grand final winner will receive the coveted prize of participating in the Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum 2011 Bartender Tour to Jamaica.

The Kiwi representative will rub shoulders with the cocktail making elite from the South Pacific and Caribbean including Australia, Cayman Islands, Barbados, St Maarten and St Kitts. They will also have a chance to spend time with Joy Spence, the world renowned Master Blender for Appleton Estate and of course visit the famed Appleton Estate, home of one of the finest rum ranges in the world.

Regional finals are being held in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington with the Grand Final immediately following the Wellington event.

Nigel Owen, Brand Manager of Appleton Estate at Lion, says he is pleased to offer New Zealand’s top bartending talent a platform in which they can show their true passion for the spirit and flair for creating an exceptional cocktail for which they can be known for.

“The highlight of hosting this competition for the fifth time is seeing bartenders’ enthusiasm for using our great aged rums and encouraging consumers to embrace it more readily. It’s really great for us to see more people favouring our rum as a key ingredient to their pièce de résistance cocktail recipe.

“This year we really hope to see each contestant impress the judging panel with a distinctive set of ingredients which will reflect their personal style and flavour,” he says.

Each of the six regional finalists have been whittled down from a number of New Zealander’s most talented bartenders, each personally invited to submit their two favourite cocktail recipes. All the entrants then received a personal visit at their bar from the judging panel and were then ‘mystery shopped’ on their performance. Their sales of Appleton’s Estate were also taken into consideration.

The judging panel includes Frankie Walker (Lion’s Luxury Spirits Ambassador), Allen McCormick (General Manager of The Rum Company), Nigel Owen (Brand Manager for Appleton Estate) and local Lion New Zealand sales people.

Guest judges include last year’s winner Jamie Lawton in Wellington and Calum Batchelor in Christchurch who won in 2008.

Auckland Regional Final
Date: Sunday 11th September
Time: 5-8.00pm
Venue: 1885, Auckland Central

Christchurch Regional Final
Date: Monday 12th September
Time: 5-8.00pm
Venue: JDV Merivale, Aikmans Road, Merivale, Christchurch

Wellington Regional Final, followed by Grand Final
Date: Tuesday 13th September
Time: 5-10.00pm
Venue: The Matterhorn, 106 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington