Winning cocktail in Scottish heat of BACARDÍ® Legacy Cocktail Competition served up by Edinburgh bartender.
Edinburgh bartender, Leon Back, has won the second regional heat in one of the most prestigious cocktail competitions in the world, BACARDÍ Legacy, the competition which challenges the industry’s top bartenders to create the next classic cocktail that will stand the test of time.
Leon, from Panda & Sons bar in Edinburgh, competed with some of the country’s top mixologists at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh where the competition took place. He was announced the second winner of the BACARDÍ Legacy regional heats, impressing the judges with ‘The Queen Street’ cocktail, consisting of BACARDÍ Carta Blanca, lemon juice, sugar, Martini Ambrato, celery bitters with a spritz of Islay whisky.
Metinee Kongsrivilai (UK Brand Ambassador for BACARDÍ Rums) commented: “Scotland is such an exciting region with a thriving cocktail culture that is constantly growing and evolving. We were delighted to see so many entries from bartenders representing their hometown here. It was a difficult deliberation taking nearly an hour, not just to decide the winner, but also the runner up who in the end, was chosen as Bettina from The Bon Vivant with her cocktail, ’Mountain Top’.”
Leon won due to his engaging stage performance with a story that was a tribute to the industry and the region. But what the judges loved the most was the incredibly delicious and well-balanced drink that Leon presented which also had a unique Scottish twist. Leon will compete in the UK Final in November in Amsterdam. He will be come face to face with five other finalists from across the country for a place in the global final and 10th anniversary of BACARDÍ Legacy in Mexico City, the Latin metropolis fast becoming renowned as a cocktail capital and also home to one on BACARDÍ’s distillery. The global final will take place in May 2018.
BACARDÍ Legacy challenges bartenders to create a ‘legacy’ cocktail with the greatest potential to establish itself as a classic alongside the pantheon of BACARDÍ Legacy cocktails such as the Mojito or Daiquiri. BACARDÍ continues to inspire and challenge the best in the industry to create enduring cocktails throughout the Legacy cocktail competition.
The first regional heat took place yesterday in Belfast. The next two heats will take place in Liverpool on the 23rd and finally London on the 25th October.
Leon’s winning recipe for ‘The Queen Street’ cocktail can be found below:
50ml Bacardi Carta Blanca
25ml Fresh Lemon Juice
20ml 1-1 Sugar syrup
20ml Martini Ambrato
2 dashes Celery Bitters
Spritz Islay Whisky
Shake all ingredients with ice, double strain and serve straight up in a Nick & Nora Glass. Spray with a spritz of Islay whisky on the side of and top of glass.
