By Sacha Delfosse
Diageo Reserve Brands is calling on all the competitors in the World Class Australia Summer Round to continue to promote their cocktail entries and encourage people to vote for them ahead of the December 31 closing date.
This has been the biggest year for the competition, with a huge response from all over Australia and over 130 different cocktails entered into the Summer Round, which required competitors to create either a Punch, Seasonal or Gentleman's Cocktail using either Ketel One vodka, The Singleton of Glen Ord whisky or Tanqueray No. TEN gin.
All the entries are available for viewing on the World Class Australia Facebook fan page, and people can vote for up to five different drinks. In addition, there are six $500 bar tabs up for grabs, which people can win by voting for a cocktail and leaving a comment of 50 words or less explaining why they chose that particular entry.
The Summer Round will culminate in a national semi-final event that will be held in Sydney on January 22nd. The event will be set up like a fair that will be open to the trade and the public, with tickets available for $65 through Moshtix. People will be able to sample the cocktails of the nine semi-finalists, who will be announced on January 9th and chosen through an amalgamation of points awarded from online voting and Reserve Brand Ambassador judging.
“These types of competitions especially when you stretch it to a national perspective are always so close,” Victoria Reserve Ambassador, Sean Baxter, says.
“The difference between a 100 Facebook votes and 10 is going to be the thing that will decide the finalists, that’s just the mathematics of it, so people have to get out there and really support each other and support their favourite bartenders.”