By Sacha Delfosse
William Grant & Sons has announced the winners of the Monkey Shoulder Whisky Subversive Serve cocktail competition.
The competition invited bars in NSW, QLD and VIC to create an 'unconventional' signature cocktail and promote it within their venue. A winner for each state was chosen, and from there the national winner was selected.
Adam Bastow from Queensland's Black Coffee Lyrics (pictured) was declared the national and Queensland winner with his creation, the Brass Monkey Flip, which was served in a hand made white chocolate egg with homemade Monkey Shoulder crisps.
As part of his prize, Bastow will receive a trip to Scotland later this year where he will be taken to visit the three Monkey Shoulder distilleries, as well as head out with Monkey Shoulder global brand ambassador, Dean Callan., to visit some of the best bars in Edinburgh and Speyside.
Bastow also earned himself a 4.5L Gorilla bottle signed by master distiller, Brian Kinsman, as well as a $1,000 Monkey Shoulder bar team experience for his venue.
Bartenders Piotr Kuzmicki and Joel Persson from The Alchemist were declared the Victorian winners and earned a $1,000 bar team experience, while NSW winners Ben Blair and Connor Sainsbury-Canham from The Corner House received the same prize for their bar.
Due to the popularity of the Subversive Serve cocktail competition, William Grant & Sons said it will be running some smaller, satellite competitions in South Australia and Western Australia in May and June.