iBartend

World Class winner for April - Blended Whisky

Yet another month has passed and it is that time again to announce who is the master mixologist for the blended whisky category in KZN. All the competitors were tasked to submit an original recipe containing at least 25ml of Johnnie Walker® Gold Label™ or Johnnie Walker® Blue Label™. This month a staggering 36 recipes were received all of which had some great potential. With the help of two very experienced mixologists, Ryan Duvenage and Joe De Wet, and after the tedious task of narrowing it down to the top 10, we now have an overall winner.

With an overall score of 77.5% representing Luna Rossa in the Gateway center of Umhlanga and winning himself R2000, the winner is……….

1^st Place - CHRISTIAN GAZA

The cocktail he created was named, “The Walk of Life” and consisted of;

GLASS:            Tumbler
GARNISH:      Lemon zest dipped in honey
METHOD:       Shaken and strained over ice

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml            Johnnie Walker® Gold Label™
• 25ml            Watermelon Syrup
• 3 dashes     Angustura Bitters
• 12.5ml        Apricot Brandy
• 12.5ml        Singleton of Dufftown 12yr
• 12.5ml        Frangelico

In 2^nd place, with a score of 77% (00.5% difference from 1^st place), we have a recipe submitted by Siyanda Sokhela of the Fairmont Hotel called, “Ice Golden Irish” which consists of;

GLASS: Tumbler
GARNISH: Dark Chocolate Blocks served on a side plate
METHOD: Shake and Strain into glass with ice

 INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml           Johnnie Walker® Gold Label™
• 12.5ml       Drambuie
• 12.5ml       Tia Maria
• 12.5ml       White Chocolate Syrup
• 25ml           Espresso

In 3^rd Place, will a result of 76%, we have a recipe created by Calvin Foyle of the Fairmont Hotel called, “Golden Ice Walker” and it consists of;

GLASS: Tumbler
GARNISH: Vanilla Pod
METHOD: Shake and Strain

INGREDIENTS:

• 50ml                 Johnnie Walker® Gold Label™
• 12.5ml             Drambuie
• 12.5ml             Fresh Cream
• 25ml                 Cinnamon/Raisin and Vanilla infused sugar syrup (Unbelievable!)

The rest of the rankings were as follows;

• 4^th Place – Kwanele Sydney Mkize (Oyster Box Hotel) “Golden Martini Citrus”
• 5^th Place – Kelly John Bauwer (Oyster Box Hotel) “Its all peachy”
• 6^th Place – Shane Moodley (Fairmont Hotel) “Golden Mile”
• 7^th Place – Garth Fuller (Fairmont Hotel) “Distinguished Gentleman Mojito”
• 8^th Place – Thobani Khoza (Oysterbox Hotel) “Johnnie’s Desire”
• 9^th Place – Bheki Magwaza (Fairmont Hotel) “The White Walker”
• 10^th Place – Douglas Shandu (Oyster Box Hotel) “Melon Whisky Sour”
• 11^th Place – Basil Nsinganu (Havana Grill) “Millenium Gold”

 Well done everyone, the bar is being raised in a big way!