The eight contestants convened at the PATH Bar School to be judged on their creations. The eight contestants convened at the PATH Bar School to be judged on their creations.

Now in its second year, the first round of the Glenfiddich Experimental Bartender competition took place on August 13 at the PATH African + Eastern Bar School in Dubai.

Each contestant was tasked with creating a distinctive drink in conjunction with a collaborator, beit a chef, artist or an organisation. They then had 20 minutes to present their ideas and field questions from the four judges. The contestants were judged in the following categories — Maverick Mark, Liquid, Level of Experimentation, and Level of Collaboration.

Along with Caterer Middle East editor Claudia de Brito, members of the judging panel included Ganesh Iyer, CEO of FLC Media and co-founder of the Malt Society of Arabia; Sigrid Sarv, Bar Manager of Morah, JW Marriott Marquis and Top 5 Finalist in Experimental Bartender UAE 2016 and Tabarak Razvi, a whisky enthusiast and founder of the The Malt Activist blog.

After some deliberation, the top five bartenders selected to progress to the next round were:

Sudeera Lakmal, Gold On 27, Burj Al Arab

Jinobin Thomas,  Rang Mahal, JW Marriott Marquis

Angelo Van Rooyen, Carnival by Tresind, Burj Daman Building

Santanu Chanda,  Buddha Bar, Grosvenor House

Ruslan Svezhenko, Bar 44, Grosvenor House

Also competing were Essa Sinay, Bahri Bar, Mina A'Salam; Marko Radosavljevic,  La Cantine du Faubourg, Emirates Towers and Shamim Ferdous, Maya, Le Royal Meridien.

The five remaining bartenders will have a month to refine their ideas before the final of the UAE edition which will take place in September.

 

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