Creativity At Its Best At ‘Glenfiddich World Most Experimental Bartender’ In Mumbai

One of the most intriguing events of Mumbai so far this year was the second season of Glenfiddich World Most Experimental Bartender. Here’s why we say so. The competition not only entailed the best mixologists competing and making the most creative concoction than the other but also the partnership between a mixologist and a collaborator. The list of the latter will amaze you as you’ll find collaborators who are from various walks of life; we found collaborators who were food developers, who owned a brewery, played the drums, a chocolatier and even chefs! We’ve seen a myriad of partnerships at this spectacular event and tasted some out-of-world cocktails.

The Who’s Who Of The Mixology World

Maria Goretti, the renowned Food Developer partnered with Sujay; Manan Gandhi of the Bombay Perfumery partnered with Mukesh Patwal; Ishan Puri of White Rhino Brewery paired with Akash Singh; Prateek Sandhu, the chef at Masque paired with Chirag Pal. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement at Theory as the judges Zorawar Kalra, the Host of Masterchef India, Megha Shah, the Editor of GQ Good Life and Shweta Jain, the Marketing Head of William Grant & Sons arrived and were ready to begin the enthralling evening.

The Competition

The competitors were at the top of their game and one of the duo, Ishan and Akash never even met each other before the event and yet created a creamy, delicious concoction. In their case, the beer in the cocktail was from Ishan’s White Rhino Brewery and the addition of Glenfiddich created magic. The competition yielded eight awesome cocktails and each one was distinct and wonderful in taste. Right from creating acoustic music while making the cocktail to the duo that made a drink with pork and onion reduction, it was absolutely mesmerising to watch the dedication, inventiveness and courage of these mixologists.

However, the ones who stole the heart of the judges was the duo – Prateek Sandhu and Chirag Pal who were declared the India winners. The winning cocktail was called, ‘Prionsaí de Sléibhe – Gaelic for Princess of Mountains’ and was made from ingredients sourced all the way from Himalayas. Sea buckthorn wild berry, apricot and rosemary from the mountains amalgamated with Glenfiddich 15 that has been matured in American oak and sherry butt created the fascinating drink.

The winner will now go on to show off their creativity globally with the help of Glenfiddich and will also compete with renowned mixologists of the world. The India winner last year was Brijesh Vyas who was based in Mumbai along with his collaborator Prateeksh Mehra who is a photographer-turned-beer-brewer. They created a theme around jazz and America of the 1940s and played on a whisky and cheese offering which won them the title in 2016.