Best Bartending Competition (Gold) – Monkey Shoulder, William Grant & Sons India Pvt Ltd

The Monkey Shoulder “Ultimate Bartender Championship (UBC) 2016” is a different bartender super  league.  Unlike most competitions that test only on cocktail making   skills, UBC tests the ‘Skills  that  Pay  The  Bills’  like  speed  of  service, pouring accuracy, industry    knowledge and stock take. These are skills that a bartender requires on a day-to-day basis to do his job efficiently.

This global championship, executed ‘on a budget’ and with an epic prize, follows a universal scoring system across all markets so that every contestant can see how they measure up to the rest of the world. In this no-frills competition – seriously fun but seriously hard, the contestant with the best skills wins. No subjective judging is involved anywhere.

In India, UBC 2016 was conducted with regional rounds in four cities (Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh and Mumbai) with the participation of over 50 bartenders. Each city had a regional level final from which a total of 20 national finalists were chosen.

The city rounds consisted of the same rounds which would be used for the national finals. The rounds were: Quiz on Spirits, Mixiodic Table, Pouring, Nosing, Stock Take, Tray Service, and Round Building.

Twenty winners from the city finals participated in the national finals held in Monkey Bar, Vasant Kunj, Delhi in a high energy active finals hosted by Dean Callan, global brand ambassador of Monkey Shoulder. Two winners were decided based on their skills and knowledge. The winners got an opportunity to attend an all-expense-paid global workshop called Camp Monkey 2016 in Athens, Greece in August, 2016.

The Indian winner could engage and learn about Monkey  Shoulder  with  40  top  bartenders  from  the rest  of  the  world. They  also  featured  on  the  global leaderboard along with other top competitors. Roger Gomes from India reached number 2 in April, and is currently at No. 4 worldwide.

The UBC created a lot of buzz for Monkey Shoulder in the Indian market with PR value generated of over Rs. 1 crore in print and digital including Spiritz, The Hindu,  FHM,  Economic  Times,  and  Times  of  India. It created excitement at the bars. It gave some giveaways to the bartenders who could interact with the consumers ordering Monkey Shoulder. The same was promoted on the brand’s social media.