Winners announced for Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series
Each of the three global winners won a cash prize of €5,000 in addition to special access to the first ever Jameson HOSTS mentorship programme
Following a record of more than 380 entries, Jameson has announced Vladimir Reitenbakh, Josh Black and Rohan Matmary as the winners of this year’s annual Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series 2024 competition.
Recently competing at the Jameson HOSTS Global Summit in Cork Ireland, the top 10 finalists gathered to showcase their Jameson Black Barrel cocktails in front of more than 100 industry guests.
This year’s cocktails were prepared, presented and voted for anonymously, in a unique peer evaluation process, ensuring a fair and distinctive judging process.
Each of the three global winners, chosen by guests and judges alike, won a cash prize of €5,000 in addition to special access to the first ever Jameson HOSTS mentorship programme, where industry giants including Remy Savage, Danil Nevsky, Ezra Star and Beckaly Franks will work with each of the winners to complete a range of face to face and virtual mentorship sessions.
Winners
From Malaysia, Rohan Matmary’s entry ‘Day & Night’ took inspiration from local breakfast culture bringing a unique lens to his Jameson Black Barrel cocktail and heroing local Malaysian ingredients including local coffee, local Trigona cacao and Kaya Toast, a Malaysian cult breakfast product.
Matmary said:“The competition was amazing, very well divided in two parts. The first part was very visual on one hand, and on the other hand when we came to Ireland it was not about how your cocktail looked but how it tasted, so the competition tested both sides of being a bartender really well.”
Vladamir from Kazakhstan’s used Ku Miss (fermented mare’s milk), aged camel milk and Navat grape sugar in their entry won over guests at the Summit.
“The competition process was very transparent, and I enjoyed how there was a blind tasting and a visual part with an in-person tasting. The community aspect of having bartenders together from all parts of the world was very cool, and the education element has been important also,” said Reitenbakh.
Finally, Josh Black from UK emerged a worthy champion, with his ‘Paint it Black’ designed to enhance Jameson Black Barrel’s enjoyment and flavour with their addition of British Raspberries, cream soda and Black Tea inspired by British Rock ‘n Roll culture.
Black said: “The brief had a lot of scope for being creative, I partnered with a friend who’s a photographer and videographer to bring the dream to life. It is a big competition and it’s great for me to be in my home country and win at a global scale with friends and industry mentors. The event has been sensational, the community vibes are great, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Mentorship programme
The Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series mentorship programme aims to provide guidance and support to aspiring bar professionals seeking to enhance their skills and knowledge in brand building, social media strategy, content creation, bar operations, and team culture development.
The first mentorship session with the winners and mentors will take place face to face.
The following virtual sessions will extend after the Summit, continuing the mentorship programme and support for global winners into the future.
