In a final held at the Petrovsky Palace, Moscow, Walker’s Maid in Cuba, inspired by the American ‘maid’ style of drink, beat 26 other top mixologists.
Bacardi says it will work with Walker over the next year to gain worldwide recognition for his drink, providing a platform from which he will serve Maid in Cuba at some of the finest bars in the world.
Bacardi global ambassador David Cordoba said: “The Maid in Cuba embodies what we look for in a legacy cocktail. It achieves the perfect mix of the perfect ingredients, offering a balance and flavour and simplicity that I believe will endure and make it a classic of the future. The competition this year has been the highest standard ever and we have been blown away by the talent of the bartenders and the quality of their cocktails. It was incredibly close, but Tom is a worthy winner.”
“It’s actually quite overwhelming to win this competition, because I have been working towards it for such a long time,” said Walker. “Winning Bacardi Legacy gives me an unbelievable opportunity to place my original cocktail on a global stage and develop my bartending career.”
The Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition was founded in 2008 to uncover a new generation of cocktails to endure to become the classics of the future. Only a drink offering perfectly balanced ingredients and a timeless taste - the qualities associated with Bacardi classics can be declared a true ‘Legacy’ cocktail.
Twenty-seven bartenders from around the world have participated in a weeklong schedule of events. Bacardi hosted the finalists at a range of educational workshops tailored to hone their skills, before they presented their own original interpretation of a modern Bacardi Legacy cocktail in the competition.
This year, for the first time ever, the judges were so impressed by the standard of cocktails and presentations that they announced two runners up – Australian Fred Siggins’ Empire of Dreams and Carson Xie from China’s Original Connection.
The judges included: Maestro de Ron Bacardi José Sanchez Gavito; bartender Joerg Meyer who owns Le Lion bar in Hamburg; rum ambassador Ian Burrell and 2013 Legacy winner, Elizaveta Evdokimova.
WINNER: MAID IN CUBA
by Tom Walker, UK
Ingredients
2 parts/60mls Bacardi Superior rum
6 leaves of mint
3 slices of cucumber
1½ parts/45mls ‘sweet & sour’ mix (15 sugar 2:1, 30 fresh lime, infused for half a day)
Absinthe spritz
1½ parts/50mls soda
Method
Add ‘sweet & sour’ mix to a cocktail shaker, along with the mint and cucumber. Bruise gently, and then add the Bacardi Superior. Add ice, shake rapidly and double strain into an absinthe rinsed-coupette. Top with soda, garnish with a slice of cucumber and serve.
