The Top 50 bartenders through to the finals of the 2016/2017 Bacardi Legacy Global Cocktail Competition in Australia have been announced. According to the judges, this year’s competition received a record number of entries.

Bacardi Brand Ambassadors, Loy Catada, Sean Forsyth and Andy Wren selected the Top 50 based on the ability of their cocktails to stand the test of time as a Legacy, alongside drinks such as the Daiquiri and Mojito.

This is the first year in the competition’s history that bartenders have been challenged to use Bacardi Ocho in their cocktails – the oldest, private rum blend in the world. Loy Catada said commenting on this year’s entries: “The family reserve provided a new kind of inspiration for this year’s entrants with Bacardi Ocho’s complex flavour profile and unique story adding a new twist to potential Legacy Cocktails.”

These Top 50 bartenders will now compete to represent Australia in the Bacardi Legacy Global Final in Berlin in 2017.

Alexander Grossett

Alexander Wickett

Ali Holden

Benjamin Tua

Cheng-I Chang

Daniel Hilton

Dave Kerr

David Green

David Smillie

Elise Godwin

Giulia Venzo

Henrique Machado

Jacob Flynn

James MacDonald

James Rusty Russell

Josh Trovato

Joshua O’Brien

Josie Blanchard

Julian Veld

Julius Yates

Kennedy Chung

Kieran Took

Kurtis Bosley

Kyle Bernard McCabe

Lonneke Bevan

Magnus Moore

Marina Tazhdynova

Matthew Crowe

Michael Braun

Michael Chiem

Michael Cowley

Michelle Tee

Mitchell Clarke

Nicholas Selvadurai

Pasan Wijesena

Peter Hollands

Piotr Kuzmicki

Quynh Van Nguyen

Riccardo Baio

Rohan Fisher

Roman Tazhdynov

Russell Downie

Ryan Hawthorne

Ryan Snedden

Sean Butcher

Steve Lambetsos

Taylor Matthews

Thomas Egerton

Thomas Loosli

Will Turner