After getting through the NSW heats, Jonothan Carr from Kittyhawk took out the NSW State Final of the Woodford Reserve Cocktail Competition at Earl’s Juke Joint on Monday. Six of the finest NSW bartenders battled it out for a spot in the National Final in December.

Each competitor presented two drinks in ten minute allocated slots. Bartenders recreated their own original Woodford Reserve concoction, with a maximum of six ingredients including the use of Woodford Reserve, in addition to their take on an Old Fashioned.

The six competitors were Daniel Novikov and Ryan Gavin from Rockpool Bar and Grill, Dan Molnar from Sydney’s Pocket Bar, Ben Burch from Pocket Bar Terrigal, Evan Brown from Wild Rover, and Jonothan Carr from Kittyhawk.

In a competition that saw everything from mini smokers, frozen and dehydrated carrots, to an outlandish luge of wood piping and bamboo, the judges were hard pressed to arrive at one winner.

In the end, the top prize was given to Jonothan Carr from Kittyhawk with his original creation ‘So fresh and so clean’, inspired by a trip through Kentucky and his favourite musical artist Outkast. This employed the use of gin and fresh citrus flavours to compliment Woodford Reserve. Carr’s Old Fashioned was a well-balanced take on the classic, using an absinthe fountain to drip the Woodford Reserve through a maple sugar cube, and garnished with the classic orange peel.

Carr now heads to Melbourne this December to compete in the Woodford Reserve Cocktail Competition National Final.

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