We Have a Winner!

For the past few months, Imbibe and DRAMBUIE® have partnered to search for undiscovered bartenders in cities across America. From September through November, bartenders in seven U.S. cities (Portland, Denver, Columbus, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, New York and Austin) showcased their talents during a series of exclusive competitions and cocktail parties. The quality of the talent in these competitions was amazing, and we’re excited to announce that Chad Doll of Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been chosen as this year’s national winner of a trip to the 2010 Tales of the Cocktail festival!

Chad competed against nine other bartenders on October 13 at Decibel in Milwaukee, and then his recipe went on to be judged against the other regional winning recipes from across the U.S. His “Strange Weather” recipe combines DRAMBUIE with gin, Cherry Heering, orange and lemon juice, agave nectar, and a garnish of Angostura bitters. “My inspiration for the cocktail was the Singapore Sling,” he says. ”I knew I wanted to work with gin to help highlight the botanicals in the DRAMBUIE. Anise, being one of the most wonderful flavors on earth, is very forward in DRAMBUIE. Cherry Heering, full-flavored and aromatic, does a nice job by enhancing that anise flavor. I used agave nectar because I wanted a very flavorful sweetener, and I really like the maple syrup notes I pick up from agave nectar; it works well with the nutmeg in DRAMBUIE. And orange juice gives the cocktail a nice color and smooths out all the rich flavors in the drink.”

Check out Chad’s full recipe here, and be sure to make it for yourself—it’s absolutely delicious. Congrats to Chad and to all of the competitors who participated in this year’s DRAMBUIE Den competitions! And to learn more about DRAMBUIE’s Pursuit of 1745, check out pursuitof1745.com.