Gn Chan. The winner of Bacardi Legacy 2016.

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This year’s journey of Bacardi Legacy had just finished in San Francisco and the lights started to go down in the beautiful hall of the ex-federal bank of the city, in the heart of the financial district. After almost six months of national semifinals and finals, journeys, interviews, efforts, cocktails, laughter and tears, the culmination came through the announcement of the winner via Frank Dedieu, last year’s winner of the competition.

Gn Chan accomplished the most difficult deed, acquired the ultimate distinction, went through all the hardships, all these months, standing out between 10.000 bartenders from 36 countries, from the whole world! Gn Chan managed to register himself –and his cocktail, Venceremos- to the modern history pages of Bacardi, contributing to this heritage, to this Legacy.

Ο μεγάλος νικητής Gn Chan από το νεοϋορκέζικο Angel’s Share.

Gn Chan “escorted”:

The trinity of the big winners completed Moe Aljaff, representing Norway and Lisa Molyavka from Belarus. Moe, with Kurdish origin, born in Iraq and grown up in Sweden and then Norway, after having passed three years as a refugee in various countries of Europe, settled at the Scandinavian countries and represented Norway at the Legacy, performing an excellent presentation, narrating at the same time his personal history, which he co-related to the one of Bacardi.

Η τελική οκτάδα. Από αριστερά: Ταϊλάνδη, Αυστραλία, Νορβηγία, Λευκορωσία, ΗΠΑ, Μεγάλη Βρετανία, Ισραήλ, Κίνα.

Lisa served with self-confidence her own drink, which we had presented and spoken of here, and also managed to stand out at the final eight, the latter consisting of China, Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Thailand and Israel. Many congratulations to that girl, who –as shown from her second participation in a final, has a wonderful future ahead of her!

He stood out thanks to his solid and comfortable presentation, the completed promotion plan he offered to the judges, his loose and natural style on scene, his zest and sense of humor that charmed the public, but also thanks to the overall solemnness throughout his stay in San Francisco. All these led him to the “16”, which means that he passed the first phase of the finals, but unfortunately didn’t manage the final 8. According to our pieces of information, actually, his nomination was “marginal”.

Because, yes, it is true, that many times guests, but also participants from other countries, stopped me personally to express their disappointment for Konstantinos, as soon as the names of the final 8 were announced. And this is what he has to hold as the sweetest memory from this final phase; the impressions he managed to make, in such a high standard, together, of course, with the very significant qualification to the 16 best countries of the world.

The secrets of Gn Chan

Back to the competition, Gn Chan, for his drink, Venceremos, used Bacardi Carta Blanca, coconut liquor, pineapple and cucumber juice, a bit of fresh-squeezed lime and a dash sesame seed oil. He served in a wine glass, with a big piece of ice, in which he had frozen a leaf and flesh of pineapple, so that they would melt slowly, changing the taste of his drink.

The judges of the competition were of world fame this year too. The “King of Cocktail” Dale de Groff, last year’s winner of Bacardi Legacy, Franck Dedieu, the myth of New York bartending, Julie Reiner and the “maestro de ron”” of Bacardi for the last 30 years, Jose Sanchez Gavito.

Accordingly, at the semifinals we had the beloved Jacob Briars, Ian Burrell, the owner of Smuggler’s Cove and Whitechapel in San Francicso, Martin Cate, the superstar bartender, Ivy Mix and Tom Walker, the winner of the year before last.

Ο Ενρίκε Κόμας και ο Ντέιλ ντε Γκροφ

Finally, judges of the marketing were Enrique Comas, one of the owners of Bacardi and member of the sixth generation of the family, the brand ambassador for North America, Nadine Iacocca, as well as the famous bartender and owner of PDT bar, Jim Meehan.

As a conclusion, it is worth mentioning that the competitors preferred this year beer as an ingredient, but also our beloved sherry! 8 out of 35 used beer and 5 sherry! Usually, these statistics reflect the global trends that are formed, or are being formed right now and will rule in the future. Also, in one of the most challenging finals of Bacardi Legacy history, Gn Chan, won, having almost total approval from the audience, the guests as well as from the other finalists. Well done!

Until next year!

Translated by Eleni Tsirimokou