Diageo World Class Bartender Philippines 2021 Announces Top 6

Two thousand and twenty has been a challenging year for the industry with businesses and bartenders having to change and adapt in ways we’ve never seen before as the hospitality landscape faces incredibly tough times.

One aspect of the industry that has had to adapt is the bartending competition. The future seemed uncertain, at one point, for the bartending competitions as high-profile events took a pause at the start of the pandemic. Bartending competitions are a way for the people behind the bar to show off their cocktail-making skills. Competitions provide bartenders the space to experiment and be creative, plus opportunities to travel, grow and learn from their peers in and out of the country, and bond with the community.

The Diageo World Class Bartender is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. In the past eight years, Diageo Reserve World Class Philippines has searched for the country’s best and brightest to represent us on the global stage. This year’s competition is a bit different from the previous ones. The unique multi-format challenges were set to be able to conduct the competition safely. 

This year’s batch is closely mentored by past winners of the competition: David Abalayan from OTO who represented the Philippines in the Global Finals in Scotland in 2019, and Lester Ligon who ranked 6th in the world after he competed at the 2018 Diageo’s World Class Global Finals in Berlin. Similarly, each of the challenges are judged by previous Diageo World Class Philippines champs, namely AK Roxas (2013), Yoma Rivera (2014), Kenneth Bandivas (2015), Michael Tubiera (2016), and Royce Pua (2017).

The 31 finalists (from last year’s 40 finalists) showcased their skills last March 15 and 22 for their first and second challenges, where participants shared their signature Johnnie Walker Black Label Highball serves on social media. This was followed by a virtual presentation of their Ketel One Vodka cocktails that featured produce of local growers and ingredients they personally foraged.

The third and fourth challenges featuring The Singleton Dufftown Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Tanqueray Gin ended on April 12, where the finalists were narrowed down to the top six: Duane Legaspi (BCN), Shinichi Itoh (OTO), Jhon Parraba (Independent), Kevin Corales (South Bank Cafe + Lounge), Poch Ancheta (Skye BGC), and Ralph Santos (The Spirits Library). 

The World Class Philippines finals are scheduled for the end of April where a new Bartender of the Year will be crowned. Our Philippine representative will join the 2021 World Class Global Bartender of the Year Competition in Madrid, Spain this July. This year’s global competition will be uniquely formatted to celebrate global cocktail culture safely and in line with all prevailing government guidelines. To ensure the safe running of the event, Diageo has designed several scenarios for the 2021 World Class Global Final, all with Madrid as the host city. This includes scenarios where bartenders compete in person, if safe and allowed, as well as partially or fully virtual scenarios with bartenders competing from their own country. 

“Our goal at World Class has always been to support, champion, and create opportunities for the bars, bartenders, and businesses,” says Rian Asiddao, Diageo Reserve brand ambassador. “And we will continue to make Diageo World Class be an inspirational and educational platform for the most influential community of drinks enthusiasts. We hope that through the World Class competition we are able to offer a welcome glimpse of positivity, inspiration, and optimism.” 

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