Billy Ranchez of The Spirits Library is Patrón Perfectionists 2023/24 PH Winner

The recent national finals of the Patrón Perfectionists brought together industry insiders and enthusiasts at Mansion Sports Bar and Lounge in Makati City. The venue buzzed with excitement as attendees gathered to show their support to their favorite bartenders in one of the most prestigious cocktail competitions in the world.

Find out more about this year’s Patrón Perfectionists top 10 and their Paloma Challenge entries here.

The top 10 had to showcase their cocktail-making and presentation skills to impress the panel of judges: DrinkManila’s co-founder Icy Mariñas, Shangri-la Fort’s director of bars Volkan Ibil, and Chef Aaron Isip of Balai Palma. After two intense rounds, Billy Ranchez of The Spirits Library was declared Patrón Perfectionists national winner. 

Each of the top 10 contenders showcased their skills in two challenges. First, was the Paloma Challenge, the entry challenge that tasked them to make a personal take on the Patrón Paloma inspired by their favorite global city and using a homemade cordial. The second round was the Margarita Challenge, where the competitors were able to get their creative juices flowing by taking the classic Patrón Margarita and integrating a Mexican ingredient, creating a new riff on the popular cocktail. 

Billy presented his cocktail entry, Mabaya, in the Paloma Challenge and Mañana in the Margarita Challenge. He drew from his childhood for Mabaya. Inspired by ‘samalamig’ (a collective term for various Filipino sweet chilled beverages), his take on the Paloma was fun and inventive. For the Margarita Challenge, Billy chose to incorporate avocado into his Mañana cocktail, even using the avocado pit as garnish and making his drink look like half an avocado. 

Tejie Guero of Mansion Sports Bar and Lounge was awarded the People’s Choice Award, while Cherrie Ann Alegre of A’Toda Madre was Best Margarita (third place), and Abby Leyte of Southbank Cafe + Lounge was named Best Paloma (second place). Joseph Angelo Paroco (Harina by Mimosas), Adi Cabañero ( The Attic Bar), Marc Gian Valenzuela (Coconut Grove), Wilius Czar Bautista (Ruby Wong’s Godown), John Wendell Almenario (Bar by East), and Klerk Rizmel G. Malig-on (Cowrie Cove) make up the rest of the top 10 for this year’s competition.

Lawrence Gabriel, Patrón Philippines Trade Ambassador, is pleased with how the competition turned out. “This year’s competition is more intense, in a sense that not only our bartenders came prepared, but also our judges and the crowd,” he says. “We had a diverse set of Finalists and we saw how everyone was supported by their peers and the Industry people. We’re trying to make each year bigger to have a wider reach, and I feel that we achieved that this year.” 

The Philippine team will be helping Billy prepare for the global finals “We’re planning to schedule a series of mentoring sessions for Billy, not only about bartending but the other aspects such as social media usage, dressing up for a competition vs. dressing up on a regular day, how to handle stress/pressure,” Lawrence shares. 

Next year’s global finals will also be a first for the Philippines, since we’ll be sending two representatives (Billy and last year’s winner, Kristina Tubig). “This is not the first time that one country has two global finalists. During my time there were two competitors from South Africa, and they had a much more solid support from their team,” he recounts “For us, this will be great because since the Philippines started joining we always finish the competition on the top spots, and now we have more chances of getting closer to winning it all.” 

Lawrence has advice to the bartenders who would want to join next year’s Patrón Perfectionists competition. “Take the chance, don’t hold back and do not hesitate to join. Because this opportunity will open a lot of doors for you, this is not only a competition, but this is a community that we keep growing.” 

Billy Ranchez will compete against 14 other countries in the global finals at Hacienda PATRÓN, Jalisco, Mexico, in May 2024 together with last year’s national winner, Kristina Tubig. 

Follow Academia PATRÓN on Facebook and Instagram for updates and information about the competition. Check out https://www.academiapatron.com to learn more about PATRÓN Tequila.