Bar manager, Bartender of the Year and liqueur legend Nick Tesar is joining Four Pillars as Creative Director of Gin Drinks.

Tesar is best known as Bar Manager at Bar Liberty, Fitzroy where he has worked the past six-and-a-half years, while also picking up multiple bartender awards including Diageo World Class’ Australian Bartender of the Year 2022 where he competed against the world’s best and went on to be crowned Global Runner-Up.

Tesar was also Time Out Victorian Bartender of the Year in 2020 and has won numerous other accolades. He is co-owner of Marionette Liqueur and will continue working with Marionette while taking on the Four Pillars role.

Tesar replaces James Irvine, in the role that heads up the creative team designing drinks for the Healesville Distillery, the Sydney Lab (including Eileen’s Bar) in Sydney and leads all Four Pillars drink research and development. Irvine is heading to hospitality group Merivale.

“This is truly a once-in -a-lifetime opportunity,” Tesar said. “There has only ever been one person in this role and let’s be honest, Jimmy (Irvine) might be a pretty hard act to follow. But someone has to follow him and it might as well be me!

“Seriously though, I have watched the Four Pillars story from its very beginning – I was in fact bartending at Gin Palace in 2013 when they had their actual launch – so this is some sort of coming full circle, and frankly really bloody exciting.”

Four Pillars co-founder Stu Gregor said: “Nick was our number one target, I’m not going to lie, there were more than a few other outstanding people we considered, but everyone who knows him, has worked with him or had one of his drinks, knows that Nick is truly a cut above. We think he is one of the real modern drinks masters of Australia, and probably the world. We are genuinely thrilled that he is joining the team.”

Tesar’s first day on the job will be 5 June 2023.