Congratulations to the 10 Australian finalists for PATRÓN Perfectionists 2023 – their cocktail creations are stunning!

This year’s competition entry challenge called ‘PAINT THE WORLD PATRÓN PALOMA’ asked bartenders to create a PATRÓN PALOMA serve worthy of their favourite city.

The drink was to contain PATRÓN Reposado, soda water and a delicious balanced cordial, flavoured with grapefruit, inspired by their city of choice.

PATRÓN Tequila Brand Ambassador and Advocacy Execution Executive Alex Godfrey said: “Travelling to the 30 shortlisted venues and hearing the bartender’s stories about their cocktails and enjoying the incredible drinks has been a wonderful experience. Across the country I have been blown away by how the connections of the chosen cities have been brought to life. My bucket list now has many more cities on it!”

Here are the 10 bartenders moving through to the final challenges of the PATRÓN Perfectionists and their amazing creations.

Benjamin Thomson from The Rechabite in Perth and his cocktail ‘Kintsugi Paloma’

Finn Sugrue from Nectar in Geelong and his cocktail ‘Repertoire’

Jarah Retana from El Primo Sanchez in Sydney and his cocktail ‘Ikigai Paloma’

Kayla Saito from the The Mulberry Group (Hazel, Dessous, La Cantina, Common Ground Project, Liminal) in Melbourne and her cocktail ‘I’iwi’

Leah Dunnigan from The Baxter Inn in Sydney and her cocktail ‘Scotland’s Yards’

Martin McConnell from Frog’s Hollow Saloon in Brisbane and his cocktail ‘The Neapolitan Way’

Nick Corletto from Maybe Mae in Adelaide and his cocktail ‘Shimokita Showdown’

Samuel Cocks from RE in Sydney and his cocktail ‘Myoho Asari’

Storm Evans from Cantina OK! in Sydney and his cocktail ‘Palome’

Tom Opie from Odd Culture in Sydney and his cocktail ‘Stone Hijuelos’

Both Martin McConnell and Storm Evans competed in the final last year and are back to try their luck again in 2023.

Martin, Storm and the other eight PATRÓN Perfectionists finalists will now present their entry challenge cocktail in addition to another challenge over two days of final judging in Sydney during November. The Australian winner will be announced at a celebration party in mid November. They will head to Hacienda PATRÓN in 2024 for an experience-filled week with their fellow global finalists in Jalisco, Mexico.

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