Whisky Focus - Diageo's World Class 2019 Bartending Global Final Coming To Glasgow

Diageo Reserve has announced that Glasgow will be the location for the 2019 World Class Global Final, the world's biggest bartending competition.

The worlds brightest and best bartenders will descend on Scotland’s cultural capital, Glasgow, in September 2019 to battle it out to be crowned the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year.

Glasgow is a city renowned for its creatives and collaborators, and its resident musicians and comedians, actors and artists, all combine to make it somewhere that is having a real impact on the world’s stage. In recent years it has played host to internationally-revered events, including the 2014 Commonwealth Games and MTV EMAs, and its nightlife scene is booming, with new concept bars and gastronomic spaces opening at a phenomenal pace, such as the vibrant, California-inspired So L.A. on Mitchell Street, and the UK’s first ‘gin spa’ in Merchant City, launched by the team behind renowned gin bar, Gin71.

Making the announcement, Emily Wheldon, Global Head of World Class, said: "We are hugely proud to be bringing the World Class Bartender of the Year Global Finals to Scotland, the home of so many of Diageo’s much-loved spirits. Glasgow will be an exciting hub for festivities, and the perfect backdrop for the world’s best bartenders to show off their incredible talent."

Over 10,000 bartenders from every corner of the world are expected to take part in the competition with the very best talent invited to compete in the Global Finals in Glasgow.

At a time when cocktail culture is exploding all over the world, it’s also appropriate that the world’s biggest bartending competition returns to where the story of many Diageo brands began.

Christine McCafferty, manager of Diageo’s archives, comments: "Scotland is an amazing location to host the 11th World Class Global Finals – home to all our iconic Scotch including, Johnnie Walker, Talisker, The Singleton and Mortlach.

"The west coast of Scotland in particular holds a special place in the story of many of these brands. It was here that nearly 200 years ago brands like Johnnie Walker first left Scotland on their journey to bring their iconic taste to the four corners of the world.

"For the world’s best bartenders to compete at the home of so many of their favourite spirits will add a brilliant extra incentive to this year’s competition."

Since its launch in 2009, Diageo Reserve World Class has been one of the world’s leading advocates for the drinks industry, working with the world’s best bartenders to make people care about what, where and how they drink. For more information, please visit www.theworldclassclub.com or follow #WorldClass2019.
 

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