HK and Macau’s Bacardi Legacy top eight finalists announced

The eight bartending hopefuls from Hong Kong and Macau who will battle it out for a place in the Bacardi Legacy finals have finally been revealed.

The 2016/17 Bacardi Legacy competition is already underway in more than 35 countries and some of Hong Kong and Macau’s brightest bar stars are warming up for the regional finals which will be held on 20 February in Taipei.

Each hopeful has been assigned with creating a classic rum cocktail – akin to a Mojito or Daiquiri – and in the lead up to the Taiwan finals are harnessing the power of social media to promote their cocktail creations in guest bartender shifts and pop-up evenings.

After initial judging of the top 20 entries, the judges have whittled the Hong Kong and Macau finalists down to eight which are revealed to be:

Simon Kong of the Lobster Bar, Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

Kovic Rai of Mr & Mrs Fox, Hong Kong

Koco Widyatno of Ritz-Carlton, Macau

Amanda Wan of The Envoy, Hong Kong

Stephane Levan of Honi Honi, Hong Kong

Ajit Gurung of Stockton, Hong Kong

Gesang Gurung of Zuma, Hong Kong

Timothy Ching of Le Comptoir group, Hong Kong

Competition format has also changed for this year as entrants can now use Bacardi’s Ocho eight year old, in addition to Bacardi’s Carta Blanca and Carta Oro expressions.

The Bacardi Legacy Global final 2016/17 will be held in Berlin in April or May this year.