Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/687399
64 / the tasting panel / june 2016 COMPETITION fight for Cuban independence. All along, there was BACARDÍ rum, and the company takes pride in its perseverance. Competitor after competitor echoed this theme, and many of them likened the company's story to their own struggle to succeed, to become something more. "I was born ordinary," said Choni Song, representing China, "and I became something extraordinary." Fabio Di Giammarco, Global Vice President for BACARDÍ rum, knows that the greatness that the bartenders were striving for will help the company premiumize rum in ways that it so far has failed to do. Bar owner Martin Cate of San Francisco and a semi-finals judge during the 2016 BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition. "We have great liquids prepared by BACARDÍ maestros that are the best in the world," Di Giammarco said. "We have heritage and we have origin. We just have to tell the proper story. Our history and heritage. Our process. Grant protagonism to our maestros, to these artists that we have brought together for this event. If you listen to their stories, you realize the value they've given to the family history, to what BACARDÍ means." Final Round In the end, the drink that won—the Venceremos—was the one that was most directly tied to the idea of suc- ceeding despite struggle. In Spanish, the word venceremos means "We shall overcome." And the winner (see sidebar) reflected the international nature of the event, in that he was born in Taiwan and yet was competing on behalf of the United States. The competition will stay global, too. Heading into its ninth year, and after stops in Barcelona, Miami, Moscow and Sydney, next year's final will take place in Berlin. There will be more seminars, more workshops and more of the world's best bartenders brought together in one place. And if we're lucky, another classic cocktail will be introduced, one that you will be able to order almost anywhere. As Global Brand Ambassador Dickie Cullimore put it: "A legacy drink has to be something that transcends one bar and can be found in different pockets of the world." DICKIE CULLIMORE Dickie Cullimore did a lot of the heavy lifting that made the BACARDÍ Legacy Global Cocktail Competition a success. Last year's event was his first major project after getting the Brand Ambassador job, and it's been a solid year of preparation, competition, travel and ambassadorship to make the event fly. Cullimore had a heart attack when he was 19 ("Dickie" is a nickname that came from dicky ticker, he joked), and it changed his life. "I had a paradigm shift," he said, "where I wanted to enjoy life, get more out of life. I discovered I really love lifting, elevating other people. Bringing things to life for them." For the competition, Cullimore stressed that the drinks be original, and that they be able to be made anywhere. But he's also pushed the idea that a bartender present well: "We want them to be able to walk into a room like this, sit down and be [themselves]. We hope they learn and grow in the role." THE GLOBAL AMBASSADOR: Dickie Cullimore, Global Brand Ambassador for BACARDÍ rum and host of the global cocktail competition.