Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/11486
COMPETITION The Spirits Judges. Back row, left to right: Kent Bearden, Master Mixologist, MGM Grand/Las Vegas; Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Bar Manager, Clive Commons/Seattle; Joseph Brooke, Director of Spirits, The Edison/Los Angeles; Jonathan Pogash, Mixologist, The Cocktail Guru/NYC; Aidan Demarest, Partner, Tello Demarest Liquid Assets/Los Angeles. Front row, left to right: Mike Yen, Mixologist/San Diego; Jim Romdall, Mixologist, Vessel/Seattle; Ann Tuennerman, Founder, Tales of the Cocktail/New Orleans; Meridith May, Publisher/Executive Editor, THE TASTING PANEL Magazine/Los Angeles; Marcos Tello, Partner, Tello Demarest Liquid Assets/Los Angeles; Alex Velez, Mixologist, Crescent Gaming and Bartending School/Las Vegas. hen THE TASTING PANEL descended on the 2010 Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas this past April, we brought along some of the top mixologists in our industry to act as judges for the first annual Call for Cocktails mixology competition. With cocktail king Tony Abou-Ganim serving as the Executive Director of the competition, judges sampled and selected their favorite quaffs from over 30 cocktails submitted by exhibiting brands. “This year we added an opening General Session and expanded our programming in education as well as adding the exciting Mixology Competition with the help of THE TASTING PANEL Magazine and famed mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim,” said WSWA CEO Craig Wolf. “These new W 94 / the tasting panel / june 2010 events, along with our ever popular ‘Taste of the Industry,’ created opportunities for our supplier exhibiters, large and small, to market their products, and we hope they will continue to take advantage of the opportunities our conven- tion offers.” With Abou-Ganim at the helm, the judges spent over three hours wading through 34 cocktails. Finally, three winning cocktails—the Leblon Brazillionaire, Passion Potion and Mayahuel—were selected by the judges as the best in show based on taste, aroma, visual presentation and overall impression. The judges’ favorites were then entered into a final competition, where convention attendees voted for their favorite at the Taste of the Industry reception.