Hankey Bannister Cup, The Perfect Blend

The final of our annual bartending competition, the Hankey Bannister Cup,  took place at the beginning of December 2022 and was a fantastic culmination of several weeks of creativity from an incredibly talented group of bartenders from all over Poland.

The theme of the fifth edition of the competition was the Perfect Blend,  challenging bartenders to explore our founders' two very different personalities - the courage and extravagance of Beaumont Hankey and the prudence and substantive approach of Hugh Bannister. This theme provided a basis for participants to demonstrate their skill and creativity with cocktails built around our sophisticated whisky.

10 finalists were selected from 30 participants and invited to compete in the high-octane final in Sopot on 6th December 2022. They demonstrated the greatest creativity and ingenuity among their peers by preparing and promoting thoughtful and delicious Hankey and Bannister personality cocktails. Besides surprising the panel with their skill and ingenuity, they allowed many whisky and cocktail lovers to discover Hankey Bannister within their world-class establishments. Thanks to this, we hope that the group of Hankey Bannister lovers in Poland will get bigger and bigger.

In a fierce and fun final, the finalists were given 15 minutes to prepare and present an original creation based on Hankey Bannister Original, Heritage or 12 Year Old. Their creations had to be inventive and delicious and have a strong link to our brand story. The jury had an extremely hard task of judging each of the 10 presented cocktails - all unique, creative, world-class cocktails with a delicious combination of flavours. However, as in any competition, only one person could win!

The winner of the 5th Edition of Hankey Bannister Cup 2022, with her cocktail "Back to the Past", was Aleksandra Lasakowska from TLEN Cocktail Bar Gdańsk. Second place went to Jakub Luberecki from Little Hell Pub in Białystok, who prepared the "Straight Outta Barrel" cocktail. The winner of the 3rd place was Bartosz Jankuniec, whom you can meet daily in the Flisak'76 bar in Gdańsk, the author of the "Out of Sphere" cocktail. These bartenders demonstrated an ability to create delicious drinks with a profound story at heart!

 The winners will travel to the homeland of our whisky, Scotland, visiting some of the best cocktail bars in Edinburgh before travelling to two of our Speyside distilleries, Speyburn and Balmenach, to learn about some of the Single Malt Whiskies that are at the heart of our unique blend. 

This edition of the competition will certainly go down in history! We thank all the participants for bringing their unlimited passion, creativity and personality! It was a real honour to meet you, and we hope to see you soon!

By now, you'll surely be curious to hear more about the winning cocktails of the 5th Edition Hankey Bannister Cup. Well, our winners Aleksandra, Jakub and Bartosz have been very kind to share their secret recipes with us, as well as the inspiration behind them and what inspires them to continue to strive for greatness in their industry.

The winner of HB Cup 2022: Aleksandra Lasakowska, TLEN Cocktail Bar, Gdańsk

 

Cocktail: Back to the past

• Ingredients and method of preparation:
• 50 ml Hankey Bannister 12 Year Old,
• 40 ml primrose vermouth with heather honey,
• 100 ml oak soda,
• Pine perfume.

Method: Build and mix in a long glass

The cocktail was inspired by the values that the Hankey Bannister brand is associated with and which are also important to me. It's about tradition and culture. In my cocktail, I combined traditional ingredients representing three countries that play an important role in the future, present and future of Hankey Bannister whisky. I prepared primrose vermouth referring to the history of England, the birthplace of the brand. It has been sweetened with heather honey, which is associated with Scotland, where whisky is produced. The last ingredient - oak - referred to Poland, because by taking part in the competition and telling guests about this whisky in the restaurant, I also became part of the history of the brand.

What did you like most about the Hankey Bannister Cup 2022?

The opportunity to meet people from the industry and spend time with them, as well as "check" your skills.

What do you like about the Hankey Bannister brand?

What captivated me about the brand was its history, which was rich in numerous references that could be an inspiration to create many unique cocktails with Hankey Bannister whisky in the lead role.

What inspires you to develop your bartending career?

I am inspired to develop it by the constant challenges that I meet on my way and the unlimited creativity associated with this work.

Winner of the 2nd place: Jakub Luberecki - Little Hell Pub, Białystok

Cocktail: “Straight Outta Barrel”

Ingredients:

• 50ml Hankey Bannister Heritage
• 25ml Cucielo rosso
• 20ml Roasted cascara essence
• 20ml aloe vera cordial
• Garnish: Pine needle air foam, pine twig, Koryciński cheese
• Addition: Caramelized chestnut paste

Method: Shake, double strain. Foam aerated with a hand blender with the addition of lecithin.

Serving form: Small wooden barrel

The inspiration to create the cocktail was the mapping of the genesis of whisky, i.e. obtaining the depth of flavour and aroma from burnt wood. In my cocktail, I tried to achieve a full organoleptic balance by including each of the 5 tastes felt by a human being: bitter - from alcohol, sweet - from vermouth, sour - from cordial, salty and umami - from Koryciński cheese. Koryciński cheese was also a local element of Podlasie.

What did you like most about the Hankey Bannister Cup 2022?

At Hankey Bannister Cup 2022, I liked the professional approach to the organization, the involvement of the organizers by visiting venues and trying cocktails during the second stage of the competition, various forms of integration of the finalists and activities prepared during the two-day meeting in the Tri-City. I also liked the fact that the emphasis was not only on promoting the Hankey Bannister brand, but also on expanding knowledge about whisky and its production (knowledge test in the final, blending session, conference led by the judges [Jack and Łukasz] on before the final.

 

What do you like about the Hankey Bannister brand?

What I like most about the Hankey Bannister brand is its versatility, i.e. the differences between each of the products, which increases the possibility of using it at work behind the bar. I also like the professionalism I met while getting to know people working for the Hankey Bannister brand in the MV Group company and their commitment to the catering market.

What inspires you to develop your bartending career?

I am inspired to develop my bartending career by the opportunity to meet interesting people, create unusual compositions and discover new sensory experiences, passion for alcoholic products as an infinite number of flavours that can be used in the kitchen or to create cocktails, constant creative work while creating cultural and entertainment events and creating new cocktail proposals, selected for a specific group of recipients. 

Winner of the 3rd place: Bartosz Jankuniec - Flisak ’76, Gdańsk

Cocktail: “Out of sphere”

Ingredients and method of preparation:

• 50ml Hankey Bannister 12YO
• 40ml Lavender-Honey Cordial
• Lemongrass soda top
• Spherical Hankey Bannister 12yo + apple gastrique + orange bitters

Method: built cocktail

 

The inspiration to create a cocktail was two completely different characters of the founders that complemented each other perfectly. I showed this by creating a cocktail and placing a second cocktail in the form of a sphere. The cocktail in a glass and the spherical one had different flavour profiles, as well as different ways of creating and serving. Thus reflecting the characters of the founders themselves.

What did you like most about the Hankey Bannister Cup 2022?

Opportunity to compete together in a pleasant atmosphere.

What do you like about the Hankey Bannister brand?

I love its simplicity and universality.

What inspires you to develop your bartending career?

People setting new trends, thus showing that in this industry there are no boundaries and no rigid framework when it comes to creating.