Arbikie's annual cocktail competition, The Race to Lunan Bay (RTLB) took place yesterday for it's second year. The Arbikie ambassador team proudly welcomed all finalists with a memorable tour of Arbikie farm, distillery and the surrounding areas right to the coastline at Lunan Bay- where the cocktail comp took place! 

Firstly, please meet all the talented bartender's/ RTLB finalists; Grant from The Gannet Glasgow, Drew from The Finnieston, Ross from Tiger Hornsby, Cammy from Tonic Edinburgh, Majid from Abandon Ship and Breagh from Draffens. 

RTLB kicked off with Arbikie chilli vodka Bloody Mary's and an insight into our field-to-bottle story; including a tour of the farm, tattie-sorting shed, polytunnel, juniper fields and of course the distillery itself. After the finalists learnt some new facts and details on the Arbikie brand and spirits, they headed out for the first trial of the day... The Tractor Derby. 

Having a little bit (lots) of fun all finalists raced one-another in the ultimate (and very professional) tractor race- rampaging around on plastic tractors and collecting coloured cones as they competed to finish the course in the best time. 

After completing The Tractor Derby all finalists made their way to Lunan Bay to mix-up and share their final drinks using Arbikie spirits as well as following a field-to-bottle ethos.

 

Here is the amazing selection of final drinks... 

 

Grant from The Gannet Glasgow 

Woodruff Fizz

Garnished with Woodruff

 

Drew from The Finnieston

Talk to me Goose part II 

Garnished with rye crisp topped with white chocolate and pickled ginger espuma

 

Ross from Tiger Hornsby

Stirling Riches

Garnished with chilli powder and honeycomb

 

Cammy from Tonic

Macfarlane Lane

Majid from Abandon Ship

Buzzing for Kirsty's

Garnished with edible flower and honey 

 

Breagh from Draffens

Field Day

Garnished with raspberry leaf and fresh raspberry

 Once all finalists served-up their final drinks and shared the background story of their field-to-bottle cocktails they were presented with 'The Tattie Box Round'. This simply involved a mix of mystery ingredients that had to be paired with at least 35ml of Arbikie spirit. All ingredients were again, field-to-bottle, and sourced from Arbikie farm to maintain a very authentic home grown cocktail. To make their mystery drink, contestants had a choice of the following ingredients from the Tattie Box.

• Arancello (limoncello w/ oranges using Haar vodka)
• Blaeberry Vermouth
• Blaeberry Shrub
• Smoked Chilli Jam
• Chilli, Coriander Seed & Thistle Tincture
• Strawberry Grenadine
• Strawberry Shrub
• Honey & Black Cardamom Syrup
• Barrel Aged AK’s

The standard of cocktails and their pairings were truly phenomenal, which made the decision of crowning one winner extremely difficult for Arbikie judges. After a tough deliberation the judges were delighted to announce that Drew from The Finnieston took the crown with his shear creativity and passion for cocktail making- as well as his delicious final drink, Talk to me Goose Part II.  

A massive thank you to all finalists who took part and mixed up some truly cracking cocktails, until next year!