Bar Magazine | Developing Premium Bar Excellence

April 23, 2025

0 Views 0

SaveSavedRemoved 0

Naked Malt announces award-winning cocktail-destinations across the Nordics, Taiwan, The Netherlands & South Korea

Naked Malt, the award-winning* super-premium blended malt, today unveils the champions of its renowned 2025 bartender engagement programme, the ‘Live Naked Bar Swap’. In a rigorous three-stage competition focused on the brands signature ‘Naked Sour’ serve – a fresh reinterpretation of the classic whisky sour – four bars from the Nordics, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and South Korea have been named national winners.

From a pool of 60 emerging bartenders representing eight countries, up-and-coming bartenders including talent hailing from bars featured in the ‘World’s 50 Best Bars’, competitors were challenged to create a unique, passion-inspired Naked Sour. Entrants shared the stories behind their cocktail innovations via social media and were shortlisted for the national finale.

During the competition, two bartenders from each bar were tasked with designing their perfect passion-inspired Naked Sour. Finding a shared passion and bringing it to life in a cocktail form, the finalists presented their Naked Sour in front of an expert panel of past winners and industry judges, and in a final timed round were challenged on-the-spot to serve up a bespoke sour using only a selection of mystery ingredients.

Recipients of this year’s renowned industry award – Ruby, Copenhagen, Denmark; MUSOU, Taichung, Taiwan; Sonora, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Villa Records, Seoul, South Korea – have earned the opportunity to embark on a culturally immersive global bar exchange later this year. The competition aims to inspire and offer a fresh perspective, living out Naked Malt’s ethos, and will see each winner take their skills to the international stage and meet fellow Bar Swap winners in an effort to share experiences and knowledge across borders, build new relationships, learn new skills, and discover new ingredients, flavours and techniques.

Jamie Docherty, Global Brand Manager, Edrington commented: “‘Passion’ set the theme for 2025’s Bar Swap. We challenged bartenders to unite in crafting a sour that captured what matters most to them, spotlighting the skills of the world’s finest talent with an emotive, personal touch. Our goal was to ignite curiosity in the new generation of bartenders, encouraging them to explore the distinct qualities of Scotch whisky and rethink tradition. They didn’t need much encouragement – the quality of entries reached a resounding all-time high, and the programme became a global celebration of the bartending community and culture, marked by creativity, connection, and craft”

Benjamin Ebenbauer, winning bartender from Ruby (Copenhagen), said:“We had the best time of our lives! Kerim (co-winner) and I have worked on drinks together before, but having multiple teams competing in an amazingly familiar fashion together was a completely new and unique experience!”

The programme has a history of celebrating the top emerging global talent, with winners joining an impressive lineup of awardees, including bartenders from the ‘World’s 50 Best Bars’ like Himkok, Zest, and The Cambridge Public House.

Produced in Scotland by ultra-premium spirits company, Edrington, Naked Malt seeks to inspire a new generation of whisky drinkers by offering a great quality, yet accessible whisky that’s versatile for any preferred whisky serve.

‘Live Naked Bar Swap’ Winning Cocktail Recipes