Southern Showdown goes global for 2018

The Southern Comfort Southern Showdown cocktail competition becomes an international battle of the bartenders in 2018, with winners from Ireland, the UK and Australia set to compete in a New Orleans final later this year.

Now in its second year in Ireland, Southern Showdown bartenders are being challenged to recreate the spirit of their home town in a cocktail, just as Southern Comfort captures the spirit of its home city New Orleans.

Each cocktail needs to include the bartender’s choice of either Southern Comfort Original, Southern Comfort Black or Southern Comfort 100. In the spirit of Southern Comfort’s creator New Orleans bartender MW Heron entrants are also encouraged to use bespoke and local ingredients in their recipe.

Entries will be judged on their uniqueness, imagination and consumer appeal. Distributor Hi-Spirits Ireland will host the Showdown final in Dublin in May where competitors will make their cocktail for a panel of judges.

The national winner and a runner-up will win a VIP trip in July to New Orleans, the spiritual home of the cocktail, including tickets to the prestigious Tales of the Cocktail event. The Irish winner will take on their UK and Australian counterparts in a Grand Finale.

“The fact that entrants now have the choice of both Southern Comfort Black and Southern Comfort 100 alongside Southern Comfort Original gives them a wider range of flavour profiles to work with,” said George Roberts, Country Manager of Hi-Spirits Ireland,

The closing date for initial entries for each region is 30th April. Entries can be submitted online at https://southernshowdown.southerncomfort.com/ie/.

To contact Hi-Spirits Ireland, call 01969 5577 or email info@hi-spirits.ie.