If you’ve never attended the Montreal regional finals of Made With Love, the country’s biggest cocktail competition, now’s your chance. On Monday, Nov. 25 at L’Olympia in Montreal, 20 of Quebec’s top bartenders will vie for the right to compete in the national finals and win big prizes, including one of 14 trips to partnered distilleries. The Regional Finals on the 25th are also where the public can buy a ticket and go taste and vote on all the competitors’ cocktail creations.
The cocktails are also ranked by judges grading them on originality of ingredients and concept and balance of flavours. While each year sees some return competitors, this year, Mackenzie McNolty will be competing for the first time on behalf of Nhau Bar.
He’s coming in guns blazing. “If you don’t have a stellar tasting cocktail, then you might as well stay home,” says McNolty.
He won’t give away what he has planned for this year, but it’ll be steeped in pan-Asian folklore, says the bartender of the speakeasy below Southeast Asian restaurant Hà on McGill St. in Montreal’s Old Port, and it’s something that’s not on the Nhau Bar menu.
Sweet or Sour
In recent years, there’s been a trend towards sweeter cocktails for these types of competitions. One theory is that bartenders go sweet to make their drinks stand out to a palette-wrecked public and judges. McNolty says that’s a phenomenon that “every bartender has to deal with in competitions.” Sweetness makes it easier for people to pinpoint flavours they’re tasting.
But it’s not the only way to stand out. “You can aim in different directions such as savoury, which completely makes your palate do a 180 after tasting 10 sweet cocktails,” he says. “I guess originality is the thing that stands out the most at competitions, so however you achieve that is up to you.”
If you don’t get to try McNolty’s creation at the Made With Love Regional Finals, you’ll be able to try it anytime in December at Nhau Bar, where it’ll be the featured cocktail for the month. His current favourite cocktail on the bar’s menu, though – and the one he normally first suggests to customers – is the ‘Mountain High,” a riff on a gin fizz served in a Collins glass. “Lemon Sour and Sesame are the two flavours that hit you first, and then you are left with a creamy and slightly sweet strawberry texture from the mixture of Amermelade, Bergamot Gin and egg whites,” he says. Garnished with Labrador Tea, it has a subtle aroma while you sip.
And since the competition is about creating the best cocktails people have never tried before, I asked McNolty the obvious question: What’s the best cocktail he’s ever drank?
“Probably a cocktail I had at Civil Liberties in Toronto this past summer. It
was a short and strong drink that I had let the bartender experiment with. He hit every tasting note perfectly: umami, slightly sweet and bitter.” The cocktail was a mix of rum añejo, amaro, lime bitters and an aperitivo he didn’t recognize,” he said.
Even pros like being surprised.
What you need to know:
When: Monday, November 25th, 2019, from 6pm to 11 pm
Where: L’Olympia de Montréal, 1004 Rue Sainte-Catherine E, Montréal,
Tickets: Early Bird until November 11th: $55; after November 11th: $65
At the door: $75 for all-inclusive cocktails and some snack-like food pairings.
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The Competitors
Kevin Mazzu – Doubletree by Hilton Aéroport de Montréal
Samuel Beaulieu – Grumman78
Emma Nu Tella – L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon – Montréal
Matis Lafreniere – Nacarat
Thierry Brodeur – L’Assommoir
Asilex Rodriguez – Datcha
Ghislain Bouquier – Crowd Bar & Flair
Claudia Doyon – Le Coureur des Bois Bistro Gourmand
Alec ‘blue’ Besner – Pacini Saint-Hyacinthe
Marki Raymond – Le Flamant
Mackenzie McNolty – Nhậu Bar
Rayane Sadni – Atwater Cocktail Club
Philippe Castonguay – Bar Les Cousins
Johanna Dhont – Restaurant Henri Brasserie Française
Laurent Lefebvre – Restaurants Europea
Christian Casiraghi – Independent
Patricia Jeanson – La Distillerie
Simon Bertrand-Girard – Les Enfants Terribles
Jason Cabanillas – Shaker St-Laurent
Lambert Paquette – Le Red Tiger
The National Prizes:
2 Travels in Italy with Campari
2 VIP Experiences with Disaronno
2 Trips to Mexico with Espolon Tequila
2 Travels to Nicaragua with Flor de Caña
2 Trips to Scotland with Jura Whisky
2 Trips to New Orleans with Sazerac
2 Trips to Kentucky with Woodford Reserve
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