The Canadian winner will represent Canada at the Diageo WORLD CLASS Global competition in Shanghai China, this coming September.

TORONTO, March 28, 2024 /CNW/ - Over the past fifteen years WORLD CLASS has supported, trained, and inspired over 400,000 bartenders across the globe. Yesterday, in Halifax Nova Scotia, WORLD CLASS CANADA crowned Keegan McGregor as the WORLD CLASS Canada Bartender of the Year 2024. After demonstrating his bartending prowess in seven unique challenges across a three-day competition, Keegan McGregor from The Highwayman in Halifax , Nova Scotia proved that his style of creativity behind the bar set them apart in the final stages of the competition. Last year's winner, Jacob Martin of Bar Banane in Toronto Ontario, was there to pass the torch to Keegan McGregor who now has the privilege and challenge of moving on to represent Canada at the WORLD CLASS Global competition in Shanghai, China from September 9th - 13th, 2024.

"This has truly been a deadly week and I am deeply humbled and honoured to take home the title of WORLD CLASS Canada Bartender of 2024," said Keegan McGregor, the 2024 winner. "This competition and the other nine competitors from across Canada have pushed my creativity, hospitality style, and bartending craft further than I would have expected and I am excited to represent Canada on a global stage in Shanghai!"

Diageo's WORLD CLASS challenges are crafted to showcase the five key characteristics it takes to be a WORLD CLASS bartender: hosting, craft, flavour analysis, knowledge, and WORLD CLASS advocacy. With each challenge, judges are not just looking for a beautiful cocktail, but also a masterful display of storytelling that embodies these five pillars.

Inspired by the latest industry trends, each challenge requires the use of specific spirits in the Diageo portfolio and is designed to showcase different skills in a bartender's toolkit. Challenges featured spirits from the Diageo Reserve portfolio, including Don Julio, Ketel One Vodka, Tanqueray No. Ten and Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky. Some of this year's activities included Talisker By The Sea, inspired by the amazing seafood in Halifax and meant to showcase the bartender's knowledge of pairing. Love Letter to Hospitality asked bartenders to create a menu of three (3) cocktails that may be enjoyed throughout the course of a meal that were prepared table side and had to tell a cohesive story to truly challenge and showcase each participant's hospitality skills.

"This year we are celebrating fifteen years of WORLD CLASS, a place where we immerse ourselves in cocktail culture and top-tier hospitality. Every year we bring together the most talented bartenders and I am always pleased by our industry's extraordinary creativity and unparalleled sense of community," said Michael Armistead, Diageo Canada's National Reserve and Sponsorship Manager. "We are thrilled to celebrate with Keegan McGregor, our 2024 winner! He deeply impressed our panel of esteemed judges pulling inspiration from his  surroundings, as well as his high-quality hospitality and technical bartending skills. We are excited to see how they approach the competition in Shanghai this September at the global final."

When experimenting with your own mixology skills or enjoying award-winning cocktails from your favourite local bartender, WORLD CLASS CANADA reminds you to drink responsibly.

For additional information about the program, and for details on the upcoming global competition, follow @WorldClassCa on Twitter, @WorldClassCanada on Instagram, use the hashtag #WorldClass and visit Facebook.com/WorldClassCanada.

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands, including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio Tequila, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com.

Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives and ways to share best practice.

Follow us on Twitter for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

About Diageo WORLD CLASS

Diageo WORLD CLASS is transforming fine drinking experiences and cocktail culture around the world and in the home. The industry's largest, most credible investment in the luxury on trade, it discovers the next generation of bartending talent who set the latest mixology trends and bring these to the best bars worldwide. At the core is an outstanding, global training program and internationally recognized platform that elevates the craft of the bartender and builds careers in the industry culminating in an annual luxury landmark week where the Diageo WORLD CLASS Bartender of the Year is announced. Launched in 2009, over 400,000 bartenders have been inspired and educated in the craft of mixology using the finest spirits in the Diageo Reserve collection. A partnership and collaboration with gurus, media, partners and owners, Diageo WORLD CLASS is widely recognized as a mark of sophistication and distinction of international fine drinking culture by bartenders and customers alike.

SOURCE Diageo

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2024/28/c8774.html