Monkey Shoulder, a free-spirited, fun-loving blended malt owned by William Grant & Sons, announced the fifth season of its biggest event ever – the Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Championship – in India from 10th May to 7th June.

After gruelling through five distinctive levels that focus on ingredients, mixing, pouring, nosing, and of course, acing the perfect serve. But the best part of the competition? No one needs to be a pro to take part! If you love bartending, you already have what it takes to be a Monkey Shoulder Ultimate Bartender Champion!

This young bartender working in Pune, Viresh Mangrule started his career with and then worked his way thru becoming a Food & beverage captain at the Earth restaurant in Westin. He was very fascinated by Jeet Rana who is the brand ambassador for Stranger & Sons. Viresh trained under his guidance & worked his way to finally work behind the bar.

At the young age of 22, Viresh has now been awarded the Ultimate Bartender India finalist.

To try out his concoctions, you should head over to Soy Como Soy in Kalyani Nagar where he currently creating some new concoctions, as well as handling the bar at Prem’s & Swig.

He has been kind enough to share with us his winning recipe which is a must try for all..

MMS (MORACCAN MONKEY SOUR)

Ingredients– Monkey shoulder whisky, Apple and galangal cordial, Lime juice, Marakkesh bitter, Vegan foaming agent
Garnish:- mint spring or leaves
Method:- dry shake and fine strain

His cocktail making mantra is using unique ingredients, quite like the one he has used above such as the Marrakesh bitters which are spicy cinnamon & ginger with the coolness of mint & an in-house apple & galangal cordial.

For this youngster, this competition is just the start & is looking forward to finally representing on the International platform in Berlin, Germany in October this year.

This is just the start of his journey and he wishes to soon compete in The World-class Diageo competition & The Bacardi legacy competition.