Lustau Sherry Cocktail Competition

The aim is to find new contemporary classic sherry cocktails with international appeal. The ingredients must be readily available, and recipes should require advanced preparation of ingredients.

Cocktails must be based on at least 30ml (1oz) of any Lustau sherry on Difford's Guide or combination of Lustau sherries on Difford's Guide.

Cocktails may be in the form of long or short drinks (not shots) with a minimum of 90ml (3oz) liquid volume.

Cocktails based on fewer than seven ingredients are preferred, including fruit juices, syrups, drops, or dashes. Solid garnishes are not considered ingredients. If citrus fruit zest is specified as a garnish, it is acceptable to spray it over the drink.

This competition is open to professional bartenders and home consumers around the world, with prizes for both categories.

Enter

Please complete the short form on the ENTER page. If you are already a Difford's Guide member and logged in, we already have your name and email. If you are new to Difford's Guide, then you'll be asked for this additional information to become a member and upload your cocktail recipe.

Prizes

The winning bartender will win:

• entry into CSWS program with online sherry course
• Lustau tasting box with bottles of six different styles of sherry to accompany the course
• the chance to sit an online exam towards becoming a Certified Sherry Wine Specialist.
• special VORS or other limited edition Lustau bottle
• Difford's Guide signed book

The winning home enthusiast will win:

• Lustau tasting box with bottles of six different styles of sherry
• Special VORS or other limited edition Lustau bottle
• Difford's Guide signed book
• Difford's Shaker and Stirring bundles

Key Dates

Wednesday 1st October 2025 – Competition open for entries

Sunday 26 October 2025 midnight G.M.T. – Competition closes for entries

Monday 3 November 2025 – Winners announced to mark the start of International Sherry Week.

Judging

A panel of judges, including Steven Dragun, Lustau's Amabassidor and yours truly, will assess all cocktails entered to find the worthy winners.

The most delicious yet easy-to-replicate recipes will receive the highest scores, awarded for:
Taste = out of 50 points
Ease to replicate = out of 20 points
Name = out of 10 points
Photo/video = out of 10 points
Broad appeal/potential to become a contemporary classic = out of 10 points

Rules

1. The competition is open to professional bartenders and home cocktail enthusiasts worldwide.

2. Recipes entered must be the original creation of the competitor, and if a competitor is thought to have plagiarised a known, existing cocktail, they will be disqualified. [Please use Difford's Cocktail Finder to check for combinations of the same ingredients.]

3. Ingredients must be easily available the world over and cannot be homemade.

4. Batching, infusing and pre-combining of ingredients is not permitted.

5. Recipes must be submitted with an accompanying photograph, which will be included in the judge's evaluation and contribute to scoring.

6. Cocktails may be hand-stirred, hand-shaken, thrown or blended, served hot, straight-up, or served over cubed, cracked or crushed ice.

7. Garnishes must be edible but may be mounted on sticks, skewers, straws, forks or other such common bar accessories. Use of edible fruits, herbs, leaves and spices may include sprigs, peels, barks, fruit shells etc. Any flowers and petals used must be of an edible variety.

8. By entering this competition, competitors agree to assign the copyright of their recipe and drink name to Difford's Guide (Odd Firm of Sin Ltd) and Bodegas Lustau (Emilio Lustau S.A.).

9. Drink names, including rude, lurid, sexual words or words associated with narcotics or motor vehicles, are prohibited.

10. The competition organisers reserve the right to make the final decision on any matter relating to the competition's judging.