Fenjiu Baijiu Cocktail Competition

Phillips-Hill created a media campaign to publicise the UK’s first baijiu cocktail competition for professional mixologists and bar tenders launched by baijiu distributor Cheng International and Fenjiu, the premium baijiu brand. Huge interest was achieved amongst new trade and consumer audiences, both in the competition itself and in Fenjiu baijiu.

June 2019

Andrea Dionori from Crazy Bear won first prize in the inaugural Fenjiu Cocktail Competition which took place at The Connaught Bar in Mayfair London. Runners-Up were Kisa Yang from Annabel’s, and Paolo Lazzarich from Soho House.

The theme of the competition was “The marriage of Chinese tradition and Western innovation”. Ten Finalists were asked to create an original cocktail using Fenjiu 10 Year Old baijiu, a light style baijiu, with refined and elegant aromas and flavours. Points were awarded for taste, visual impact, aroma, personality, back-story, authenticity and theatre.

The winning Fenjiu cocktailby Andrea Dionori is named The Golden Empire and is made with 35ml of Fenjiu 10 Years Old, 10 ml Cocchi Americano, 7.5ml Palo Cortado and 10ml Homemade Palo Santo cordial. This became the Fenjiu baijiu signature cocktail for one year. Andrea Dionori received an all-expenses-paid trip to China to the Fenjiu distillery and the title of UK Fenjiu Ambassador for one year which meant promoting the winning signature cocktail alongside Fenjiu, during trade shows, master classes and events held by UK distributor for Fenjiu, Cheng International.

The judging panel comprised industry legends Brian Silva of Rules and Alessandro Palazzi of Dukes Hotel alongside Enrico Gonzato of The Stratford, and Matt Harrison of Speciality Brands.

Zarina Guan is Founder and Chairman of Cheng International. She was delighted with the success of the inaugural Fenjiu cocktail competition, “Fenjiu 10 Years Old has a wonderful array of aromas and flavours which make a fantastic base for premium cocktails. The competitors enjoyed discovering Fenjiu and their cocktail creations were extremely impressive. We plan now to build on this activity in the UK as our range of Fenjiu baijius open up a whole new world of delicious and exciting drinking experiences, including cocktails, and food and Fenjiu matching.”