Santa Teresa Rum Announces Winners of the First-Ever "Sip a Nightcap" Cocktail Competition Celebrating Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum

NEW YORK, Aug. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Teresa Rum, Venezuela's oldest rum producer with a family heritage dating two centuries, today announces that Jessica Gonzalez of The NoMad has won the Grand Prize of the first-ever "Sip a Nightcap" Cocktail Competition.  The competition was hosted by Hanna Lee Communications, Inc., an award-winning agency specialized in spirits, food, wine, and lifestyle PR and social media marketing.  The competition spotlighted Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum, a premier sipping rum that shines as the base spirit of nightcap cocktails.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130830/FL72116)

As part of the Grand Prize, Gonzalez will fly to Venezuela for a one-week, all-expenses paid educational trip to the iconic Hacienda Santa Teresa in El Consejo to learn the intricacies of artisanal rum production, followed by a jaunt to Los Roques, Venezuela's Caribbean archipelago renowned for its untouched beauty and relaxed luxury. 

Will Peet of The NoMad and Gin Palace and Nick Nistico of American Cut earned Second and Third Places respectively, with a cash prize of $1,000 each.

The competition's judges were Dale DeGroff (The Museum of the American Cocktail); Leo Robitschek (The NoMad Hotel and Eleven Madison Park); Alberto Vollmer, Chairman and CEO, Santa Teresa Rum and a fifth-generation member of the family behind the distillery; and Nestor Ortega, Master Distiller, Santa Teresa Rum.

"What defined a nightcap evolved over the 19^th and 20^th centuries, from Champagne and Coffee Cocktails to Stingers and frappeed liqueurs," said DeGroff.  "The winners' spirits-driven drinks bring a revitalizing seriousness to this libations category.  I hope we've inspired a whole new generation of bartenders and mixologists to create their own 21^st century nightcaps using exemplary base spirits like Santa Teresa '1796.'"

"The competition was truly historic.  We congratulate the winners and all of the finalists for their outstanding drinks," says Vollmer, Chairman and CEO, Santa Teresa Rum.  "In Venezuela, we are accustomed to sipping '1796' neat as a nightcap, but seeing it in action in nightcap cocktails opens up an untapped world of possibilities.  With our competition, we believe the mixology world will look at the nightcap cocktail and the rum category in a whole new way."

A nightcap is generally a spirit sipped neat or a straightforward cocktail made with such a spirit.  It takes its name from an actual antique article of clothing used to keep sleepers' heads warm at night, which these cocktails purportedly do as well.  They are also a seamless way to "cap off" a night's festivities.

The first-ever "Sip a Nightcap" Cocktail Competition's partner, ShakeStir, a leading online community for bartenders and mixologists, handled the recipe submissions and promotions to its members.  For more information on ShakeStir, please visit www.shakestir.com.

The following are the winners' nightcap cocktail recipes:

• Jessica Gonzalez (The NoMad)
  Fortune Teller
  2 oz Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum
  ½ oz Cynar
  ½ oz Bonal

Build in a mixing glass with ice and stir.  Strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large cube of ice.

• Will Peet (The NoMad and Gin Palace)
  El Biscochito
  1 ½ oz Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum
  ½ oz Moscatel Sherry
  1 tsp Cane Syrup (2:1)
  3 dashes Mole Bitters (using a Japanese bitters dasher)

Stir all ingredients together with ice and strain into a double Old Fashioned glass with a large cube of ice.  Exude oils from a lemon peel over the top, then discard.  Serve.

• Nick Nistico (American Cut)
  The Night Nurse
  2 oz Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum
  ½ oz Brown Sugar Syrup
  2 dashes Chocolate/Coffee Bitters
  2 dashes Barrel Aged Bitters

Build in a mixing glass and stir, strain over a large rock of ice in a maple wood-smoked Old Fashioned glass.

Editor's Note: High-res cocktail photos are available upon request.

About Santa Teresa Rum

Santa Teresa Rum is Venezuela's oldest producer of award-winning blended and aged rums and its rum-making heritage extends for more than 200 years.  Independently owned and operated by the fifth generation of the Vollmer family, the company is committed to producing best-of-class rums in a way that sustains the social fabric of its local communities.  Hacienda Santa Teresa, the estate where the company's rums are produced, is located in the Aragua Valley, Venezuela's most revered area for cultivating sugarcane.  Master Distiller Nestor Ortega takes a very traditional approach to his craft and believes there are no shortcuts to creating quality rums.  In the U.S., Santa Teresa sells a range of blended and aged rums, including Santa Teresa "1796" Solera Aged Rum, its flagship sipping rum; Santa Teresa Selecto and Santa Teresa Gran Reserva, which are premium mixing rums; as well as Santa Teresa Claro, a fine blend of aged and young rums.  Santa Teresa Rum leads the market in its native Venezuela.  Ranked the Top 5 best-selling super-premium rum producer worldwide by the IWSR, the company exports to Spain, Italy, Chile, the U.K. and the U.S.  For more information, please visit www.ronsantateresa.com, "like" us on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/14CdpxW, follow us on Twitter at @santateresausa and follow us on Instagram at @santateresarumusa.

Media Contacts:

Hanna Lee or Jen Neugeboren
Hanna Lee Communications, Inc.
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://hannaleecommunications.com/

SOURCE Hanna Lee Communications, Inc.