Seehuusen is the first to win the competition, having launched its first edition this year. 

Joseph Cartron, brand manager of Justine Clavel, said: “The finalists offered us a magnificent moment of sharing and taste creation. We wanted to surprise the finalists with something different from the other competitions: combining the two demanding worlds of French gastronomy and mixology.”

The seven finalists were invited to the birthplace of the Burgundy liquor house in Nuits-Saint-Georges, with the other finalists including Keoghan Taylor from Great Britain, Joel Helini from Denmark, Manuela Chiaramonte from Italy, Thomas Trefcon from France and Jihad Hotricano from UAE.

With the competition brief only shared on the day of the final, the Unexpected Cartron Tour finished with each bartender having only three hours to prepare two serves. The first cocktail was to be paired with a dessert produced by French chef Philippe Etchebest, and the second was to ‘Make Cassis Cool Again’.

The judging panel, consisting of Etchebest, Christian Suzuki-Orellana (aka Suzu) from Drink Masters in the US, journalist Roland Graf and Joseph Cartron’s own Judith Cartron, scored Seehuusen the highest marks overall, crowning him as the inaugural UTC champion.