Ten creative bartenders at the ready, Carnivo XO bottles filled to the brim, champagnes, shots of this liquor or that liqueur, along with fruit arrangements, a few umbrellas to keep it cool, red gummy bears and flames combined for an event that would take one lucky winner to Las Vegas.

The first annual Carnivo XO Mixologist Competition, held Monday night at Mediterraneo, was a resounding success.

The event?s first place winner was Troy Albouy, of Flanagan?s, in second was Michael Scott of Splash night club, while Andrew Holmes of 441 Productions took third place.

The other mixologist finalists were Delvin Caines of Coral Beach Club, Ryan Gibbons of the Pickled Onion, Emma Sims of Salt Rock Grill, Joe Dacosta of the Happy Valley Grocery, Paolo Odoli of the Coco Reefs, David Lee Tucker of the Heritage Court at the Fairmont Hamilton and Paul Sofianos of Goslings.

The Unit? organised competition drew out a few hundred invited guests to sample the tasty concoctions being assembled.

The judges were local personalities such Dennie O?Conner, conference service and catering manager of the Fairmont Southampton Princess, Marino Ramazio, manager of Splash Night Club, Graham Outerbridge, The Captain, Power 95 presenter at the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, Thao Dill, presenter at Hott 107.5 fm, Keetha Lowe, co-host of The Amie Jo Show, and (luckily enough) yours truly, Ren? Hill, lifestyle reporter at

The skilled bartenders whipped up cocktails and named them on the spot. Monikers included X-otic Cocktail, Carnito and several creations in between. Some were shaken and not stirred, while others were stirred and not shaken.

Clusters of supporters for each mixologist stood on the sidelines shouting out support for their favourites.

Some of the drinks were exciting misses and my favourites were Andrew Holmes? Carnito, which was a take on the mojito, David Lee Tucker?s Rising Son, which along with the Carnivo XO had coconut rum, mango juice, pineapple juice and champagne, winner Troy Albouy?s Carnivo Crush was an exciting taste for anyone who loves pineapple.

Michael Scott, although he took second place, was by far the most entertaining mixologist mixing drinks on his head and in his trousers.

He made a series of drinks including Agent X, Potion X and XO Bellini, which had champagne, peach schnapps and Carnivo XO.

Winner Troy Albouy spoke to later in the evening about his win and what went into preparing for the competition.

?For the X-otic Cocktail I wanted to do something that was refreshing and fun because it is so hot and people want something to bring them around again,? said Mr. Albouy who has been bartending for a decade.

?With the X-otic Martini I wanted to give a different flavour to it and I went for the coconut rum and topped it off with something different.

?For the Carnivo Crush that is one of my trademarks, but I do it with a different blend. But with Carnivo you have the fruit extracts and it just sets it off real nice.?

Asked if he experimented with mixology often, he said: ?I do, but with this product it was pretty easy. Once I tried to cut down the sweetness and found that I couldn?t do it, I thought I might as well make the drinks sweet.

?Another thing is with the type of restaurant/bar that I work in, you don?t have time for all that ? you have to make the drink and make it tasty.?

Mr. Albouy was delighted to collect the win, saying he had faced some stiff competition.

?I was impressed with the third runner up (Andrew Holmes), his drinks were really nice, he took his time and his presentation was good as well. But I thought that everyone did well.?

His winning strategy was to create a people-pleasing drink and he succeeded.

?I thought about making a simple drink, but I didn?t want it to be plain ? it?s a mixologist competition and you need to find a flavour that everyone likes and I have found that, with pineapple juice, people like that.?