The Fairmont Pac Rim is Becoming a Breeding Ground for Bartending Champs

With Botanist’s Jeff Savage winning this year’s World Class, that’s three winners in six years from the Fairmont.

It’s official—the Fairmont Pacific Rim is now the New York Yankees of Canada’s drinks scene. Botanist‘s Jeff Savage has just won Diageo World Class Canada in Whistler, which means that, since 2014, Pac Rim bartenders have won this most coveted cocktail competition three times. The Lobby Lounge’s Grant Sceney won in 2014; Chris Enns, also of the Lobby Lounge, won last year; and, now, there’s Savage. Savage, indeed.

I struggle with how to put this into perspective. I think it’s fair to call Diageo World Class the MVP award of the drink-mixing game. And you can’t win it twice. So imagine a sports team that had three different MVPs over six years—you’d call that a serious dynasty. Even more impressive is that, in those three years they didn’t win, two other Vancouver barkeeps—Royal Dinette‘s Kaitlyn Stewart and Bittered Sling Bitters‘ Lauren Mote—won. So that’s five of six for YVR.

That’s something that’s definitely worth raising a glass to. Savage heads to Amsterdam, Skye and Glasgow in September for his chance to bring home the Diageo World Class. Cheers to that.