{"id":4049,"date":"2010-08-27T18:37:32","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T17:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/?p=4049"},"modified":"2010-08-27T18:37:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-27T17:37:32","slug":"bulgarian-lifeguard-lifts-whiskey-lovers%e2%80%99-ultimate-dream-prize-in-global-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/bulgarian-lifeguard-lifts-whiskey-lovers%e2%80%99-ultimate-dream-prize-in-global-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"BULGARIAN LIFEGUARD LIFTS WHISKEY LOVERS\u2019 ULTIMATE DREAM PRIZE IN GLOBAL COMPETITION"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUSHMILLS VILLAGE, IRELAND: A 28-year old lifeguard from Svishtov Bulgaria has won a global Bushmills Irish Whiskey\u00ae competition with a prize described as \u2018the whiskey lover\u2019s ultimate dream\u2019.<\/p>\n

Ivan Ivanov was chosen from finalists from nine countries as the winner of the Make it at Bushmills challenge at a gala dinner this evening (Thursday) in the village of Bushmills on Ireland\u2019s north coast. The historic area has a history of whiskey production stretching back more than 400 years.<\/p>\n

He will now spend 30 days working alongside Bushmills\u2019 Master Distiller Colum Egan with the aim of becoming the first ever person outside the distillery to create their own blend of one of the world\u2019s best-loved Irish whiskeys. Their prize also includes a month\u2019s luxury penthouse accommodation in Ireland and \u00a35,000 spending money. <\/p>\n

Make it at Bushmills has attracted interest from around the globe since its launch in the New York Stock Exchange on St Patrick\u2019s day on March 17. The nine finalists from Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Northern Ireland, South Africa, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Bulgaria were chosen by public vote to represent their countries in this week\u2019s two-day \u2018Bushcamp\u2019 finale, set by Bushmills\u2019 Master Distiller, Colum Egan. <\/p>\n

The contestants included a head sommelier from a French three-star Michelin restaurant, a former Wall Street broker as well as a drumming world record holder from Lisburn, Allister Brown, aged 33 years old.<\/p>\n

Following a series of mental, physical and skills-based challenges, the performance of the individual contenders was assessed by a judging panel that included Irish rugby legend, Keith Wood, Foy Vance, one of Ireland\u2019s most respected singer-songwriters and Joel Harrison, a regular contributor to a number of leading whiskey publications.
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Ivan said: \u201cWinning the public vote to represent Bulgaria in the final phase of the competition was a real honour. But to be the overall winner is just incredible – I still can\u2019t believe I\u2019ll spend a month making whiskey with the world\u2019s best. It\u2019s the whiskey lover\u2019s ultimate dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colum Egan said: \u201cThroughout the competition, Ivan has shown that he has the passion and personality to Make it at Bushmills. This is a fantastic opportunity for him to learn how great whiskey is made and I know he\u2019ll grasp this opportunity with both hands.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Follow Ivan\u2019s progress at the Old Bushmills Distillery on facebook.com\/bushmills1608.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BUSHMILLS VILLAGE, IRELAND: A 28-year old lifeguard from Svishtov Bulgaria has won a global Bushmills Irish Whiskey\u00ae competition with a prize described as \u2018the whiskey lover\u2019s ultimate dream\u2019. Ivan Ivanov was chosen from finalists from nine countries as the winner of the Make it at Bushmills challenge at a gala dinner this evening (Thursday) in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3019,3094,3020,1016,3022,3030,3021,421],"class_list":["post-4049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ulster-rugby","tag-allister-brown","tag-bushmills-challenge","tag-bushmills-whiskey","tag-colum-egan","tag-foy-vance","tag-ivan-ivanov","tag-joel-harrison","tag-keith-wood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4049"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4053,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4049\/revisions\/4053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}