Brown-Forman hosted the Connecticut state championship of the 2022 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience cocktail competition at Wood n’ Tap in Newington on April 11. Eleven bartenders vied for the chance to be named state champion and move forward in the national competition. Competitors were required to make two Woodford Reserve cocktails for judges: a version of the Manhattan and an original. Each competitor was judged using a points system by a panel of three judges: Anthony DeSerio, Dr. Booze CT; Dan Rek, Mecha Noodle Bar; and Khalid Williams, The Barrel Age and Taprock Beer Bar & Refuge. Geoff Smith, Birch Hill Tavern, was named State Champion. Sebastian Guerrero of Mystic’s Port of Call and Andres Santiago Monroy of ATC South Street were named second- and third-place winners. One of 39 semifinalists from around the country, Smith will advance to the next leg of the Manhattan Experience at the Woodford Reserve distillery in Tennessee for a week of brand education and continued competition June 5-9. The top six finalists from Tennessee will then compete for the grand prize at the finale event in New York City, with the grand-prize winner named “Master of the Manhattan,” who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to London and a feature article on Liquor.com.