Time Out Bar Awards 2022: Judging Panel

Director of Customer Lifestyle, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited

Paul has worked in loyalty for over 20 years in Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. He is currently leading the Customer Lifestyle business line of the premium lifestyle brand Cathay and is accountable for setting strategic direction, executing the company's travel lifestyle initiatives, and growing its customer relationships. He joined the Cathay Pacific Group as Asia Miles CEO in 2018 before becoming general manager of Customer Relationship and Retail in 2020. With his expertise in the lifestyle and tourism industry and familiarity with Hong Kong's vibrant F&B industry, Smitton is helping us crown this year's Bar Award nominees. 

TV host and wine and spirits columnist

Cecilia Wong is a familiar name in Hong Kong's bar industry. She is an acclaimed whisky and wine columnist and the host of VIU TV's weekly wine and spirits talk show, 'Night Talk – Chit Chat Drink'. In 2019, she won the Communicator of the Year award from the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition. Cecilia is also a certified whisky ambassador and a Champagne Officier of Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne – an Order promoting Champagne and spreading knowledge and information about its wines outside France. This year, she shares her understanding of the city's bar industry with Time Out Hong Kong to help us score and assess the winners for our annual Bar Awards.   

Founder of TimeforWhisky and Cask Conversations

Martin is a long-time whisky and bar enthusiast who originally hails from Sydney and now living in Hong Kong. He founded TimeforWhisky.com in 2012, a platform dedicated to covering the whisky and bar scene in Asia and Australia, which has amassed a following of spirit lovers and bar fans across the region. He is currently running Cask Conversations, a Hong Kong whisky consultancy and education business. His expertise in whisky and spirits has been utilised in various industry tasting panels and regional competitions. Together with our expert critics, Eber is lending us his time to help crown this year's Bar Award honorees. 

Editor-in-chief of Time Out Hong Kong 

Tatum has been Time Out Hong Kong's editor-in-chief since 2020 and is responsible for the magazine's overall digital and print content. She has been in the publishing industry for over a decade and has held editor and creative director posts in various publications and advertising companies in the Philippines, covering lifestyle stories and creating campaigns for some of the region's biggest liquor brands and beverage companies. She established the first online drink publication in the Philippines, DrinkManila.com, in 2016, and she has since been judging top bartending and cocktail competitions in the region. Together with Time Out Hong Kong's editorial team, they sipped boozy drinks and visited the city's best bars to present you with the nominees for this year's Bar Awards.