We have a winner for the Imbibe Cover Cocktail Contest, and we couldn't be more excited about our choice. We had about 200 submissions, with so many fantastic recipes and stories to go with them, but in the end, we selected David Delaney (pictured below), who works at The Citizen Wine Bar in Worcester, Massachusetts. We won't be revealing David's recipe until the May/June issue comes out, but we can say that not only is his cocktail delicious and balanced; it's also creative and very fun representation of the spirit of Imbibe with a great backstory about how the magazine inspired his cocktail's creation (and just a hint: it's a rye whiskey cocktail but with some surprising supporting ingredients). 
In addition to having his cocktail featured on the May/June cover, David is receiving a Founder's Day Pass to this year's Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, as well as a four-night stay at the beautiful Hotel Le Marais, located in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter—he was so excited when he received our email that he said he screamed in the middle of a meeting. Congrats, David—we're thrilled to show off your cocktail on our upcoming cover, and look forward to seeing you at Tales!Thanks to everyone who submitted recipes—we really were so impressed by the quality of the recipes and enthusiasm behind each entry. We also want to give a special shout-out to the people who made it into our group of top 25 finalists because we were blown away by the thought and creativity that went into each submission (listed alphabetically).
Todd Appel, Chicago, IL (Piranha Bros.)
Charlie Bradshaw and Kathleen McCook, Alpharetta, GA (Drink Bloggers)
Brittany Chardin, Atlanta, GA (Beverage Writer)
Anthony DeCoste, Lane Douglas, MA (Home Enthusiast)
Preston Eckman, Philadelphia, PA (Opa)
Paul Edlund, Seattle, WA (Home Enthusiast)
Nathan Greene, Las Vegas, NV (Vanguard Lounge)
Brian Johnson, Tacoma, WA (Home Enthusiast)
Ted Kilgore, St. Louis, MO (Taste)
Bob Lamb, Mount Rainier, MD (Home Enthusiast)
Jessica Maria, Albany, CA (Hotsy Totsy Club)
Darlene Mann-Clarke, Greenville, SC (American Grocery)
Marcelo Nascimento, Austin, TX (Spirits Professional)
Joshua Pearson, Chicago, IL (Sepia)
Daniel Perrigan, Madison, NJ (Home Enthusiast)
Matt Seiter, St. Louis, MO (Sanctuaria)
Nate Selsor, St. Louis, MO (Monarch Restaurant)
Colin Shearn, Philadelphia, PA (The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co.)
Dave Shenaut, Portland, OR (Beaker & Flask and Irving Street Bistro)
Jason Sobel, New York, NY (Home Enthusiast)
Karin Stanley, Brooklyn, NY (Little Branch, Dutch Kills, Milk and Honey)
Summer Voelker, Pittsburgh, PA (Salt of the Earth)
TJ Vytlacil, St. Louis, MO (Monarch Restaurant)
Lance Andrew Warner, Atlanta, GA (Top Flr)
Photo of David Delaney ©2010 Scott Erb/erbphoto.com