The Dead Rabbit Named World’s Best Bar at 9th Annual Spirited Awards

The Dead Rabbit was named World’s Best Bar at the 9th Annual Spirited Awards®, honoring the year’s best bars, bartenders, writers and experts. The prestigious awards were announced at a gala ceremony that culminated the annual Tales of the Cocktail® festival in New Orleans. The Spirited Award for World’s Best Bar adds to The Dead Rabbit’s collection of Tales accolades, including Best American Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Drink Selection in 2014, and World’s Best New Cocktail Bar, World’s Best Cocktail Menu and International Bartender of the Year (Jack McGarry) in 2013.

Following the largest nomination pool in Spirited Awards history, winners were chosen by a voting panel of more than 100 industry experts, led by Simon Ford (Chairman), Jackson Cannon (U.S. Judging Committee Chairman), Jacob Briars (International Judging Committee Chairman) and David Wondrich (Writing Committee Chairman).

Denver’s Williams & Graham was named Best American Cocktail Bar, while San Francisco’s ABV was named Best New American Cocktail Bar. A couple of days earlier, ABV had won the Bar Fight Club competition, taking the baton from fellow S.F. bar and 2014 winner, Trick Dog.

In a press release, Cannon said, “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort of the American judges of this year’s Spirited Awards. Their thoughtful, determined approach has parsed the incredibly worthy field down to those most deserving of the highest honors this year. A toast to the winners, they truly are the best of the best!”

Last year’s winner for World’s Best Bar, the Artesian was named Best International Cocktail Bar. Dandelyan was named Best New International Cocktail Bar, the second consecutive win in the category for International Bartender of the Year, Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan), who won last year with White Lyan. 

“The Second ‘Golden Age of the Cocktail’ continues to spread around the globe, as bartenders, bar owners and ambassadors continue to set ever higher standards internationally,” said Briars. “It’s wonderful to see traditional strongholds like London and Melbourne sharing nominations with the resurgent bar scene in Paris, and to see the rise of great bars in places like Singapore and Dubai being recognized too. … There has never been a better time to be a cocktail lover around the globe.”

It was a strong year for women at the Spirited Awards: Speed Rack co-founder Ivy Mix was named American Bartender of the Year; Brooke Arthur (House Spirits) won Best American Brand Ambassador; and Claire Smith-Warner (Belvedere Vodka) was awarded Best International Brand Ambassador.

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book was an especially competitive category – the Spirited Award went to Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold. Writer Dave Broom took home awards for Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer and Best New Spirits Book, for the Whisky: The Manual. “2014 was an exceptionally fertile year for drink books and drink writing in general, with extremely difficult choices to make in each of the four writing categories,” said Wondrich. “As far as the judges are concerned, each of the finalists is a true winner and would have dominated the field in an average year. It was humbling to have to choose among them.”

Following is the complete list of 2015 Spirited Awards finalists, with winners listed in bold.

AMERICAN CATEGORIES

Best American Bar Team

• ABV (San Francisco)
• Dead Rabbit (New York)
• Employees Only (New York)
• Williams & Graham (Denver)

American Bartender of the Year

• Chris Hannah (New Orleans)
• Bobby Heugel (Houston)
• Ivy Mix (New York)
• Jeffrey Morgenthaler (Portland)

Best American Brand Ambassador

• Brooke Arthur (House Spirits)
• Colin Asare-Appiah (Bacardi)
• Jamie Gordon (Absolut Elyx)
• Chris Patino (Pernod-Ricard)

Best American Cocktail Bar

• Prizefighter (Emeryville)
• Smuggler’s Cove (San Francisco)
• Trick Dog (San Francisco)
• Williams & Graham (Denver)

Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar

• Employees Only (New York)
• Flatiron Lounge (New York)
• Harvard & Stone (Los Angeles)
• Honeycut (Los Angeles)

Best American Hotel Bar

• Sable Kitchen and Bar (Chicago)
• Spare Room (Los Angeles)
• The Broken Shaker (Miami Beach)
• The Hawthorne (Boston)

Best American Restaurant Bar

• Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks (Boston)
• Gramercy Tavern (New York)
• Nopa (San Francisco)
• The Rieger Hotel Grill and Exchange (Kansas City)

Best New American Cocktail Bar

• ABV (San Francisco)
• Julep (Houston)
• Latitude 29 (New Orleans)
• The NoMad Bar (New York)

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES

Best International Bar Team

• 28 Hong Kong Street (Singapore)
• American Bar at the Savoy Hotel (London)
• Black Pearl (Melbourne)
• Le Lion Bar de Paris (Hamburg)

International Bartender of the Year

• Marian Beke (London)
• Ryan Chetiyawardana (London)
• Zdenek Kastanek (Singapore)
• Hidetsugu Ueno (Tokyo)

Best International Brand Ambassador

• Ian Burrell (Global Rum)
• Dean Callan (Monkey Shoulder)
• George Nemec (Becherovka)
• Claire Smith-Warner (Belvedere Vodka)

Best International Cocktail Bar

• Artesian (London)
• Candelaria (Paris)
• Happiness Forgets (London)
• White Lyan (London)

Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar

• Callooh Callay (London)
• Eau de Vie (Melbourne)
• The Black Pearl/The Attic (Melbourne)
• Trailer Happiness (London)

Best International Hotel Bar

• American Bar, The Savoy (London)
• Beaufort Bar, The Savoy (London)
• The Punch Room, The Edition Hotel (London)
• Zetter Townhouse (London)

Best International Restaurant Bar

• Blind Pig at Social Eating House (London)
• Hawksmoor Spitalfields (London)
• Tippling Club (Singapore)
• Zuma (Dubai)

Best New International Cocktail Bar

• Bar Termini (London)
• Dandelyan (London)
• Le Syndicat Cocktail Club (Paris)
• The Clumsies (Athens)

WRITING CATEGORIES

Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication

• Difford’s Guide
• Liquor.com
• PUNCH
• The Cocktail Lovers

Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer

• Dave Broom
• Camper English
• Jeffrey Morgenthaler
• Robert Simonson

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book

• Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails by David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald, and Alex Day
• Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold
• The Bar Book by Jeffrey Morgenthaler
• The Old-Fashioned by Robert Simonson

Best New Spirits Book

• The Curious Bartender: An Odyssey of Malt Bourbon & Rye Whiskies by Tristan Stephenson
• Sherry by Talia Baiocchi
• Thinking Drinkers: The Enlightened Imbiber’s Guide to Alcohol by Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham
• Whisky: The Manual by Dave Broom

OVERALL CATEGORIES

Best Bar Mentor

• Bridget Albert (Chicago)
• Francesco Lafranconi (Las Vegas
• Jim Meehan (Portland)
• Angus Winchester (London)

Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient

• Amaro di Angostura
• J. Rieger & Co. Kansas City Whiskey
• Mister Katz’s Rock and Rye
• Suze Bitters

World’s Best Cocktail Menu

• Artesian (London)
• Beaufort Bar at the Savoy (London)
• Dead Rabbit (New York)
• Trick Dog (San Francisco)

World’s Best Spirits Selection

• Canon (Seattle)
• Multnomah Whiskey Library (Portland)
• The Baxter Inn (Sydney)
• Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant (San Francisco)

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

Lifetime Achievement Award: Jonathan Downey

Sam Guarino Citation: Steve Mannan

The Parlor header image courtesy of The Dead Rabbit