Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards winners

Words by Simon Difford

Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards winners image 1

Established in 2007, Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards recognise the best bars, bar talent, drinks writers and drinks products from the United States and around the world.

Helen David Lifetime Achievement Award

Established in 2008, this award recognises a body or work and the impact of a personality on the general cocktail community over the course of many years. There are individuals who have worked long and hard to change the industry and educate the public. This award is to provide special recognition to these individuals and their efforts.
2008 Dale 'King Cocktail' DeGroff, New York, USA
2009 Peter Dorelli, London, England
2010 Brian Rea, USA
2011 Dick Bradsell, London, England
2012 Gary 'gaz' Regan, USA
2013 Salvatore 'Maestro' Calabrese, London, England
2014 Julio Bermejo, San Francisco, USA
2015 Jonathan Downey, London, England
2016 Sasha Petraske, New York City, USA

World's Best Cocktail Bar

2007 Pegu Club, New York, New York
2008 Milk & Honey, New York City, USA
2009 PDT, New York City, USA
2010 The Cocktail Bar at The Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Ireland
2011 Employees Only, New York City, New York
2012 The Connaught Bar, London, England
2013 Drink, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2014 Artesian, London, England
2015 Dead Rabbit, New York City, USA
2016 The Connaught Bar at the Connaught, London, England

Best American Cocktail Bar

Established in 2007 as Best Classic Cocktail Bar, this award was renamed Best American Cocktail Bar for the 2009 Spirited Awards.
2007 Zig Zag Cafe, Seattle, Washington
2008 Milk & Honey, New York City
2009 Pegu Club, New York City
2010 Death & Co., New York City
2011 Drink, Boston, Massachusetts
2012 The Varnish, Los Angeles
2013 Clover Club, Brooklyn, New York City
2014 The Dead Rabbit, New York City
2015 Williams & Graham, Denver
2016 Smuggler's Cove, San Francisco, USA

Best International Cocktail Bar

Award established in 2014.
2014 28 Hong Kong Street, Singapore
2015 Artesian, London, England
2016 Happiness Forgets, London, England

International Bartender of the Year

Established in 2007 as 'Mixologist/Bartender of the Year', this award was divided into American and International Bartender of the Year in 2009.
2007 Audrey Saunders, Pegu Club, New York City, USA
2008 Nick Strangeway, Hawksmoor, London, England
2009 Tony Conigliaro, London, England
2010 Agostino Perrone, London, England
2011 Erik Lorincz, London, England
2012 Alex Kratena, Artesian at The Langham, London, England
2013 Jack McGarry, The Dead Rabbit New York, New York, USA
2014 Simone Caporale, Artesian at The Langham, London, England
2015 Ryan Chetiyawardana, London, England
2016 Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five, Tokyo, Japan

American Bartender of the Year

Award established in 2009 - see above.
2009 James Meehan, PDT, NYC
2010 Murray Stenson
2011 Tie between Kenta Goto, NYC and Sam Ross, NYC
2012 Joaquin Simo, Death & Co, New York City
2013 Charles Joly, The Aviary Chicago, Illinois
2014 Sean Kenyon, Denver
2015 Ivy Mix, Brooklyn, New York City, USA
2016 Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common, Portland, Oregon, USA

Best International Bar Team

Award established 2014.
2014Winner: Artesian at the Langham, London, England
2015 28 Hong Kong Street, Singapore
2016 American Bar at the Savoy, London, England

Best American Bar Team

Award established 2014.
2014 Trick Dog, San Francisco, USA
2015 Employees Only, New York City, USA
2016 ABV San Francisco, USA

World's Best Spirits Selection

Established in 2007 as World's Best Drink Selection this award was renamed World's Best Spirits Selection for the 2009 Spirited Awards.
2007 Zig Zag Cafe, Seattle, Washington, USA
2008 Salvatore at Fifty, London, England
2009 Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Ireland
2010 Bar Lebensstern in Cafe Einstein, Berlin, Germany
2011 Employees Only, New York City, USA
2012 Salvatore's at Playboy Club, London, England
2013 Canon: whiskey and bitters emporium Seattle, Washington, USA
2014 The Dead Rabbit, New York City, USA
2015 Canon, Seattle, Washington, USA
2016 Tommy's, San Francisco, USA

World's Best Hotel Bar

Established in 2009, this award was divided into Best American Hotel Bar and Best International Hotel Bar for the 2014 Spirited Awards.
2009 Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Ireland
2010 The Connaught Bar, the Connaught Hotel, London, England
2011 The Savoy, London, England
2012 Artesian at The Langham, England
2013 The NoMad Hotel New York, New York, USA

Best International Hotel Bar

Award established 2014.
2014 Artesian at The Langham, London, England
2015 Beaufort Bar at The Savoy, London, England
2016 The Connaught Bar at The Connaught, London, England

Best American Hotel Bar

Award established 2014.
2014 Clyde Common, Portland, Oregon
2015 The Broken Shaker, Miami Beach, Florida
2016 The Elephant Bar at The NoMad, New York City, USA

Best Restaurant Bar

Established in 2011, this award was divided into Best American Restaurant Bar and Best International Restaurant Bar for the 2014 Spirited Awards.
2011 Eleven Madison Park, New York City, USA
2012 The Slanted Door, San Francisco, USA
2013 Saxon + Parole Restaurant, New York City, USA

Best International Restaurant Bar

Award established 2014.
2014 The Bon Vivant, Edinburgh, England
2015 Blind Pig at Social Eating House, London, England
2016 Hawksmoor Spitalfields, London, England

Best American Restaurant Bar

Award established 2011.
2014 The NoMad, New York City, USA
2015 Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks, Boston, USA
2016 Saxon + Parole, New York City, USA

World's Best New Cocktail Bar

Established in 2007 as Best New Cocktail Bar, the award was expanded to World's Best New Cocktail Bar for the 2008 Spirited Awards. In 2014, this award was divided into Best New American Cocktail Bar and Best New International Cocktail Bar.
2007 Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco, USA
2008 Le Lion - Bar de Paris, Hamburg, Germany
2009 Clover Club, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2010 Mayahuel, New York City, USA
2011 Eau de Vie, Sydney, Australia
2012 The Zetter Townhouse, London, England
2013 The Dead Rabbit New York, New York, USA

Best New International Cocktail Bar

Award established 2014. Only bars which have opened in the 12 months preceding the opening date of nominations may be nominated.
2014 White Lyan, London, England
2015 Dandelyan, London, England
2016 Oriole, London, England

Best New American Cocktail Bar

Award established 2014. Only bars which have opened in the 12 months preceding the opening date of nominations may be nominated.
2014 Three Dots and A Dash, Chicago, Illinois
2015 ABV, San Francisco, California
2016 Sweet Liberty, Miami Beach

World's Best Cocktail Menu

The judges seek to reward innovative and thirst inducing cocktail menus. Both the design and content are considered.
2007 Papparazzi, Bratislava, Slovakia
2008 1806 Bar, Melbourne, Australia
2009 Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Ireland
2010 Death & Co., New York City, USA
2011 Artesian at The Langham, London, England
2012 Callooh Callay - London, England
2013 The Dead Rabbit New York City, USA
2014 The Aviary, Chicago, USA
2015 Dead Rabbit, New York, USA
2016 Dandelyan, London, England

Best High Volume Cocktail Bar

Established in 2011, in 2014 this award was divided into Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar and Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar.
2011 Rickhouse, San Francisco, USA
2012 Eastern Standard, Boston, USA
2013 Clover Club Brooklyn, New York City, USA

Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar

Award established 2011.
2014 Winner: Schumann's, Munich, Germany
2015 The Black Pearl/The Attic, Melbourne, USA
2016 Callooh Callay, London, USA

Best American High Volume Cocktail Bar

Award established 2014.
2014 Polite Provisions, San Diego
2015 Employees Only, New York
2016 Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas

Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer

Established in 2008 as Best Cocktail Writing, this award was divided into Best Cocktail Writing - Non-Book and Best Cocktail Writing - Author for 2011. In 2014, the Best Cocktail Writing - Author category was renamed Best Cocktail & Spirits Writer.
2008 Gary Regan (San Francisco Chronicle), USA
2009 Dave Wondrich, New York City, USA
2010 CLASS magazine (Difford's Guide), London, England
2011 Camper English, San Francisco, California, USA
2012 Dave Wondrich, New York City, USA
2013 Gary 'gaz' Regan, New York City, USA
2014 Paul Clarke, USA
2015 Dave Broom, Brighton, England
2016 Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Portland, USA

Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication

Best Cocktail Writing was divided into Best Cocktail Writing - Non-Book and Best Cocktail Writing - Author for the 2011 Spirited Awards. Then in 2014, the Best Cocktail Writing - Publication category was renamed Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication. This award is for any non-book journalism (website/magazine/newspaper etc.) which promotes bars, bartending or cocktails in general.
2011 Imbibe Magazine, Portland, Oregon, USA
2012 Liquor.com, San Francisco, USA
2013 Difford's Guide, London, England
2014 Imbibe Magazine, Portland, Oregon, USA
2015 Punch, New York City, USA
2016 Cocktail Lovers, London, England

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book

2007 The Art of the Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics" by Jeff Hollinger and Rob Schwartz
2008 Imbibe by David Wondrich
2009 The Essential Cocktail by Dale DeGroff
2010 Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh
2011 Punch by David Wondrich
2012 The PDT Cocktail Book, by Jim Meehan and Chris Gall
2013 Drinks by Tony Conigliaro
2014 Beachbum Berry's Potions of the Caribbean by Jeff Berry
2015 Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold
2016 The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual by Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry and Ben Schaffer

Best New Spirits Book

Award established 2015.
2015 Whisky: The Manual by Dave Broom
2016 Divided Spirits - Tequila, Mezcal and the Politics of Production by Sarah Bowen

Best American Brand Ambassador

Established in 2007 as 'Best Drinks Brand Representatives/Brand Ambassador', this award which recognizes the importance of personality in the promotion of drinks brands and was renamed Best American Brand Ambassador in 2009.
2007 Simon Ford (Plymouth Gin)
2008 Xavier Padovani (Hendrick's Gin0
2009 Simon Ford (Plymouth Gin & Pernod Ricard)
2010 Charlotte Voisey (William Grant & Sons Portfolio)
2011 Jacques Bezuidenhout (Partida Tequila)
2012 Jim Ryan (Hendrick's Gin, East Coast)
2013 Todd Richman (Sidney Frank Portfolio)
2014 Neyah White (Suntory Japanese Whiskies)
2015 Brooke Arthur (House Spirits)
2016 Colin Asare-Appiah (Bacardi)

Best International Brand Ambassador

Award established 2010.
2010 John Gakurur (Sagatiba)
2011 Dan Warner (Beefeater Gin)
2012 Angus Winchester (Tanqueray)
2013 Jacob Briars (Bacardi Portfolio)
2014 Giuseppe Gallo (Martini)
2015 Claire Smith-Warner (Belvedere Vodka)
2016 Max Warner (Chivas Regal)

Best Bar Mentor

Award established 2010.
2010 Dale DeGroff, New York City, USA
2011 Audrey Saunders, New York City, USA
2012 Steve Olson, USA
2013 Julie Reiner, Brooklyn, New York City, USA
2014 Dushan Zaric, USA
2015 Jim Meehan, Portland, Oregon, USA
2016 Angus Winchester, USA

Best New Spirit or Cocktail Ingredient

Awarded to what the judges consider to be the best new cocktail ingredient (spirit, liqueur, syrup or juice).
2007 St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
2008 Fever Tree Mixers
2009 Bols Genever
2010 The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
2011 Bank's 5 Island Rum
2012 Cognac Pierre Ferrand 1840 Formula
2013 Ford's Gin
2014 Del Maguey Ibérico mezcal
2015 Amaro di Angostura
2016 Stiggins' Fancy Plantation Pineapple Rum

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