Tales of the Cocktail Foundation has announced its international nominees for the 20^th annual Spirited Awards, with a strong showing from hotel bars across the shortlist.

The Spirited Awards recognise excellence across the international bar and cocktail industry, honouring achievements in both domestic and global categories. The programme celebrates leaders in bartending, bar design, writing and media, while also presenting major global honours including World’s Best Cocktail Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Menu.

In the Best International Hotel Bar category, nominees include Bar Trigona at Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur, Firefly at The Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok and Cosmo Pony at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta among others. Hotel-affiliated venues also appear throughout the wider shortlist, including BKK Social Club at Four Seasons Bangkok in the Best International Bar Team category and Jigger & Pony at Amara Hotel. Meanwhile, Giulia Cuccurullo earned a nomination for International Bartender of the Year for her work at Artesian within The Langham in London.

Full list of 2026 Spirited Awards Top 10 International Nominees:

Best International Hotel Bar

Argo at Four Seasons — Hong Kong, China
Bar Sathorn at W Bangkok — Bangkok, Thailand
Bar Trigona at Four Seasons — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Botanist at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel — Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cosmo Pony at Grand Hyatt Hotel — Jakarta, Indonesia
Firefly at The Sindhorn Kempinski Hotel — Bangkok, Thailand
Hero at Trademark Hotel — Nairobi, Kenya
Library Bar at Fairmont Royal York — Toronto, ON, Canada
Origin Bar at Shangri-La Hotel — Singapore
Virtu at Four Seasons Tokyo Otemachi — Tokyo, Japan

International Bartender of the Year presented by Brown-Forman

Giovanni Allario — Moebius Milano, Milan, Italy
Hedda Bruce — Tjoget, Stockholm, Sweden
Giulia Cuccurullo — Artesian, The Langham, London, UK
Elise Hanson — Civil Works, Toronto, ON, Canada
Uno Jang — Jigger & Pony Group, Singapore
Rob Libecans — Caretaker’s Cottage & Three Horses, Melbourne, Australia
Vijay Mudaliar — Native, Singapore
Yayo Nava — Bar Mauro, Mexico City, Mexico
Alonso Palomino — Lady Bee, Lima, Peru
Jeff Savage — Prophecy Bar, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Best International Bar Mentor

Giorgio Bargiani
Monica Berg
Evelyn Chick
Shingo Gokan
Andrew Ho
Indra Kantono
Eli Martinez Bello
Anna Sebastian
Kaitlyn Stewart
Jean Trinh

Best International Brand Ambassador

Jenna Ba — Diageo
Claudia Cabrera — Fernet Branca
Jesse Estes — Tequila Ocho
Caitlin Hill — Remy Cointreau
Daniyel Jones — House of Angostura
Brendon Khoo — Monkey Shoulder
Karina Mair — Michter’s
Tim Philips-Johansson — Johnnie Walker
Alexandros Sourmpatis — Three Cents
Charmaine Thio — Hendrick’s Gin

Best International Bar Team presented by William Grant & Sons

Bar Leone — Hong Kong, China
Bar Mauro — Mexico City, Mexico
Bar Us — Bangkok, Thailand
BKK Social Club at Four Seasons Bangkok — Bangkok, Thailand
Caretaker’s Cottage — Melbourne, Australia
Foco — Barcelona, Spain
Jigger & Pony at Amara Hotel — Singapore
Moebius Milano — Milan, Italy
Paradiso — Barcelona, Spain
Satan’s Whiskers — London, UK

Best International Cocktail Bar

Bar Mauro — Mexico City, Mexico
Bar Nouveau — Paris, France
Bar Us — Bangkok, Thailand
Caretaker’s Cottage — Melbourne, Australia
Coa — Hong Kong, China
El Gallo Altanero — Guadalajara, Mexico
Handshake Speakeasy — Mexico City, Mexico
Panda & Sons — Edinburgh, Scotland
Satan’s Whiskers — London, UK
Zest — Seoul, South Korea

Best International Restaurant Bar

Angelita — Madrid, Spain
Ante — Sydney, Australia
Arca — Tulum, Mexico
Bar Raval — Toronto, ON, Canada
Caffe Fernet — Singapore
Fura — Singapore
HiBoRu — Taipei, Taiwan
Lady Bee — Lima, Peru
Le Mary Celeste — Paris, France
Locale Firenze — Florence, Italy

Best New International Cocktail Bar

Abstract Bistrot — Paris, France
Bar De Vie — Paris, France
Chow Chow House — Mexico City, Mexico
Despacho Margarita — Mexico City, Mexico
Mius — Hong Kong, China
Montana — Hong Kong, China
Pop City x Pony — Singapore
Shakerato — Amsterdam, Netherlands
Three Horses — Melbourne, Australia
Waltz — London, UK