Have your favourites made it through? By Holly Graham.  

The Bar Awards has whittled down this year’s finalists to the Top 4, ahead of the awards ceremony at Zouk this Sunday August 19

The Bar Awards recognises top bars and hospitality advocates in Singapore and to get to this point, The Lead Panel of local industry experts decided on 14 categories covering drink and dining experiences as well as the city’s best bartending talent.

These categories then went to public nominations, followed by the public nominees being passed to The Panel, a group of 45 industry members selected by The Lead Panel, to decide the Top 10s followed by the Top 4s, and finally the award winners on the big night.

Before the ceremony at Zouk this Sunday, the city’s bars will host a week of guest shifts and parties, including guest shifts from Employees Only Hong Kong’s Aili Nguyen – winner of The Rising Star award at The Bar Awards Hong Kong 2018 and an appearance from Satan’s Whiskers’ (London) Joe Hall at Flagship’s third birthday. For more details on the shifts and parties, click here.

Presented in alphabetical order, here are this year’s The Bar Awards Singapore Top 4s across the 14 categories:

The Bar Awards Luminaries, presented by the House of Angostura
The Bar Awards Singapore 2018 sees the introduction of The Bar Awards Luminaries, presented by the House of Angostura. The inductees to The Bar Awards Luminaries are those that have greatly contributed to the growth and development of the Singapore bar community. This award may honour an individual, a number of individuals, a group and/or an initiative, and won’t be announced until the party on August 19.

The Rising Star, presented by Perrier
Bai Jia Wei – Employees Only
Cherrie Soh – Caffe Fernet
Jayden Ong – Fancy (formerly)
Ronan Keilthy – 28 Hong Kong Street

Best Restaurant Bar, presented by Restaurant, Pub and Bar Asia
Burnt Ends
Caffe Fernet
Neon Pigeon
Tippling Club

Best Beer Bar, presented by Peroni
American Taproom
Freehouse
Smith Street Taps
The Guild

Best Wine Bar
Atlas
La Terre
Le Bon Funk
RVLT

Best Beverage Event, presented by Melbourne Moonshine

Asia’s 50 Best Bars
Gin Jubilee
Singapore Cocktail Festival
Whisky Live

Best Education and Community Ambassador, presented by Altos Tequila
Chris Marshall – Distilled
Denise Khan Tan – Bacardi
Jay Gray – William Grant & Sons
Matthew Fergusson-Stewart – William Grant & Sons

Best Specialist Concept, presented by Diplomatico

Atlas (Gin)
Orihara Shoten (Sake)
The Auld Alliance (Whisky)
The Secret Mermaid (American Spirits)

Best Hospitality Ambassador, presented by Fever-Tree
Guoyi Gan – Jigger & Pony Group
Sim Sze Wei – Atlas
Steve Schneider – Employees Only
Vijay Mudaliar – Native

Best Hospitality Team, presented by Hendrick’s Gin
Atlas
Employees Only
Jigger & Pony
Manhattan (Regent Hotel Singapore)

Most Creative Cocktail Program, presented by Cointreau
Native
Operation Dagger
Smoke & Mirrors
Tippling Club

Best New Bar, presented by Campari
Caffe Fernet
Fancy
Le Bon Funk
Origin Bar & Grill (Shangri-La Hotel Singapore)

Bartender of the Year, presented by Monkey Shoulder
Anthony Zhong – Shin Gi Tai
Jerrold Khoo – Jigger & Pony
Sim Sze Wei – Atlas
Vijay Mudaliar – Native

Bar of the Year, presented by Mekhong, the Spirit of Thailand
Atlas
Manhattan (Regent Hotel Singapore)
Native
Tippling Club

To learn more about The Bar Awards, see our hub page here, or their Facebook page here.

DRiNK Magazine is the official publication partner for The Bar Awards 2018.