All the Australian bars and bartenders (and publications) in the Spirited Awards Top 10
Boothby is among some familiar faces in the international Top 10 nominees this year.
Over the last two nights, the New Orleans-based Tales of the Cocktail have released their Spirited Awards international Top 10 awards finalists for the 19th time, and it has been a relatively slim year for Australian nominations.
Before we get into it, however, I’m rather pleased to report that Boothby has landed in the Top 10 for Best Cocktail & Spirits Publication for the fourth time in nearly five years — the only publication from the southern hemisphere to make the list, by the looks of things. For a small Australian outfit like Boothby, the Top 10 to me is as good as a win. So thank you to you, frankly, for doing good work — Boothby wouldn’t be possible without the bartenders, bars and producers we get to cover. Thank you also to Cara Devine for her weekly column, and all the contributors we’ve pulled together in print over the last couple of issues. The next issue is set to land at the start of June — if you’d like to support Boothby and get each issue of the quarterly magazine to your door, you can do that here.
Okay, enough of that because there are some familiar faces on the Spirited Awards Top 10 lists this year. Melbourne bar — the best in Victoria according to the Boothby Best Bars Victoria awards — Caretaker’s Cottage is a welcome sight on this year’s Spirited Awards. They’ve picked up two Top 10 nominations, one for Best Interntaional Bar Team, and one for Best International Cocktail Bar.
From Sydney, awards season stalwart Maybe Sammy gets another nod in its considerable portfolio of awards nominations. This time it is their Grand Maybe Sammy Hotel list — a menu we reviewed and enjoyed here — which earns a spot among the Top 10 for World’s Best Cocktail Menu.
Another Maybe Group venue, Dean & Nancy on 22, which turns four years old this year, has landed in the Top 10 this year for Best International Hotel Bar.
In the International Bartender of the Year category, Melbourne bartender and owner of Byrdi, Luke Whearty, lands in the Top 10 again, as does expat Australian Harrison Kenney, who makes that list for the first time and who you’ll now find behind the stick in Paris at Bar Nouveau.
Tim Philips-Johansson, the Amsterdam based global ambassador for Johnnie Walker and another expat Australian (and co-owner of the seminal Sydney bar, Bulletin Place), again landed in the Top 10 in the Best International Brand Ambassador category.
The Spirited Awards will announce their Top 4 in June, ahead of the ceremony for the 19th edition of the awards in New Orleans during Tales of the Cocktail this July. You can get the full list of nominees and more at talesofthecocktail.org.