The American Bar inside the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire has been named one of the world's most beautiful bars in a new book detailing the most extraordinary cocktail venues across the globe.
Published by Cultural Union, Inside the World's Most Beautiful Bars features venues from iconic cities including New York, London and Hong Kong, alongside the intimate Scottish bar, which is known as a celebrity hotspot.
Art Deco Design and Jazz Age Heritage
The bar is praised in the book for its "Art Deco-inspired lighting, leather upholstery and intricate marquetry depicting local flora and fauna". Designed by the acclaimed David Collins Studio, the interior is inspired by the era the historic hotel opened in 1924.
The book states: "The redesign pays respectful homage to its Jazz Age origins while introducing a contemporary sensibility. The American Bar is a sophisticated retreat, seamlessly blending the hotel's historic character with elevated, glamorous and contemporary design."
Classic Cocktails and Vintage Style
The American Bar is the smallest and most intimate bar inside the five-star hotel. It is renowned for its classic cocktail menu, featuring timeless preparations with modern interpretations using local Scottish ingredients. Bartenders wear sharp tuxedos, and guests are invited to dress in their finest attire.
Menus are styled like 20th-century vintage pocket encyclopedias, known as Observer books, featuring detailed illustrations, flavour maps, and deep dives into local botanicals. The bar's Rose Compendium cocktail menu is inspired by the British Rose Annuals, first published in 1876.
Zero-Waste Cocktails and Other Featured Bars
Menu specials include the Spiced Marzipan cocktail made with Ron Zacapa Centenario 23y Rum, Nougat and Amaro, and the Smoked Cherry made with Casamigos Joven Mezcal, cherry syrup and sparkling mate. The bar also uses creative zero-waste techniques, with around 80 per cent of non-spirit ingredients coming from leftover ingredients elsewhere in the hotel.
Previous examples include a Blueberry vodka-based cocktail using Gleneagles' Garden Café blueberry muffins, and a Banana-based cocktail using leftover peels that are slowly caramelised before being used to infuse Bourbon. Other bars featured in the book include the Red Room in the Connaught Hotel in London and The King Cole Bar in The St Regis, New York City.
