If you’ve swung by Anti:Dote lately, you may have noticed some changes at the Fairmont Singapore cocktail bar. The decor’s different – the once strange pole-like seats have been swopped for more practical barstools, for example. The lighting’s better. Barcelona-born head chef Carlos Montobbio has also moved on, so the kitchen – and the food offerings – has changed as well.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the creative brilliance of head craftsman Tom Hogan (main picture), who first joined Anti:Dote late 2013. His innovative twists to traditional classics has turned what could have been a boring hotel bar into one of the more lauded nightspots in town, even earning the accolades from his fellow peers when they accorded him the title of Best Male Bartender in this year’s Singapore Bar Awards.

And it seems his employer, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, agrees. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has selected Tom Hogan as one of a number of “Fairmont Tastemakers” – along with Grant Sceney from Fairmont Pacific Rim, Nader Chabaane from Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, and Erik Lorincz from The Savoy – and earlier this year tasked him to help curate the hotel group’s new global cocktail menu. Fairmont sent Hogan and the other Tastemakers to celebrity chef and star mixologist Kathy Casey at her famous Seattle-based Liquid Kitchen in June this year, and together they developed a selection of new delicious cocktails that will be introduced at Anti:Dote as well as other Fairmont bars in twenty other countries around the world.

VSOP Boulevardier

That new cocktail menu, romantically called the Revivals – which drew inspiration from some of the most requested classics but add a twist to the original recipe by incorporating a wide array of different ingredients, styles and techniques – is now available at Anti:Dote. They are the Sparkling Collins Royale, a take on the good ol’ Tom Collins; the Pomegranate Paloma, which replaces the usual grapefruit soda with pomegranate juice in the tequila-based drink; the Right Word, a twist on the gin-forward Last Word; Perfect Martinez, which sexes up the original Martinez with the use of Cointreau; the VSOP Boulevardier (pictured above) ups the regular Boulevardier with cognac; and the Fairmont Old-Fashioned, which sees the uncommon use of both bourbon and rum in the classic.

“We are excited to be part of yet another creative brand milestone with the new Fairmont Global Cocktail Program. This will be the start to creating many more guests’ moments into memories over sipping pleasures at Anti:dote,” says Scott Murray, Hotel Manager of Fairmont Singapore.

“Tom’s mastery at classic cocktail making, coupled with his flair of modern experimental mixing can truly be seen from this latest menu which sees a perfecting of the best old turned new cocktails,” Murray adds.

Global spirits included in the two-year Fairmont Tastemakers program include: Remy Martin VSOP Fine Champagne Cognac, Belvedere Vodka, Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label, The Botanist Islay Dry Gin, Bombay Sapphire, Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey, Woodford Reserve Distillers Select, Cointreau, Mount Gay Rum, Casamigos Tequila and Louis XIII.

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