Jigger & Pony's creative director wins peer-voted prize

Mixologist Uno Jang says hospitality is just as vital as cocktail-making skills

- Yamini Chinnuswamy

Mr Uno Jang, creative director and partner at Singapore's Jigger & Pony Group, has been named the winner of the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award 2025.

The annual award, announced on Sept 10, is part of the yearly The World's 50 Best Bars awards and is the only category that is peer-voted. Voters are bartenders from venues ranked on The World's 50 Best Bars 2025.

According to 50 Best, the Bartenders' Bartender Award is a way for the global bartending community to recognise fellow mixologists who have made a significant impact in the industry over the last 18 months.

At the Jigger & Pony Group, Mr Jang, 34, is directly responsible for the beverage programme at the flagship venue of Jigger & Pony at Amara Hotel. He also oversees the menus at Gibson and Live Twice, both at Bukit Pasoh, and Cosmo Pony in Jakarta.

Under Mr Jang's creative direction, Jigger & Pony has remained a consistent presence in The World's 50 Best Bars and Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings. In 2025, it was No. 3 in the Asia's 50 Best Bars list for the second year running. It hit No. 5 in The World's 50 Best Bars list in 2024.

"I'm very honoured by this award, especially since it was voted on by my peers," Mr Jang tells The Straits Times during an interview at Jigger & Pony.

"I'm taking it as another opportunity to keep motivating myself, to keep challenging myself to be better," adds the South Korean national, who moved to Singapore in 2015.