Top 500 Bars: Glasgow city centre cocktail speakeasy named amongst the top bars in the world

Founder Anthony Poncier says the rankings demonstrate renewed dynamism in the global cocktail bar industry with more cities added to the list: “The past few years have been a test of resilience for the bar industry. But now we’re witnessing an incredible resurgence of creativity and innovation. Our ranking captures this effervescence and highlights the most influential establishments on a global scale, that are shaping the global drinks scene.”

Introducing the 2025 rankings, they say: “This year the industry has started to boom again with a lot of new bars around the world. For 2025, the Top 500 bars ranking involves 125 different cities in 53 different countries. The ranking is quite different from last year with more countries and new bars.

“We hope that this list will help bartenders and customers discover bars wherever they visit.”

Glasgow’s speakeasy cocktail bar, The Absent Ear, is a masterclass in immersive evening entertainment—hidden away in the Merchant City and rooted in Van Gogh‑inspired imagery. A booking secures directions to the venue where the speakeasy mystique involves pressing a hidden buzzer to make your theatrical entrance. Inside the bar features exposed brick wall, vintage motifs, red velvet booths and moody lighting. Drinks are creative, eye-catching and surprising. The city centre cocktail bar was added to the global list at number 466 in an announcement from Top 500 Bars this afternoon.

The Absent Ear has featured in the UK Top 50 Cocktail Bars annual list since 2022, currently listed at number 33. Their judges say: “Delightfully disorientating speakeasy concept bar hidden in the heart of Glasgows’ Merchant City. Inspired by the late, great Vincent Van Gogh, our theme celebrates his artistic legacy with a healthy splash of creativity and just a drop of his madness.

“Once you find this multi-award-winning hidden speakeasy, guests are transported into a two-room digital gallery menu where art and cocktails collide. Featuring weird and wonderful drinks and everything in between, Glasgow’s best bartenders have crafted a daring menu where the art of the cocktail inspires the cocktail from the art.

“Two years in the making, chief creative Liam Grogan has paired minimalist precision with maximalist indulgence to offer guests a multisensory drink adventure. Rewriting the cocktail rulebook, Absent Ear’s Fragola-Rama cocktail is inspired by bespoke artwork by Glasgow artist Sophie Rowan, and a tribute to strawberry in its most refined forms with Diplomatico Planas Rum, Manzanilla Sherry, and Strawberry. Meanwhile, Two & a Choux is a luxurious libation featuring Coconut³, coffee, birch caramel, and a decadent pastry cream foam, inspired by Glasgow artist Rory Kennedy’s piece, Coffee.”

The Top 500 Bars list for 2025 is being released in segments starting with bars ranked 500-401 on July 5th and 6th. The full list and the ceremony for the Top 100 will be held in Florence on November 10th. The Top 500 Bars list is known for its comprehensive ranking of cocktail bars worldwide, they say: “In the era of big data, AI and other digital revolutions, it seemed important to us that the bar industry takes advantage of these innovations to determine a global ranking.

​”We aggregated the data from over two thousand sources on the web, in more than twenty languages. And we not only used the opinions of experts, journalists and influencers but also rankings, reviews on platforms, social media and search engines to complete the set. This data set makes it possible to appeal to the greatest number of opinions on the model of 'the wisdom of crowds', by creating this ranking via an algorithm from thousands of data. As the saying goes: 'we are smarter than me'. It's about finding a complementary ranking with existing selections to highlight the daily work of individuals who drive this industry.”