Hennessy MyWay returns for 2026 with sustainability at its brief and bartender development at its heart—and for Malaysia, the road to Cognac begins at one of Bangsar’s newest bars.

It was just past one on a Monday afternoon when I climbed a quietly unassuming flight of stairs on Jalan Kemuja and walked into a room dressed entirely in red. Bar None—one of KL’s more talked-about bar openings in recent months—had been transformed for the occasion: bottles of Hennessy V.S.O.P. lined the warmly lit shelves, and the intimate space hummed with the kind of easy, purposeful energy that only the bartending community seems to generate on a weekday afternoon. In this industry, day drinking is never off the table. In fact, it is a point of pride.

The occasion was the Malaysian chapter launch of Hennessy MyWay 2026, the cognac house’s annual global bartending competition — and the choice of venue was fitting. Bar None is co-owned by Raz Ng and Arsenio “Ash” Mariano, both Hennessy MyWay alumni, and the bar wears its philosophy openly: low-ABV and booze-free options span the daytime menu, giving way to something stronger after dark. It is a bar built around the idea that drinking well means drinking thoughtfully. That is what MyWay asks of its competitors.

Hennessy Myway 2026

Now in its latest edition, Hennessy MyWay invites bartenders across Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to craft original cocktails built around Hennessy V.S.O.P.—but the competition’s ambitions extend well beyond the glass. Sustainability sits at the heart of the brief: locally sourced ingredients, waste-conscious techniques, reimagined service rituals. The ask is not just a great drink, but a considered one.

Joining virtually from France, Hennessy Brand Education Director Julien Pepin-Lehalleur framed the competition’s ethos simply: craft, ritual, and a genuine respect for the people who practise both.

At the launch, 2025 Malaysian Champion Oh Chong Hau spoke as someone whose worldview had shifted. He reflected that the competition had opened his eyes to the breadth of bartending talent globally and to how seriously Hennessy takes its role in developing that talent. Finalists are brought to Cognac, to the distillery and vineyards that gave the house its name. They receive structured feedback throughout, scored not just on the final pour but on their holistic skill as a craftsperson. It is a competition, Chong Hau suggested, that treats bartenders as artists worth investing in rather than contestants to be eliminated.

Returning as a mentor for 2026, Ash reinforced this by sharing that the value of MyWay is the access it provides to industry veterans, to the Maison itself, and to peers across Southeast Asia who are asking the same questions about what bartending can become.

Registrations for Hennessy MyWay 2026 are open until 30 April via the official Hennessy MyWay submission platform, with full competition terms and judging criteria available on the website.

What ends up in your glass

For the drinker, this matters more than it might seem. What competitions like MyWay quietly produce, over years and editions, is a generation of bartenders who think in stories. Who consider where an ingredient comes from before it reaches the shaker. Who understand that the ritual of being served a drink is itself part of the experience. The bars that emerge from this culture are better bars. The serves are more deliberate. The conversation across the counter becomes part of what you’re paying for.

Hennessy MyWay 2026 is now under way. The journey ends in Cognac in October. It began, for Malaysia, up a flight of stairs in Bangsar on a Monday afternoon—with a glass already poured.

From the table to the world beyond, Nacre brings you dining, travel, and lifestyle experiences worth savouring. Explore more with us on Instagram (@nacre.asia).