The Most Exquisite Classic Cocktail Bars Around The World

69 COLEBROOKE ROW, LONDON – With its unmarked side-street door, white-jacketed bartenders, jazz pianist and party vibe, this legendary spot is like tripping back to Fifties London. Even in the afternoon, the small, black-and-white, retro-designed room is buzzing with cocktail lovers. The candlelit tables are so crowded with exquisite drinks there’s barely room for the olives and mini saucisson.

Every one is innovative, including the Manhattan Steel Corp, made with maraschino liqueur and dry essence (a distillate concentrate of macerated grape seeds).

Almost too beautiful to drink, each is the creation of owner and mixologist Tony Conigliaro and his team at the Drink Factory. New comers are often surprised by their simplicity, but every cocktail is cutting edge and the changing menu has gained a cult following.

LITTLE RED DOOR, PARIS – Come here for a nightcap or five – it’s open until 3am on Saturdays – after bar-hopping around the Marais. It’s a laid-back spot with love-seat sofas, dimly lit corners and round-back chairs upholstered in a mish-mash of colourful fabrics. But to be in the thick of things, take a velvet-covered pew at the bar, where barmen with impressively high pours are dressed in denim shirts, dickie bows and aprons printed with flowers and butterflies. Bottom line: they’re having fun and the atmosphere here is super-friendly as a result. The Bartender’s Board Special changes fortnightly; original concoctions include The Hedgewitch, made with Amontillado sherry, Kamm and Sons botanical spirit, whiskey, blackberry liqueur and honey, garnished with a dehydrated blackberry. It’s a tribute to the mixologist’s mother’s favourite tipple.

LOS GALGOS, BUENOS AIRES – One of the city’s wonderful traditional bars, untouched for decades, the original Los Galgos closed its doors in 2015. But thanks to a rescue mission instigated by the savvy team behind the famous 878 bar in hip Palermo, an important slice of Buenos Aires’ Thirties history has been saved. Features such as French oak boiserie and beaten-up encaustic floor tiles keep the essence of the old Asturian tapas bar alive. And, given their taste both for nostalgia and a stiff drink, portenos have ensured that the relaunch has been an enormous success. It’s open all day, so start with a mid-morning cortado and come back for a vermouth and soda. But the cocktail that stands the test of time is the Negroni. One too many? Rib-eye seared medium-rare on the wood-burning grill will do the trick.

SALON DE NING, NEW YORK – Ah, the myth of Fifth. Not the most poetically named of avenues. Nor, these days, the prettiest. And yet – enchanted. Especially when seen from up high. Take the express lift, therefore, from the lobby of The Peninsula, at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, to Salon de Ning, the hotel’s elegantly east-meets-west-styled rooftop bar. Stand as close to the edge of the terrace your sense of vertigo allows. Cast your gaze up and down the street, which suddenly seems endless, seething with life and energy, and submit to sheer skyscraper hoodoo. Then take a seat or a day bed, recline into its plump silky cushions and raise a glass of something chilled and exotic – the house riffs on classic cocktails are unfailingly catchy – to what may still be the greatest city on earth.

DRY MARTINI, BARCELONA – Just as Ferran Adria was the wunderkind of the Spanish restaurant scene in the 1990s, the debonair Javier de las Muelas was its cocktail-bar impresario. He first shimmied his way into the spotlight in 1978 with the opening of emblematic Dry Martini. Almost 40 years later, he’s still going strong. How grown-up it feels to be in his gloriously old-fashioned world of polished-teak-panelled walls, racing-green leather armchairs and marble bar tops trimmed with gold. So cultish is its appeal there are now outposts from London to Singapore. But you really can’t beat the original joint, which hawks 100 variations of the classic Martini, as well as some of De las Muelas’ more outre inventions, such as The Pipe – a lethal concoction of Glenmorangie and Lagavulin whiskies, absinthe, spice droplets and smoke. Salut!

CAFE GRAY BAR, HONG KONG – Hong Kong is at its shimmering best here, high on the 49th floor of Andre Fu’s seductively designed Upper House. Head up, past soothing limestone floors and sandstone sculptures, until you reach the buzz and beat of this glorious space. Hong Kong’s beautiful people compete for the best views from the 14-metre stone-topped bar, and the lights in the harbour dazzle. Bartenders shake up signature cocktails such as the Earl Gray Martini or, the perfect pick-me-up, the Hong Kong Highball (Belvedere vodka, fresh ginger, lemon juice, pomegranate seeds and bubbles).

Then linger longer on a powder-blue velvet banquette with a plate of oysters or killer polenta fries with acclaimed chef Gray Kunz’s citrusy-fiery ketjap. The world can wait.

LOCALE, FLORENCE – This city is not exactly known for innovative drinks, but considering how good a classic Negroni and Aperol Spritz is, it’s never really been an issue. Yet thanks to this place, locals and visitors are coming to appreciate the talents of the inventive barman, craft cocktails and a speakeasy vibe. Here you’ll find unusual twists on classics, for example the Negroni comes with mezcal and the perfect Dark and Stormy with top-shelf tequila. This bar is in one of Florence’s most beautiful re-purposed Renaissance palazzos – the building dates from the 1500s when it was the residence of Bartolomeo Concini – with a huge skylight, an imposing zinc bar, antique Murano chandeliers and back-lit bottle racks. It is easy to see why it’s become the new hotspot for the fashion crowd and design hounds.

THE LOBO PLANTATION, SYDNEY – To step down from the CBD streets into this basement bar is to be transported into a scene from a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. Except the retired Latin American colonels pondering their childhoods have been replaced with the smart Sydney set. It’s a wonderfully warm space, wood-lined and furnished with Chesterfields and tropical-print armchairs. And, given the colonial Caribbean feel, it’s no surprise that the drinks are firmly rooted in rum. Choose from 250 different varieties, or the bartenders are happy to unleash a touch of theatre with the Old Grogtam: spiced rum teamed with stout vermouth and then set alight. Clever design details get a little lost in the low lighting (keep an eye out for the pillar covered with Cuban bank notes), but don’t leave before paying respect to the striking wall mosaics and painted porcelain sinks in the bathrooms.

THE AVIARY, CHICAGO – Peer through The Aviary’s large window and you might think you are looking into a science lab as mixologists bend over huge steel counters pouring liquids, pumping smoke and infusing ice. Where the caged-in kitchen at chef Grant Achatz’s bar stimulates curiosity, the cocktails satisfy. The drinks are even more spectacular than the big chandeliers and floral displays, and are served by staff who also know how to deliver drama. Some cocktails arrive with bright-green ice or in port-hole-shaped decanters filled with orange slices and cranberries, others in a bottle with a miniature ship inside. The Rob Roy, a mix of whiskey and sweet sherry, is served in a bag filled with lavender air. If choosing is too difficult, there are prix-fixe drinks menus with nibbles too.