Madrid
A working shortlist that crosses two centuries - from the 1827 vermouth tap on Calle de las Huertas to the 2014 maceration bar in Malasaña. Sherries, vermouths, Art Deco cocktails and the classical canon, in four of the city's drinking neighbourhoods.
Las Letras · $$
Five sherries from the cask, since the 1930s. No photos, no tips, chalk-on-bar tabs. The bar Hemingway drank at during the Civil War. Manzanilla first, then a plate of jamón. An hour is the visit.
Las Letras · $$
Vermut de grifo on tap since 1827. The longest continuously running bar on Calle de las Huertas. Tuesday-afternoon sobremesa is the visit most foreign visitors miss.
Centro · $$$
Gran Vía 12, opened 1931, the bar Ava Gardner threw a glass at a photographer in. Mahogany, brass, Art Deco fittings largely intact. Bloody Mary, booth opposite the bar.
Malasaña · $$$
Calle del Pez classical cocktail bar named for the year Jerry Thomas published his bar guide. The Madrid room that defends the classical canon - ten classics done correctly, no novelty.
Malasaña · $$
Twenty glass maceration jars stacked along the back wall - the bar infuses its own spirits and builds every drink on the menu from those infusions. House gin tonic, then a stirred jar drink.
Las Letras · $$$
Diego Cabrera's Las Letras cocktail room. World's 50 Best regular, manga-influenced interior, the most-photographed bar in Madrid. Worth the hype if you arrive at 7pm on a Tuesday. Chipotle Chillingüey first.
Three of the six (La Venencia, Casa Alberto, Museo Chicote) are historic - between eighty and two hundred years old - and the visit is partly the room itself. Three (Salmon Guru, Macera Taller, 1862 Dry Bar) are modern cocktail bars but each one operates with the discipline that the older rooms taught the city. The list deliberately mixes the two so you can plan an evening that crosses both registers.
Two practical notes. Tipping is light in Madrid - a euro or two on the bar for cocktails, nothing at vermouth-and-tapas bars. Reservations are rare for the historic bars (turn up and find a stool) and increasingly necessary for the cocktail rooms after 9pm. Most rooms below close around 1.30 or 2am; weekends a little later.
A working editorial ranking. Three historic bars, three modern cocktail rooms. Plan an evening that crosses both.
Looking beyond Madrid? See our guide to the best hidden gem bars worldwide, or compare hidden gem bars city by city.