"It's a Fine Martini, but Do You Have Anything Older?"

The hottest drinks trend of the moment involves long-forgotten bottles and lost production methods. And if you want to try it for yourself, hurry— because once these vintage cocktails are gone, they’re gone for good.

- Caroline Hatchett

THE COCKTAIL PASSES from patron to patron down the bar at Handshake Speakeasy, each guest dipping a short metal straw into the coupe to siphon out a fleeting taste of the 100 Year Old Hanky Panky. Everyone at the Mexico City bar knows they’ll never taste a drink quite like this again—lush and concentrated, its amaro edge softened over time, made with gin and vermouth that predate the Sputnik launch and a Fernet-Branca that’s older still, dating back to 1930.

Although better known for its modernist cocktails, Handshake’s menu has, since last summer, featured four drinks incorporating vintage spirits, ranging from a US$55 shakerato made with 1980s Campari to that time-capsule Hanky Panky, which sells for a breathtaking US$430. And it joins an elite club of establishments—The Office in Chicago, Canon in Seattle and Maison Premiere in New York City— gleaning inspiration from rows of dusty bottles.

London’s Connaught Bar, a perennial favourite on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, also introduced a vintage programme last year. “We were ready to give guests a piece of liquid history,” says Agostino Perrone, who heads the Connaught Bar team. Its selection has grown from three drinks—including a martini and a white lady—to seven, to meet overwhelming consumer demand for all things small production, limited edition and rare. Hence the success of the Connaught’s Silver Jubilee Rob Roy, made with a limited-run Scotch bottled for the former queen’s 1977 Platinum Jubilee and priced at £2,000.