VCC (Vintage Cocktail Club)

15 Crown Alley Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Despite Dublin’s slow foray into a cocktail renaissance, Vintage Cocktail Club was a Dublin pioneer, opening in 2012. Yes, it’s the umpteenth speakeasy-themed bar, but get past the doorbell, hidden bar routine (upstairs behind a black door marked with the lettering VCC), service is unpretentious and among the most knowledgeable in the city. The space is a sexy, dim Victorianmeets-Prohibition-era respite with a sunny rooftop lined with velvet red banquettes. Cocktails are arguably the city’s best, listed in an extensive menu that digs into cocktail history and thankfully features all-too-rare spirits like Irish poitín, kummel and absinthe. Gin plays prominent in drinks like the layered A.W.O.L., combining Tanqueray gin and absinthe with oak-aged sherry vinegar, apple, cinnamon plum cordial and lemon juice.