Tastes to Try: Innovative New Bars

Instead of just buying aged spirits, Jeffrey Morganthaler ages his own cocktails in oak barrels. Negronis (a mix of gin, vermouth and Campari) acquire a sweet, oaky finish after six weeks in Tuthilltown whiskey casks.

Chicago chef Grant Achatz loves the $45 smoked Manhattan, made by setting the drink over smoldering, vanilla-infused hickory chips.

Cutting-edge drinks from mixologist Matthew Bax include the Captain's Blood, a syringe filled with dark rum and pomegranate juice with basil seeds frozen into ice.

This Japanese-influenced bar mixes martinis with a grapeseed distillate that makes the drink taste fresher with each sip.

Guests pick one of seven different bitters (like the Japanese citrus sudachi) to combine with ginger beer for the Bitters Highball.

Dario Comini fills pill-like cocktail "capsules" with a mojito reduction.

Bartenders here chill ice to an extra-frigid -4 degrees Fahrenheit so it will melt more slowly in concoctions like an Islay old-fashioned.