Reserve At Morgans, A New Cocktail Bar, Opens In Midtown NY

A sleek new cocktail lounge has opened inside Morgans Hotel on Madison Avenue in Midtown, and it's a welcome hidden respite from all the hustle and bustle.

Located inside the space that also functions as the hotel's breakfast room, in the afternoon it turns into a low-key, comfortable lounge with plenty of private romantic nooks and a cool atmosphere.

There are 120 different varieties of Scotch, whiskey, and Bourbon on offer, and cocktails put those and other spirits to good use. There's the Leon and Eddie, with Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon, spiced syrup, ginger chocolate bitters, and lemon; the Chai Old Fashioned, with Bulleit rye, chai syrup, chocolate bitters, and vanilla bean; The Golden Swan, with Beefeater, Yellow Chartreuse, Benedictine, and Peychaud's Bitters; and A Spicy Affair, with Avion Reposado, Countreau, honey tangerine syrup, and habanero bitters, a nice play on the margarita.

The real standout, however, is the Old-Fashioned Dice Game, a fun way to try spirits that you might not have had before. To play, you roll three dice, each representing spirits, syrups, or bitters. Six varieties of each are available, so whichever numbers your dice land on, that's the drink you'll get. So, for example, you can end up with Irish whiskey, lemongrass-lavender syrup, and chocolate bitters, or white whiskey, strawberry-basil-mint syrup, and hopped grapefruit bitters. There are 216 possibilities, and somehow no matter how you roll, the end result will be a tasty cocktail.

So next time you find yourself craving some brown liquor in Midtown and want to avoid a mob scene, steal away into Reserve and unwind.