India, Aug. 21 -- Giacomo Giannotti's Paradiso - The World's Best Bar '22 landed in Bombay last week, with the founder behind the bar - and of course we had to grab a seat at the table.

On a sticky monsoon Mumbai night, the velvet curtain at Late Checkout parts and, suddenly, you've already been initiated into Paradiso's little secret. Giacomo Giannotti's Barcelona-born, speakeasy-style cocktail cathedral has been whispered about in the same way one might talk about a cult film or a city's most coveted table. And, for a fleeting moment, that mythical cocktail excellence landed in Mumbai at Late Checkout, where Giannotti himself stirred, shook, and smoke-plumed through a menu that is part theatre, part science, and wholly intoxicating. We...