Caretaker’s Cottage is a tough act to follow. The team’s new bar is off to a galloping start

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Caretaker’s Cottage has the kind of charm you can’t recreate: bluestone bones, pokiness that gives it a house-party vibe, drinks so elite you could only be in expert hands. Three-and-a-half years in, the chapel of cocktails is as beloved locally as it is lauded internationally, last week ranking 19th on the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

So, how do you follow it up?

Owners Rob Libecans, Ryan Noreiks and Matt Stirling have set the bar high. But their sophomore opening Three Horses, now a month old, is already off to a galloping start.

Less than a block from the cottage, in the old Troika Bar site on Little Lonsdale Street, its replacement’s MO is emblazoned on the back of the staff’s crisp white shirts: “Where Sherry Reigns.” But being a fortified-wine fanatic is by no means a prerequisite.

Sure, on one visit I’m knocking off next to a sharply dressed corporate bloke who’s swirling a glass of mahogany-hued oloroso from the Spanish city where sherry originated.

But on another night, it’s a boisterous group I hear describe themselves as “ladies who lunch”, kicking on long past noon with frothy-topped margaritas in Arctic stainless-steel coupes. These margs have drink-of-the-summer potential, whipped up sgroppino-style with an icy, lip-puckeringly tart lime sorbet, sherry lightly imbued with mandarin, and tequila.

A peachy-pink glow soaks the space, far more open-plan than Caretaker’s, with an L-shaped bench up front, a cocoon of walnut timber out back and plenty of perches in between. The showpiece is a back-bar-length artwork of three horses, bolting so fast it’s as if they’re flying, and coloured so vividly it’s as if they were painted in a fever dream.

Beneath them works a bevy of bartenders so efficient you’ll likely get your drink within the minute, but who also take the time to introduce themselves as they swap in and out. Sherry might reign, but hospitality prevails, enough to deliver my mate a tiny, olive-capped sherry and tonic – on the house – before Public Transport Victoria delivered me a half-hour late.

To start, order the bar’s solitary snack: corn nuts warmly spiced with mountain pepper and wattleseed. Then steel yourself with the sub-zero Jabberwock. Poured tableside from a height, it’s a splosh of fino sherry, then the signature Caretaker’s freezer-door martini, now with an extra-dry edge and an olive threaded on a gold-horse-adorned skewer.

On a cocktail list double the size of its sibling, where even the usual suspects venture into unusual territory – unless you request a classic – there’s more magic than meets the eye.

I expected to find glitter-infused cocktails about as much as I expected to enjoy them, which is to say not much at all. But this isn’t a case of style over substance. While the Hell’s Kitchen reads like my kind of nightcap – bourbon, Pedro Ximenez, fig-leaf vermouth, nectarine – it wildly undersells itself. Orbiting around a sphere of ice is a solar system of pearlescent, planet-looking orbs which are actually lemon and coffee oil made silver, bronze and blue with glitter. Bursting in your mouth, they dial up the dimensions in an otherwise rich, boozy drink, gently layering in sweet zing and mild bitterness.

Three Horses is the hottest bar in town right now. But does it have enough horsepower to give Caretaker’s a run for its money? And does that even matter?

To match the heritage hook and controlled chaos of Caretaker’s is near impossible. And it’s not necessary when the drinks are just as good – and the variety is even better. You can lap up the sherry of it all as little or as much as you like. And, at least for now, it offers less frenzy and less chance of having to loiter in a corridor.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.