The Warwick is the rare high-volume Hollywood club where they actually take drinks seriously. Jason Bran and Damian Windsor launched the bar program about a year ago, and both the space and menu recently underwent a revamp. The space is now more Old Hollywood. Gone are the giant female nude photos. Instead, you’ll find oversized movie posters in the main hall. An upstairs bar, overlooking the action, is blanketed with red and resembles Old Shanghai (but maybe not in a good way). Regardless, the new, tightly focused drink menu was on-point during the October 2 fall cocktail launch.

Bran said he was tasked with creating a “black” cocktail in honor of the Black Dahlia, a classic Hollywood beauty who was killed in horrific fashion, a murder that continues to haunt crime writers like James Ellroy. The drink ($15) isn’t colored black, which would be unappetizing. Instead, Bran creatively riffed on the word, starting with Blackwell, an over-proofed dark rum that he called “very funky Jamaican stuff,” complete with an anise tinge. Simmered black sesame seeds join Fee Bros. orgeat, a nutty almond syrup, amplifying the toasty nuttiness. Blackberry takes the form of a sugar-sweetened puree, which Bran makes in-house and fine strains. Pineapple and lemon juices join the fray, adding sweet acidity. Finally, the garnish is a single plump blackberry, which they pin with a decorative micro star flower. Yes, that’s a W-shaped cocktail stirrer in the rocks glass, but that’s no crime.