A LUXURY speakeasy-style cocktail bar has opened in Warrington – but you can only get in if you know the secret code.

James Maguire and Jimmy Bannister, from Dead Eyes in Bridge Street, have spent months transforming their upstairs bar into 'Raven'.

The exclusive experience has just three plush booths and two luxury leather seats for couples with a premium menu including bottles of champagne costing up to £700.

High end cocktails come in crystal glasses and include ingredients such as rose petals, peach oil, pollen, green tea, chocolate salt, thyme infused black pepper and dwarf pineapples from South Africa.

You are led to your table in the low lit bar by a hostess and are instantly hit by the smell of incense as you drink flavoured water to cleanse your palate.

Sound good? The only snag is that Raven can only be enjoyed by appointment only on Friday and Saturday with guests given a pin code that changes daily. There is also a strict dress code.

But James and Jimmy hope the secret will spread through word of mouth.

James, a former Great Sankey High School pupil, said: "We’re both into the classic, old-fashioned cocktails and we found that a lot of the people coming in were asking for them too.

"Seeing that everybody’s into their speakeasies now this is a chance to show people what we’re made of. The bar just takes over all your senses. We’ve gone to town on it."

Since opening Raven, the number of cocktails available has gone up from 15 to 50.

They include the likes of Smokey Mountain which comes with a pipe which creates its own smoke with lavender oil and dry ice.

The Oriental Most Fortunate cocktail comes with sake rice wine, Yamazaki whisky and a fortune cookie.

Classic cocktails are on the menu too but with a twist or a little extra. For example, the Air Mail cocktails comes with a tiny air mail envelope that you can open and read.

One of James and Jimmy's influences is Please Don’t Tell in New York where you have to dial a number to get into a hidden cocktail lounge.

Former Bridgewater High pupil Jimmy said: "It's similar to what they're doing in Manchester and Liverpool where you have to call a number at a phone box to get in."

James, 33, added: "It’s just a cool, relaxed atmosphere. The exclusivity of it makes people feel special and we want it to be totally different to what’s out there in Warrington and have that wow factor."

- To hunt down the number for Raven pick up this week's Warrington Guardian

DAVID MORGAN