Category: Rum

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Appleton 17 Legend Jamaican Rum Coming Soon

The social media accounts for Appleton Rum in the U.S. and U.K. went live today with a teaser about the “legend” returning, with a subtle “17” as part of the design. We did see May 17 being mentioned earlier today.

This is surely a reference to the Appleton 17 Legend Jamaican Rum that had a label approved by the TTB nearly a year ago.

The label says this limited edition rum expression is intended as a “re-creation of the legendary rum crafted by J. Wray & Nephew in the 1940s” that “inspired the bartending world.” There isn’t a specific mention of Trader Vic Bergeron or his most famous creation, the 1944 Mai Tai, but this certainly is intended to make you think of the legendary Wray & Nephew 17 that was the first rum using in Vic’s Mai Tai.

You can sign up for email updates on AppletonEstate.com.

Stay tuned, Mai Tai fans!

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Funky Doctor Bird Mai Tai

Was feeling like I hadn’t had a rich and funky Mai Tai in a while, so I pulled out this wonderful bottle of Doctor Bird Jamaica Rum. This is the special Madeira cask release that was put out in conjunction with Bitters and Bottles a couple years ago, and I prefer this to the standard-issue Doctor Bird that’s finished in Moscatel casks. It is also issued at a hearty 59.2% ABV.

The result was a very chewy Mai Tai that tasted fantastic. Totally savory to have funky rum like this delivered in the Mai Tai format, where some of the rough edges are minimized.

I’m even getting a little fresh mint from a nascent planting in the backyard.

Glassware is obviously inspired by the rum. It’s an opening day B-Rex design for Dr. Funk San Jose. It would be great if the good doctor would do more of these, just saying.

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Ronrico Mai-Tai (1962)

This is from a print-ad circa 1962 and is noteworthy for a few reasons.

Firstly, it is a very early printed Mai Tai recipe, substantially similar to others from the mid-late 1950s. This was the original “Hawaiian Mai Tai” style that featured a split base of light rum paired with a flavorful dark Jamaica rum. I can assure you the Myers’s of that era was quite flavorful, and issued at robust 97 proof! A “jigger” in this time period was usually 1 oz.

As is typical of these early Hawaiian Mai Tais, the sweeteners were used in equal portions. Dash in this case being equal to ¼ oz. While the cocktail pictured does seem to be somewhat reminiscent of a fruit salad, it is also noteworthy that there’s no pineapple or orange juice. Remember, the Hawaiian Mai Tai was not born with pineapple juice.

1 jigger Ronrico White
1 jigger Myers’s Jamaica Rum
Juice of One Lime
1 dash Orgeat
1 dash Simple Syrup
1 dash Orange Curacao

I love the line “Don’t waste your time making it”. The person writing the copy also misspelled “Myers” rum, though they surely weren’t the first and far into the future people will still be misspelling it.

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Goodbye, Skipper Rum

This Demerara Rum has been one of my favorites of the genre, issued at a robust 45% ABV and being miles more flavorful than Pusser’s or Lemon Hart 1804. It’s a blend of seven rums, all aged for at least three years.

But, sadly, Skipper seems to have exited the U.S. market. Even worse, the Skipper Rum available in the U.K. is only at 40% ABV. So, tonight was the series finale.

As the bottle ran out, I made a Mai Tai and found it to work very well alongside some chewy Liber Orgeat. That’s the Mai Tai in the tall glass pictured.

And finally I made a Daiquiri (not pictured). This was fantastic when paired with some Liber Demerara Syrup. “The best in this rum world?” Oh that Daiquiri was pretty damn close.

Skipper Rum Mai Tai
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Mai Tai Planters Punch

Felt like making it a little extra spicy tonight, so did a riff between two favorites. This was quite nice, without overpowering sweetness or spice.

1½ oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate Syrup
⅓ oz Don’s Spices #2 (50/50 Vanilla Syrup/Pimento Dram)
3 oz Jamaican Rum Blend (courtesy Andy from @easytikidrinks)
4 dashes Angostura Bitters

I love this Trader Vic’s Pilsner glass for tall drinks like this. Looks great with the classic logo treatment. We’ll see if the Mai Tai Planters Punch ever gets famous.

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National Cocktail Day Cocktail

I’ve been mostly on the wagon for the past two weeks after coming back from Bakersfield with a pretty bad flu. But felt well enough to try a few things tonight. The Blue Curacao was being used for a comparison test we’ll cover in the upcoming days.

But I had a little bit left over, so made myself a quick and dirty unmeasured cocktail. And you know it ain’t too shabby.

National Cocktail Day Cocktail
2 glugs of Giffard Blue Curacao
2 glugs of Probitas Rum
1 scant pour of Lemon Juice
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Stir with ice

The orange bitters actually did improve this a little and there’s nothing wrong with a half-half pour of my favorite Blue Curacao and my favorite “white” rum.

Happy National Cocktail Day!

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Nuclear Daiquiri

There were some discussions of this cocktail online this week and so I took at run at it. I tweaked the original recipe by lowering the Green Chartreuse a little and definitely going for a heavy pour of John D. Taylor Falernnum that is not as bold as the Falernum syrup used in the original version of the cocktail.

¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz John D. Taylor Falernum (heavy pour)
½ oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof Jamaica Rum
Shake with ice cubes and strain

This was just right for me. Enough of the Chartreuse to taste, but not enough to overwhelm. But it works very nicely with the bold Wray & Nephew rum.