So when I needed a recipe for a cocktail last year, I reached for that as a starting point…

Pagan Holiday

• 1 oz Aged Jamaican Rum (pictured with Plantation Xaymaca)
  
• 0.5 oz Plantation Stiggins Fancy Pineapple Rum
• 0.5 oz Aged Demerara Rum (pictured with El Dorado 12 Year)
  
• 1 oz Basil-Honey Syrup (see below)
  
• 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
• 0.5 oz Pineapple Juice

Frappe with crushed ice and dump into an Old Fashioned Glass or Mai Tai Glass. Garnish with fresh basil.

This recipe is one of the last-minute concoctions I have thrown at the wall for the annual Summer Tiki Throwdown at 320 Main – this one for 2018. As is often the case, I was nearing the deadline to submit my recipe (I may have actually already been late) and was tempted to just submit the aforementioned basil pineapple Mojito, but that didn’t feel Tiki enough. So in order to punch up the Tiki-ness and mask the fact that this was thrown together at the last minute, I decided to try using a homemade syrup.

I usually try to avoid homemade syrups. I don’t like having to remember to prep something in advance any time I want a drink – I’m too lazy for that most of the time. However, for 2017’s Throwdown, I made my own tamarind syrup for my entry and was very pleased with how that turned out. So I decided to give it another go and tried my hand at making a basil honey syrup, which allowed the drink to land somewhere between a Mojito and a Missionary’s Downfall.

The syrup was…meh. It didn’t really imbue the basil to the degree I wanted. I ended up muddling the basil into the drink to get the flavor I wanted, but I was unhappy with doing so. I also tried making a normal honey syrup and then simmering it with chiffonaded basil leaves. This works, but can be a bit hit-or-miss. Get the temperature too high and you end up with a slightly off flavor. Luckily for me, 320 has a great kitchen that can execute on things better than I can and they made a pretty awesome syrup for me.

For best consistency, I recommend using the method Jeffrey Morgenthaler has in his The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique. You end up with a dark green syrup, but this is a Tiki drink so you don’t really have to worry about color (and thanks to Craig Hermann from Colonel Tiki for suggesting I revisit Jeff’s book for a way to consistently get a good syrup).

Basil Honey Syrup

* adapted from Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Mint Syrup in Bar Book.

• 1 cup Honey
• 1 cup Water
• 5 bunches of sweet basil

Prepare a pot of boiling water and an ice bath for the basil. Flash boil the basil for 15 seconds and then deposit in the ice bath for 1 minute. Pat leaves dry and then remove from stems. Place honey, water, and basil leaves into a blender and blend thoroughly. Filter through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Do note that the syrup calls for sweet basil (also called Italian Basil) and not Thai Basil. I’ve tried making this with Thai Basil and it’s still pretty good, but the added anise flavor from the Thai Basil sticks out a bit in the drink and I’ve found the Sweet Basil to be a better crowd pleaser.

The drink did not win me “Best Drink” honors at the throwdown. That’s like 10 straight years without winning the people’s choice vote for that. But I did have the extremely humbling experience of winning the Bartender’s Choice for Best Drink, voted on by my colleagues/competitors, including Kelly Merrell from Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar, Brittany van Hooser from 320 Main, and our People’s Choice winner: Matt Ellingson of Club 33 and 21 Royal fame.

I have to admit that I’m somewhat embarrassed that I have yet to try this as a blended drink. I’m already using a blender to make my basil honey syrup, so just blending the whole thing isn’t really too far afield. I think the only thing holding me back is that I started at Mojito and if I go fully blended I’ll have arrived very, very close to just making a Basil Missionary’s Downfall. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think I just find it a bit frightening to realize how quickly an idea can bounce from “inspired by Drink A” to “almost exact replica of Drink B” (it’s criminal how often I have almost accidentally recreated the Mai Tai). From a practical standpoint, I do like that going shaken means that I can break out the blender once every two weeks (the syrup should keep about that long in the fridge) instead of every time I want to make the drink.

This is the desire that Bacardi taps into for its annual Bacardi Legacy competition every year: the desire to create something eternal. In 2015, the winner of the competition was Frank Dedieu and his Le Latin cocktail.

Le Latin
by Frank Dedieu

• 45 ml Bacardi White
• 20 ml Lemon Juice
• 20 ml White Wine (Viognier preferred)
• 6 ml Olive Brine
• 2 barspoons Sugar

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with an olive.

Dubbed by some as the “Dirty Daiquiri,” Frank’s creation adheres to the classic formula of a rum sour (aka The Daiquiri) with some twists to make it his own.

“I have customized the DNA of the most famous rum cocktail…rum, lime, and sugar. Sugar cane and rum are the Cuban touch of my cocktail; lemon is the specific citrus and wine represents the French vineyard. A green olive and its brine balances the cocktail with its salty touch.”

– Frank Dedieu

I’ll be completely honest, if I had first seen this drink on a menu without any knowledge of what it was, I would steer clear of it – to the other end of the bar if necessary. I’m not a big fan of Dirty Martinis – those gross mixtures of stale, salty water that had the same olives in it for months (or years) on end and flavorless vodka – powerless to do anything more than dilute the flavor of the brine. The mention of the olive brine immediately puts me ill-at-ease.

Luckily for me, I happen to know that this is an award winning drink made by one of the world’s most talented bartenders, so I gave it a shot. Guess what: it’s actually good.

Because I live somewhere where the metric system is considered too hard to figure out, I had to make some adjustments to match my jiggers (not a lot of 2/3 oz measurements out there). I went with the following:

• 1.75 oz Bacardi White
• .75 oz Viognier Wine
• .75 oz Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp Olive Brine
• 2 barspoons cane syrup

Yeah, I know, this jimmies the proportions a bit, but US measurements prefer halves and quarters to thirds. Sue me (note: please do not sue me).

The lemon and the brine do a nice job of countering each other, with the lemon leading the way and the salty brine finishing the drink. Bridging the gap in between is the incredibly dry Viognier wine – a varietal that isn’t common in the US. Coming in throughout the drink is the sweetness of the sugar balanced with the floral notes of the Bacardi.

Le Latin does not live in a perfectly balanced world. The flavors do not all meld together into a singular experience. This drink is a journey. You travel from one flavor to the next in an interesting and enjoyable trip. The simple construction of the drink belies the more complex experience of drinking it.

I asked Jason Schiffer at 320 Main, for his thoughts on the drink. “This being an obvious sour drink, [it] surprises me a bit when I taste mineral and specifically a hint of brine. The drink is bright and not, at the same time. It plays a little bi-polar.”

While Dedieu claims that “any” dry white wine will work, I’m not so sure

The key to making this bi-polar drink balance on the head of a pin is the Viognier wine. This is not great news for Americans who want to experience the drink. While Dedieu claims that “any” dry white wine will work, I’m not so sure. There a some critical characteristics you need to make this drink work that I haven’t yet found the exact right substitute. You do definitely want to stick to the dry side of the spectrum – a big, buttery Chardonnay would wreck this drink in ways that are probably prohibited specifically in the Geneva Conventions.

If you can’t find a good Viognier though, there is hope. Matt Ellingson, sommelier and manager of the bar and wine program at Disneyland’s exclusive Club 33, suggested looking to other dry, crisp wines. Primarily, he suggested a dry riesling, torrontes, or Alsatian Gewurtzraminer. Beyond that, you mix at your own risk.

Overall, I have to say I was surprised by how much I liked the drink. Olive brine isn’t really my thing, so I didn’t know what to expect. I would definitely order this drink in a bar that had it on its menu. I probably wouldn’t order two, which is my usual measuring stick for a classic, but it’s refreshing tartness followed by salty minerality is a very nice addition to the cocktail world.

• Images used courtesy of Bacardi
• Thanks to Alan Hambra for pointing out my typo in my Imperial conversion

Note: This article was originally written to appear in Tasting Panel Magazine.

In the world of rum, there are iconic drinks that never seem to lose their luster. The Daiquiri, the Mojito,
the Mai Tai – all are drinks that have survived fame, deterioration of cocktail culture, and the cocktail
renaissance – as greats that will always be great.

Representing their countries, thirty-four bartenders gathered in Australia at the end of April for a chance
to win Bacardi’s Legacy competition. The contenders were challenged with creating the next cocktail
recipe to stand the test of time.

The competition saw hundreds of bartenders competing – first at the local and regional levels before the
national level – to create an iconic cocktail with Bacardi rum. Bartenders were tasked with creating an
original recipe as well as crafting a narrative around the cocktail. Each had to explain why the cocktail
was special beyond just the mixture of ingredients within. For some this “legacy” was the advice given to
them by a parent. For others it was inspiration drawn directly from the story of the Bacardi family or
their own personal journey.

Bacardi Legacy…is about empowering the bartender to establish a drink to go everywhere for all time…

The Bacardi Legacy competition has been seeking new classic cocktails since 2009 when people like
Enrique Comas, a sixth generation descendant of Don Facundo Bacardi Masso (the founder of Bacardi
Rum), implemented their vision of a new competition to inspire a generation of bartenders. As Comas
describes it, “[a]t its heart, the [Bacardi Legacy] competition is about empowering the bartender to establish a drink to go everywhere for all time.”

The competitors craft their drinks and their stories. As they moved through each level of the
competition, from local to national to international, they were encouraged to promote their cocktail.
They did this with the help of their national Bacardi representatives by working shifts at bars around
their countries, encouraging other bars to carry their creations on their menus, and talking to a lot of
press.

The Bacardi Legacy Finals in Sydney

Comas says this is in part to promote the brand, but also to help promote the bartenders themselves.
“Our message to bartenders is, ‘Our legacy is Bacardi. Your legacy will be this drink.’ This competition,
this effort, is to boost them to the level of other legendary bartenders.”

Drinks under consideration ran the gamut from elegantly simple to esoteric. Emil Areng, bartender at
Open/Closed in Sweden, created a cocktail using Bacardi Carta Oro, maple, lime, and a house-made corn
foam. Meanwhile others like Federico Tomasselli from Barnum (Italy) eschewed bespoke ingredients for
white rum, lime juice, absinthe, Frangelico, and sugar.

After countless practices and refinements to their presentations, each bartender took their turn, and the
judges reduced the group to eight finalists (a reference to Bacardi’s 8, or ocho rum). While the rest of
the bartenders grappled with not moving on, the eight finalists had to practice more and present one
last time.

I have customized the DNA of the most famous rum cocktail…rum, lime, and sugar.
~ Frank Dedieu

Finally, the judges picked their Legacy drink – winner in Frank Dedieu. Dedieu’s drink, Le Latin, sat on the
simpler end of the spectrum. You’ll find no house-made syrups or bitters, nor any hard-to-find fruits or
herbs included in his recipe, only white rum, white wine, lemon juice, olive brine, and sugar.
Dedieu linked his family’s vineyards in the region where Don Facundo Bacardi once sold wine before
departing for the New World with the most iconic rum drink ever.

“I have customized the DNA of the most famous rum cocktail…rum, lime, and sugar. Sugar cane and rum
are the Cuban touch of my cocktail; lemon is the specific citrus and wine represents the French vineyard.
A green olive and its brine balances the cocktail with its salty touch.”

Le Latin
45 ml Bacardi Carta Blanca
20 ml White Wine (Viognier preferred)
20 ml Lemon Juice
6 ml Olive Brine
2 barspoons cane sugar
Shake with ice and strain into a coupette. Garnish with an olive.

*Images in this post courtesy of Bacardi

There are probably some of you asking what the heck I’m doing reviewing a 151. “Isn’t that just drunk juice? Who cares how it tastes?”

Bryan Davis at Lost Spirits Distillery has a thing or two to say about that concept though. Here he has carefully crafted a spirit that is more than what most people think about the category of overproof spirits – and possibly even rum in general. The philosophy at Lost Spirits appears to be a fanatical dedication to finding the perfect balance between science and art when it comes to distillation.

Previously known for their American Whiskeys, Bryan and his crew set out to start making amazing rum (because really, how do you not fall in love with rum?) and their experience through the looking glass has brought us some true treasures – the latest being a high proof rum inspired by the process used for creating rums in Cuba for over 100 years. However, with some American twists to make it a rum with character and approachability.

Lost Spirits produces the rum in their “homemade” pot still, using a mash of fermented molasses. The distillate is then aged using their own patented non-traditional methods, allowing the spirit to more rapidly absorb the appropriate chemical compounds of the wood that give older spirits their appeal without introducing some of the risk of the wood being overused.

There’s actually a fascinating write up that goes into great detail about the process over at Cocktail Wonk. So be sure to check that out if you want to get into more of the nitty-gritty details.

Appearances

The bottle of the 151 is one of my favorites from Lost Spirits. It hearkens back to the days of Prohibition with its art deco stylings and tropical travel poster-like imagery. You feel like you may step off of the plane in the picture and end up in La Floradita in Havanna, sitting right next to Papa Hemingway himself.

In the glass, the spirit is a lovely amber color. It’s not very dark like the Plantation Overproof or Lemonhart 151, but it’s got enough color to give it character.

Nose

Fill a glass with the Cuban Inspired and be prepared for it to fill the room. Sitting with a glass of it next to me while putting together my notes, I could smell the rum without ever getting the glass off of the desk.

The rum is rich – so much more than just the burning sensation of ethanol that tortures anyone who generally strays into the robust category of overproof rums. Not to say that there isn’t burn. I wouldn’t recommend sticking your nose deep into a glass and inhaling deeply unless you’re trying to teach your nostrils a lesson. But this is no gasoline.

Notes of cocoa and bananas mingle with the tinge of heat on the nose, bringing to mind desserts like bananas foster. There’s an undercurrent of toasted marshmallow and caramel as well, all before the heat of the spirit brings to mind tall grasses in humid sunshine.

Palate

Let’s get the first thing everyone’s wondering out of the way first: yes, it’s hot. You’re drinking something that’s over 75% alcohol by volume, so if you’re drinking it neat, it’s going to bring some fire for your throat – and lips and tongue and pretty much everywhere else. That being said, one could be forgiven for deciding to drink this poured into a snifter all on its own, or possibly straight out of the bottle.

Before the heat comes, you can taste Bryan’s hard work with entry notes of marshmallow and toffee. The heat from the alcohol is not far behind – don’t gulp this – but after it washes over you you don’t find yourself left with searing pain. Instead, the finish is clean on the tongue, and in the back of the mouth and throat there are elements of candied orange peel and toasted banana.

That’s if you go neat. Of course, with so much heat, most people – if they aren’t mixing – will probably want to throw in an ice cube, and introducing ice to this rum creates impressive change. There’s still a richness, but the tamed heat exposes the oily body of the spirit along with the grassier elements that are hinted at in the flash from rich to hot. Greener notes of straw combine with chocolate and raisins, leaving you with something reminiscent of leather on the finish.

Mixing

This may be one of the few (only?) rums over 60% ABV that you’d sip neat, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to drink it.

The qualities of this rum open it up to a lot of various uses. It lacks the blackstrap qualities of something like a Lemonhart 151, but it is a great go-to for any Tiki drink calling for some heft. Use this in your Zombie and you will not be unhappy.

You can also up the octane on other cocktails and come away satisfied. Throw this in a daiquiri and try to keep to your two drink maximum. I’ve also used it in Three Dots & A Dash (in place of the Demerara), as well as as an additive to a Mai Tai from time to time.

I’ve even tried it as the rum in the Jon Hamm’s Briefcase and was pretty darned pleased with myself (and asleep 20 minutes later).

Of course, when in doubt with a 151, float it on top of a forgiving cocktail.

The Long & The Short Of It

Bryan Davis, flat out, is just one of the super-stars of Mad Scientist Distillation. He has the knowledge and passion to try to do new things without throwing out the centuries of knowledge that has come down to him. Whereas, there are other small-batch distilleries and breweries who can be just as fearless, it’s rare that they combine that fearlessness with the same desire to create something that is nearly universally approachable – even in a complicated and complex category – as Lost Spirits has proven to be.

My one hope is that Lost Spirits continues to produce their rum up on the Central Coast of California for a long time to come – because this may be the best 151 rum on the market today.

Dood’s 151 Rating: 5 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

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Sometimes we just have to accept that our creations do not remain our own. We put them out into the world and we know not what will become of them until it has already happened.

Of course I’m talking about a drink. What else would I be talking about?

Jon Hamm’s Briefcase (aka Dead Last)

1.50 oz Aged Demerara Rum
0.75 oz Ciociaro Amaro
0.25 oz Falernum
0.25 oz Islay Scotch
1 dash Jerry Thomas Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

At the risk of being boastful, this may be the best RumDood original drink I’ve ever done. For the rum, I recommend either El Dorado 8 Year Old or El Dorado 12 Year Old, depending on how sweet you want it (the 12 will make the drink a little sweeter than the 8 will). For the Scotch, I usually go with Laphroaig 10 Year, but that’s mostly because that’s what I made it with originally. I’ve made it with Ardbeg, Ardmore – just something peaty.

If it looks like this drink was created on a dare, that’s because it was.

I was working at 320 Main one night (as I am wont to do) and a gentleman came in and asked if I was “the rum guy” he heard worked at the bar. After I confirmed his suspicion, he threw down a rather odd-shaped gauntlet.

“OK, let’s see how good you are. What drink has rum and Scotch in it?”

I blinked a few times as my mental roladex spun until smoke started coming out of my ears. I coudln’t think of any rum and Scotch drinks. I still can’t think of any. Maybe there’s an entire mixological world out there that I don’t know about – rich tomes of bound leather and parchment filled with runic symbols performing some sort of rum and Scotch alchemy, all lining the walls of some monastery in Southern France, carefully looked after by bearded men and women, all clad in spun cloth.

Even if that’s the case, I still didn’t have a drink for this guy who may or may not have been playing his favorite game of “stump the bartender.”

I don’t like that game. I generally refuse to play, but –

For some reason my mind had settled on Chris Hannah’s incredibly delicious Bywater Cocktail as something that might be able to work. It’s got strong, bold flavors in it – why couldn’t it be tweaked to accept a little Scotch? So I grabbed some bottles and made a makeshift drink on the spot – exactly like you are never supposed to do – and it made the man happy.

Of course, after he left I spent the next 3 days changing proportions and swapping ingredients (the original version had .75 oz of Laphroaig 10 Year in it – it tasted like Laphroaig 10). What you see here is the final version of the recipe.

About the name…

I know there are already some people wondering about the name of the drink. In generally, you don’t name a drink after a celebrity unless it’s THEIR drink.

After putting this together, I went through my list of drink names to create drinks for and none of them fit. Jason Schiffer said the drink made him think of Jon Hamm’s briefcase from Madmen, and we just sort of started referring to the drink by that name because naming things is hard and I figured I’d just come up with a more permanent name later.

A funny thing happened along the way to actually writing this up: the drink started getting served to people by other bartenders, and since I had put the whole “naming my drink” thing on hold, customers came to know it as Jon Hamm’s Briefcase. One night I walked into Napa Rose at the Disney Grand California Hotel and declared that I had thought of a new name for the Jon Hamm’s Briefcase. I was then mobbed by four (yes four) customers who got very excited and told me that the Jon Hamm’s Briefcase was one of their favorite drinks and I better not change the name.

So there you have it. I can’t name my drink now because I didn’t name it. I mean, I did. You can call it the Woodhouse if you’re one of the three people out there who aren’t Jon Hamm fans. Or, if you have a better idea for a name, post it in the comments!

*UPDATE: Since I posted this partially to meet my pinky-swear obligation to post every month now, and I was the last person in my cadre of pinky swearers to do so, I think the alternative name should be DEAD LAST. But what do you think?

One of the goals I had that I never met was riding a full century – a 100 mile ride. In Southern California that is typically accomplished by riding from Orange County to San Diego. Somewhere along the way I just lost my motivation.

Bike MS is sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society as a way to help raise money to fund research into treatments and a cure for multiple sclerosis. The National MS Society is pretty well-known, but I wasn’t aware of Bike MS, which holds a charity ride every October.

My friend, Dave Lieberman of OC Weekly fame, told me during one of my bar shifts that he rides it every year. If riding for charity can’t get me back on the saddle, then there’s something wrong with me.

That’s why I’m riding this year’s Bike MS SoCal Chapter’s ride from OC to SD. I’ll be riding 100 miles – and you can help!

Go to my Bike MS page and donate. I’ve set a meager goal of raising $1000.00. That’s totally doable, but I’m hoping to blow it out of the water. So donate, share the page with your friends and make them donate. Over the next 45 days or so, I’m hoping to also put together a few guest bartending spots for which all of the tips will go to the ride – and possibly some other events as well.

One night only – they bury us in the morning.

That’s right. The Earth has completed yet another circle around the Sun God and he demands his offerings of fruit juices and rum.

This year we’re doing it more OC style with myself, Kelly Merrell from Trader Sam’s, Michelle Bearden from 320 Main (who has taken over the Tiki Tuesday nights), and Marie King (formerly of Don The Beachcomber in Huntington Beach – now of Tonga Hut in Hollywood and Palm Springs – we’ll still consider her OC for thematic purposes).

Hot dogs, original cocktails, and a few classics. I’m sure there are other things you could want, but I can’t think of what any of them would be.

Piña Coladas are delicious, but boring. Painkillers are far more interesting, but also far more likely to get you into legal troubles. The Pele’s Peak, however, is only likely to get you to order another one.

* image courtesy ThirstyInLA.com

In 2013, 320 Main had its annual summer Tiki Night. To make things more interesting, we decided to make it a competition between LA and Orange County Tiki Illuminati, and each of the 6 bartenders were asked to come up with a Tiki drink of their very own.

Pele’s Peak

• 2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc (I use Rhum JM Blanc)
• 1 oz Coconut Cream
• .75 oz Lime Juice
• .5 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
• .5 oz Don’s Mix
• .5 oz Lager Style Beer
• 2 tsp Coruba Jamaican Dark Rum
• 1 tsp Pedro Ximenez Sherry

Combine with 1 cup crushed ice in a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Pour into a goblet and dust with grated cinnamon.

The drink is my own creation – named for the volcano that sits at the northern end of the Caribbean island of Martinique. Yes, the French volcano is actually named Mount Pelée, but when I wrote the name down I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking only of the glory of victory.

It’s a bit more involved than your average Painkiller or Piña Colada – though I’ve managed to keep the “P” thing going for drink names of drinks with Coconut Cream going. The drink is actually not modeled on either of the other well-known rum and coconut drinks though. I really wanted to do something like a cream and egg white drink, but Tiki. Swapping coconut cream for heavy cream was easy, but the drink was still very sharp. So I added the lager beer, which does a critical job of rounding out the corners of the drink in the same way that an egg white does for something like a Boston Sour or a Ramos Gin Fizz.

I had originally meant to find myself a good porter to use, but I was short on time and the first two porters I tried didn’t work the way I wanted them too. I started looking to things like Coruba to try and add some more depth, but it was Jason Schiffer from 320 Main who added the Sherry, which – despite its diminutive portion – makes a big difference in the drink.

The drink doesn’t call for it, but once we got behind the bar I couldn’t resist a little showmanship, so instead of just grating some cinnamon over the top of the drink, I threw a sugar cube that had been soaked in 151 onto a lime raft, set it aflame, and then shook cinnamon over fire to create the effect you see in this post’s top image (taken by Daniel Djang of Thirsty In LA fame). I don’t generally set these on fire when I make them at home – though maybe I should.

Not too long ago I was asked to stop by local NPR affiliate, KCRW to talk with Evan Kleiman on her show, Good Food about Tiki drinks and rum. I think I only mentioned Jeff “Beachbum” Berry two or three times, and to be honest, the entire interview should have been little more than me saying, “Well, as Jeff Berry tells us…” and then finishing my thoughts because I can’t stress enough how important The Bum is to anyone who loves Tiki. He’s the reason I know almost everything I know – which is apparently enough to merit talking on the radio.

Incidentally, if you’d like to learn more about Tiki, I’d recommend picking up any of The Bum’s books – especially his newest opus, Potions of the Caribbean

The Twelve Mile Limit is a drink I really love, but I have to confess that it’s not one that I often have. Keeping a mental Rolodex of drink recipes that I like in my head can sometimes lead to complete brain lock-up when ordering a cocktail. So in most bars I stick to their menus or default to something like a Daiquiri or Mai Tai.

Twelve Mile Limit

1 oz White Rum
.5 oz Brandy
.5 oz Rye
.5 oz Grenadine
.5 oz Lemon Juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

Not to mention the fact that the Twelve Mile Limit isn’t exactly a drink that most people – even bartenders – have heard of and know how to make. I try to avoid playing Stump The Bartender. It keeps the spittle portion of my cocktails much smaller.

While visiting The Little Sparrow in Santa Ana, I noticed the Twelve Mile Limit on their menu. I was so giddy that I immediately demanded that Seth – my barman for the evening – deliver one to my empty hand. As he turned to get his bottles, I noticed the bottle of Rhum JM Blanc (100 proof) on the back-bar and suddenly the room seemed to freeze as my taste-buds drew up a simulation of what a Twelve Mile Limit would be like with white rhum agricole instead of the usual molasses-based white rums. I waved Seth down and asked for an experiment.

The results? You should always make your Twelve Mile Limit with full proof rhum agricole blanc. Always.

The play of the agricole against the brandy and rye is just too good. It gives the drink a certain funkiness that you don’t find if you use your usual white rums. Don’t get me wrong, make this drink with something like Caña Brava or El Dorado 3 year old or Plantation 3 Star and you will be in love with the drink. But make this with Rhum JM Blanc, Neisson Blanc, or a 100 proof Clement Blanc and you may find yourself infused with a lust that some would consider unnatural.

Part of the key to this, in my opinion, is that the agricole must be a full 100 proof. Some brands are selling both 100 proof and 80 proof editions of their rhums to make them more palatable to the wider American market. These heretical rhums are still quite good in the Twelve Mile Limit, but not nearly as pungently delicious, so stick to the strong stuff.

UPDATED

I’ve had some people tell me that they’ve tried this recipe and they’re losing the brandy and rye. I looked through my notes and realized that when we made this, we used bonded rye (100 proof/50% abv) and bonded apple brandy in the drink. Leave it to me to forget a key detail like that in my write-up. The higher proof ingredients all stand up to each other without getting crushed by the others, giving you a final recipe of:

Twelve Mile Limit

1 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc
.5 oz Bonded Apple Brandy
.5 oz Bonded Rye
.5 oz Grenadine
.5 oz Lemon Juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

I know there are some people who will insist this is a wholly new drink that needs a new name (cue Forrest, shaking his fist). Personally, I feel that it’s still pretty true to being just a Twelve Miler, just with all the dials turns to eleven.