Ahhh welcome to Thanksgiving week. A week spent celebrating my favorite holiday and a week generally filled with indulgences of many forms. While my much better half and I are no strangers to exploring new and exciting libations, Thanksgiving week gives us a chance to sample old time favorites as well as new and exciting concoctions that we've not gotten around to yet.
To kick off Thanksgiving week, we're rolling with a new kid on the block that we'll be mixing for the first time. As I've stated numerous times in regard to whiskey, there is no better tasting experiment than to sample two closely related items side-by-side. In a stroke of inspiration, we decided to apply this notion to today's cocktail - making two versions identical in every regard save the rum used. The original recipe called for a lightly aged Barbados rum. For the alternate version, we opted to use a staple in tiki cocktail culture - a moderately aged Jamaican rum.
First up, the recipe. Known as the 'King of Barbados', this libation is a riff on a rum punch, with a French twist of Calvados as well as a nod to the tiki gods with the inclusion of both a honey syrup and allspice dram.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces aged rum (we used a Barbados rum in one version, a Jamaican rum in the other)
- 0.5 ounces Calvados (or apple brandy)
- 0.75 ounces fresh lemon juice
- 0.75 ounces honey syrup (equal parts honey and water, heated and stirred until fully incorporated)
- 0.25 ounces allspice dram
Composition
Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake well, strain and serve
Results
The two rums used in our variants of this cocktail are Mount Gay's entry-level rum - Eclipse and Appleton Estate's 8-year rum. A fair criticism of this setup is the fact that Appleton's 8-year is far more aged than Mount Gay's Eclipse, approximately four times as much as Mount Gay claims their Eclipse rum is aged for two years. This will certainly impact the final result, and it's not just extra age the Appleton brings to the drink, but also that legendary 'Jamaica Funk'. Perhaps a better comparison would be to use Appleton's entry-level offering, their Signature Blend, but alas, we'll have to leave that for another day.
As for the drinks themselves, the allspice dram packs a remarkable punch despite being the smallest component of the drink. The Calvados is a fairly healthy component of the drink, but I can't say it is all that detectable in the final drink, though I am sure if omitted, it's absence would be noticed. To our tastes, the rum, allspice dram, and lemon juice are the stars of this drink.
Both cocktails take on a orange-clove vibe which perfectly compliments the current Fall season. As for the different rums, the Mount Gay Eclipse version is straightforward and wildly drinkable. It would be easy to consume one, then two, then six of the Mount Gay version. The Appleton version is unsurprisingly a tad more complex, there are more flavors delivered when sipped alongside the Mount Gay version mostly thanks to the 'funk' and 3% extra ABV of the Appleton.
Personally, if I were mixing this drink for family and friends, I'd almost always opt for the Mount Gay version as it is a fantastic riff of an easy-going, easy to enjoy rum punch. If however I had a friend that loved traditional tiki cocktails or Jamaican rum, then the Appleton would be the appropriate rum.
For the next round of vacation cocktails, we'll be traveling back in time to visit one of the old school's classic offerings. Until then, cheers my friends.
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