Sharkbaits Cocktail of the Week: Rum Squared

Happy Friday! No secret I’ve been on a martini kick lately. However this week I wanted to (pardon the pun) mix things up a bit. Originally I wanted to just use a different garnish, such as a lime and see what that did to the overall flavor profile of a dry or a medium martini. I still might go down that path relatively soon just for fun. Using the lime idea, it gave me some inspiration to swap the base completely and see what I could do with rum as a base. Some searching led me to an interesting sounding split rum base cocktail called The Georgetown Club cocktail, as described by Charles Baker. It features a split white rum/rhum agricole base. It screams tropical drink and given that it’s now officially summer, I can easily get into a warm weather drink right about now.

1 1/2 ounces unaged or lightly aged rum, such as Privateer New England White Rum
1 ounce dry vermouth, such as Dolin
1/4 ounce rhum agricole blanc, such as Rhum J.M Agricole Blanc 80°
1/4 ounce falernum

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lime twist. 

Neutral nose, which is a bit of a surprise given the rums at play here, especially the rhum agricole. I figured the rums would present themselves a bit more here than they do.

The flavor is an interesting one. Despite the white rum being the base, it’s the rhum agricole that stands out the most. It’s intense earthy flavor shines through, but as you would expect, tempered by the white rum, and the falernum. The latter of which does play nicely with the twin r(h)ums flavors, with the slight sweetness of the falernum checking the rhum agricole and preventing a complete palate takeover. As to the vermouth The dry vermouth I thought would be more of a bit player than it turns out to be. It shines through at the back half, providing a nice, dry finish to this excellent drink. It does leave a bit of a lingering aftertaste on the palate, but it goes away rather quickly and doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

I’m quite pleased I came across this drink. 1) Because I now know of another Charles Baker book I need to get my hands on as soon as possible, and 2) It’s different than what I’ve been having lately and it’s been a welcome change of pace. Not to mention it’s a good excuse to break out the Caribbean rhum I’ve been sitting on for a while now.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)