Twelve Miles Out Cocktail
1/3 Bacardi Rum. (3/4 oz Vale d’ Paul Aguardiente Nove de Santo Antao)
1/3 Swedish Punch. (3/4 oz Underhill Punsch)
1/3 Calvados. (3/4 oz Monteuil Calvados Reserve)
Shake (I stirred) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

When my friend Stephen Shellenberger (aka Boston Apothecary) was in town, he stopped by Heaven’s Dog for a drink.  As if a visit from this young drink visionary weren’t enough, he also brought in a couple bottles of Rum from Cape Verde called “Vale d’ Paul Aguardiente Nove de Santo Antao” for me to try.

At the time, I wasn’t really drinking, so didn’t get much of a chance to appreciate the gift.  But I was struck by the similarity of the Aguardiente to Agricole Style Rums.

A few nights later, Michael Lazar (aka Mr. Manhattan) stopped by, so I gave him a taste of the Aguardiente. Interestingly, he had first been introduced to Agricole Style Rums in Guadalupe, and really enjoyed them.  Since that time, he had tried many Agricole Rums from Martinique, but never quite gotten the same kick out of the Martinique Rum that he had gotten out of the Rums from Guadalupe.  The leaner nature of the Martinique Rums just didn’t jive with his memory of the fruity, delicious rums of Guadalupe. The Vale d’ Paul Aguardiente, he thought, was closer to the style of Rums he remembered from that Caribbean Island.

When I was trying to think of an interesting drink to use the in the Twelve Miles out, it was exactly that fruity character that I thought would match well with the Calvados in this drink.

For a mostly booze drink, this isn’t bad.  It should be almost as cold as you can possibly get it, or it will seem too sweet, but it is kind of nice. The Calvados, Rum, and Punch really mesh into something else which is quite interesting, yet at the same time all the elements are present and available.  The aroma from a generous piece of orange peel is definitely a critical element.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.