georgetown club cocktail

2 oz White Rum (El Dorado 3 Year)
3/4 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1 tsp Falernum (Velvet)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange or lemon twist (orange).

My copy of Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s South American Companion: Up & Down the Andes with Jigger, Beaker, & Flask arrived a week and a half ago, and I was eager to try a recipe out of there. So on Monday last week, I selected the Georgetown Club Cocktail from Baker's travels to "the capital city of British Guiana." While the drink was not the most wild of the bunch, the concept of falernum as an accent to a white rum Martini or Manhattan seemed intriguing.
The Georgetown Club Cocktail started with an orange oil and vanilla aroma; the latter scent stemmed from El Dorado, despite being a white rum, spends several years in a barrel before being charcoal filtered to remove the barrel-donated coloration. Indeed, the vanilla note from the rum carried over into the flavor as well and was greatly complemented by the falernum's spice on the swallow. The dry vermouth functioned to bridge the gap between the spirit and the liqueur rather well; moreover, the Noilly Prat added floral hints to the flavor profile. Andrea commented that the drink did not seem all that strong and might make for a decent aperitif.