ponce de leon

2 oz Ragged Mountain Rum
1 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz Licor 43
1 dash Housemade Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Flame an orange peel and drop into the glass.

Last night after my DJ set down the street, Andrea and I stopped at Eastern Standard to get a late dinner and some drinks. We were very pleasantly surprised to see Kevin "Kodiak" Martin tending in front of a pair of open seats. Our drinking and his work schedules have sadly not overlapped in quite a long time. When I spotted a new drink on the menu, the Ponce de Léon, I asked Kevin about it. He replied that it was one of Bobby McCoy's originals which featured the complex and vanilla-y Spanish liqueur, Licor 43. I assume that the liqueur's (and the sherry's) country of origin led him to the name choice, or perhaps the cocktail is the fountain of youth Ponce was searching for (or at least cocktailgoggles in reverse). Rum also makes sense since Ponce's journeys took him around the Caribbean; although for this beverage, Bobby went the local route and selected a rum from western Massachusetts' Berkshire Mountain Distillers.

As for the drink itself, the sherry work surprisingly well with the Licor 43 flavors. The combination brings out some pleasant complexity and sharp notes which are soothed to some degree by the richness of the pot-stilled rum. Overall, a good drink both on its own and while eating my tasty dinner of a rye-bread grilled cheese sandwich. And it was also rather intriguing to see Licor 43 being served in drinks other than at Dalí in Somerville (and besides what we have made at home).