queen's park hotel super cocktail

1 1/2 oz Gold Trinidad Rum (Appleton V/X) (*)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Lime Juice
4 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
(*) I had too little of 10 Cane left for a drink, and the Zaya seemed too dark for this recipe.

Two Saturdays ago, I stopped by the Boston Shaker store to drop off another box of Drink & Tell: A Boston Cocktail Book. At the store, I spotted Beachbum Berry's new book, Potions of the Caribbean, and decided to pick it up there instead of paying the shipping costs from Cocktail Kingdom. For a drink that night, I cracked it open and searched for a Tiki libation. The Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail called out to me, and while the book provides a richer history, the basic gist is that a British travel writer weaseled this recipe out of a hotel bartender in 1932. Sounds like a familiar story...
The cocktail began with a clove and cinnamon aroma with a fruit note from the grenadine and lime. A grape and pomegranate sip gained some structure from the lime's crispness, and the swallow offered the aged rum with a dry spice finish. The lime was definitely less distinct here than in a classic Daiquiri perhaps due to the bitters' effect. Overall, the drink was a fruitier and slightly spicier version of the Fig Leaf Cocktail from the addition of grenadine and extra dashes of Angostura (although I guess that would depend on which vermouth was used).