jasper's rum punch

1 1/2 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof White Rum
1 1/2 oz Jasper's Basic Stock Mix (*)

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lime slice-cherry flag (mint sprig only).
(*) Jasper's Basic Stock Mix: Stir to dissolve 12 oz sugar in 16 oz lime juice. Add 1 oz Angostura Bitters and 1 heaping tsp freshly grated nutmeg. Refrigerate. Shake before using. I made a scaled down version of this mix.

Two Sundays ago, I spotted a mention of Jasper's Rum Punch and recalled that I had never tried this drink before. Therefore, I hunted down the recipe and backstory from a combination of Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails and Jeff Berry's Potions of the Caribbean. Haigh regaled how rum collector Stephen Remsberg in 1972 acquired the recipe from Jasper Le Franc who had created both the mix and the punch as the lead bartender at the Bay Roc Hotel in Jamaica. The recipe for the mix in Berry's book was more precise, so I ended up going with that one.
The punch provided a mint aroma over Jamaican rum notes. Next, lime with a caramel-like element from the bitters filled the sip, and the swallow offered funky rum flavors accented with a lot of spice.