skull & bones

1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 oz Plantation OFTD Overproof Rum
1 oz Plantation Original Dark Rum

Shake with ice and strain into a double old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice; I garnished with a spent half lime shell.

Two Thursdays ago, I spotted Jason Alexander's take on the Skull & Bones on Instagram that he makes at the Tacoma Cabana. The Skull & Bones' history can be traced back to a Don the Beachcomber recipe by that name (with no known recipe as of this report); when the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale opened up in 1956, their menu was heavily influenced by Don's, and the Skull & Bones perhaps morphed into the Shrunked Skull on their initial menu. The Shrunken Skull was later garnished at the Mai-Kai with a cinnamon stick, and this cinnamon element was later adapted by other bars such as Hale Pele into the addition of a flavored syrup. Apparently, Jeff Beachbum Berry just published a recipe for the Skull & Bones his his recent Sippin' Safari 10 Year Anniversary book, but I have not purchased the updated edition yet (Postnote: For that recipe, see this entry).
The Skull & Bones began with dark rum with hints of berry on the nose that led into a caramel, berry, and lime sip. Next, the dark rum continued on into the swallow along with red fruit notes and a cinnamon finish. The cinnamon spice definitely added a much needed burst of spice to the Shrunken Skull recipe akin to the absinthe in the Drunken Skull.