port o' spain

1/4 oz Angostura Bitters
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup made from Cane Crystals
1 oz Appleton Estate 12 Year Rum (Denizen Merchant's Reserve)
1 oz Lustau Brandy (Camus VS Cognac)
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe pre-rinsed with Amontillado sherry (Lustau), and garnish with lemon oil from a twist (lemon twist used as garnish).

On Tuesday evening two weeks prior, I decided to make another Lustau competition recipe that I had spotted from their 2017 season called the Port o' Spain by bartender Blaine Adams. Given the hefty amount of Angostura in the mix, I was intrigued. Blaine explained his drink as, "One of my favorite cocktails is a Trinidad Sour and as Trinidad was colonized by the Spanish, making a riff on the Trinidad sour seemed the easy choice for this competition. The sherry mellows out the big flavors in a good way and it brings back a Spanish flair to a sour from a Spanish colonized island."
The Port o' Spain donated lemon oil, nutty from sherry and Maraschino, and caramel aged spirit aromas to the nose. Next, lemon and caramel mingled on the sip, and the swallow proffered rum, brandy, nutty, clove, and cinnamon flavors. Given the relatively moderate amount of bitters, the Port o' Spain was not as out there as a Trinidad Sour and came across as a pleasing spiced split spirits Sour.