the lighthouse

2 oz Brugal Añejo Rum (Don Q Añejo)
3/4 oz Tio Pepe Fino Sherry (Lustau)
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
2 dash Scrappy's Lime Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.
Two Fridays ago, I was in the mood to give my new bottle of Fino bottle some more mileage, so I looked to the BarNotes app for inspiration. There, I was lured in by Matt Grippo's Lighthouse that was his first cocktail creation at the Blackbird Bar in San Francisco. While Matt said that it would taste great as described, the bar was selling this as a barrel-aged offering after 6 weeks in a small cask. What drew me in was the similarity to the Georgetown Club Cocktail from Charles H. Baker, Jr.'s South American Companion that I had great success with on the Loyal Nine menu circa 2016. Once stirred and strained, the Lighthouse shined out with aged rum and lime aromas. Next, caramel balanced by crisp white wine notes on the sip beaconed in rum, savory, clove, lime, and ginger flavors on the swallow. Like the Georgetown Club, there was enough sugar in the quarter ounce of falernum to round off the drink into a more gentle quaff.