smuggler's cove fog cutter

2 oz Blended Lightly Aged Rum (Appleton Select)
1 oz Pisco (Macchu Pisco)
1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1 1/2 oz Orange Juice
1 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orgeat

Flash blend with 12 oz crushed ice and pour into a Zombie glass or Fog Cutter mug (whip shake, pour into a Tiki mug, and fill with crushed ice). Float 1/2 oz Oloroso sherry (Lustau) and garnish with a swizzle stick and mint sprig.

When I was writing about the Scorpion Bowl, I thought about how Trader Vic utilized the orange juice, lemon juice, and orgeat combination in other drinks including the Fog Cutter. Since the Fog Cutter recipe on this blog is a local bartender's riff, I considered doing the classic recipe; however, I got distracted by the riff in the Smuggler's Cove book. Here, Martin Cate and friends utilized pisco and a dry sherry for the aged brandy and sweet sherry, respectively, and I was curious to see how it would turn out. According to a 2008 Food & Wine article, Cate utilized a dry sherry (Amontillado) at Forbidden Island, but the change to pisco came later. Once at Smuggler's Cove, Cate utilized pisco in other tropical drinks circa 2011 such as the Lingua Franca and Sexpert, so the Fog Cutter changed around that time as well.
The Smuggler's Cove Fog Cutter welcomed the nose with mint over a nutty sherry aroma. Next, a dry and creamy lemon and orange sip led into rum, gin's juniper, and nutty flavors on the swallow. As the float integrated into the straw sip, the balance became even drier and the flavor profile offered up more nutty and raisin notes.