old man's beard

1 oz Demerara 151° Rum (Diamond Reserve)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
3/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/4 oz Grenadine

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Two Mondays ago was the beginning of Negroni Week. I had been thinking of the Hasty Fassionola ingredient of passion fruit syrup and grenadine called for in Jason ALexander's Cannibal Cooler and used historically without that name in the Port Light, and I wondered if I could use it in a rum Negroni -- especially given how well both syrups pair with Campari. I was considering Plantation OFTD as the spiritous component but opted for the sample of Diamond Reserve 151 proof Demerara Rum that I had been sent. As the drink came together, I took a page from Martin Cate's Kaieteur Swizzle and named this one after another waterfall in Guyana, namely Old Man's Beard.The Old Man's Beard flowed to the nose with a grapefruit and orange bouquet. Next, berry, grape, and melon notes on the sip cascaded into rum, cherry, and bitter tropical flavors on the swallow.