cave-in-rock

2 oz Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/2 oz Don's Spices #2 (1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup + 1/4 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's))
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Absinthe (10 drop St. George)

Short shake with ice, strain into a Tiki glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a mint sprig (omit) and freshly grated nutmeg.

Two Fridays ago at Drink, I had a guest in a party of four ask for a Bourbon and vanilla drink. After stepping away from the group to make the round, I was inspired by the Tiki combination of vanilla and allspice dram called Don's Spices #2 that I discovered in the Nui Nui. The Bourbon Tiki drink the Fiji Mermaid inspired me in a grenadine, lemon, Angostura, and absinthe direction while pineapple juice as a buffer akin to the Pago Pago and others rounded out the recipe. Luckily, that guest was a Tiki fan, so they were pleased; I was concerned since I never checked back if a tropical direction was okay.When I got home, I was curious to recreate the combination for myself. For a name, I wanted to pay tribute to domestic piracy by dubbing this one after a base camp for pirates on the Ohio River -- namely Cave-in-Rock. Once prepared, the Cave-in-Rock ambushed the senses with a woody spice and fruity bouquet. Next, lemon and berry notes on the sip flowed into Bourbon, pineapple, vanilla, and allspice flavors on the swallow with a clove and anise finish. Postnote 2/19/26: A photo of me serving this at Drink on February 18, 2022 came up in my Facebook memories. This was after the first wave of Omicron had hit our bar and our kitchen hard, so we were all still masked up.