key cocktail

1 1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Falernum (1/2 oz Velvet)
1/4 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (1/2 oz Coruba)

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a pineapple stick (omit garnish).Two Mondays ago, I reached for my copy of the 1977 Jones' Complete Barguide and spotted the Key Cocktail. While the name reminded me of Death & Co.'s Key Party, the four part rum, gin, lime, and sweetener structure reminded me of the 1937 Daiquiri Special but with falernum instead of grenadine. In more complex form, the gin, rum, falernum, and lime aspect was one that I had seen in the Bali Bali and included in the Monkey Pilot. In the glass, the Key Cocktail proffered a caramel, rum funk, lime, and clove bouquet to the nose. Next, lime and caramel notes on the sip set up caramel, lime, juniper, and clove flavors on the swallow. While the combination was balanced as made (it seemed a touch tart as written), it definitely needed a little pizzazz like a dash of absinthe, a funkier rum, and/or a softer modern gin (like the Barr Hill that I used in the Daiquiri Special) to give it some intrigue.