:: privateer rum distillery ::

While at the Boston Cocktail Summit, I met a handful of distillers with several of them being from local distilleries. Two of them, namely Privateer and Turkey Shore, were not only enthusiastic about me visiting but were pretty close to each other in Ipswich, MA, and suggested that we coordinate a double visit.  So yesterday, I hopped on the commuter rail and headed north.

The last distillery I visited was GrandTen in South Boston. It was interesting in comparing and contrasting each distillery's angle on their product. For example, one of the two people behind GrandTen is a classically trained chemist, and the way that they perfected each round of prototype gins definitely had a focused, scientific way about it.

The distiller for Privateer is Maggie Campbell, and her initial classical training was getting a philosophy degree. She traced her interests in distilling to prior to graduation; when she was 20, she visited the Oban distillery in Scotland and became fascinated by the tour. After college, her life path took her to wine school in Denver to become a sommelier, which definitely paid off later in training her nose for shaping her spirits. She found a job at a boutique beer and store, and when she suggested that they also sell spirits, it became her job to research what they should carry. As she got into home brewing, she began writing people for advice about books about beer and spirits. Her email correspondence with the Germain-Robin distillery paid off for there was soon an opening for an assistant distiller, and she worked there for nearly a year. The owner of Privateer Rum, Andrew Cabot, was in need of a distiller who could take their product to the next level, and when he contacted Germain-Robin for a recommendation, they suggested Maggie.

From a historical side, Andrew traced his lineage back to another Andrew Cabot who was a rum distiller and was also involved in privateering activities during the Revolutionary War period.  His ancestor's distillery was in nearby Beverly, MA.  While I did get to meet Andrew at the Boston Cocktail Summit, he was away on business during my visit.
Although there are other products in the works, Privateer has two main offerings, their silver and amber rums. The silver is made from evaporated cane juice and brown sugar with the former having apple and fruitier notes and the latter having some molasses-like ones; skipping molasses proper for the unoaked rum provides for a smoother spirit since molasses takes quite some time in the barrel to tame. The silver rum is treated like an eau de vie on the still to bring out more aromatics and delicate notes. The amber, on the other hand, is made from molasses and brown sugar; the molasses is an early pull than black strap so it has figgy and softer flavors instead of a darker, raisiny one. For the amber, the still is treated as if it were a whiskey run. Maggie's approach has changed the rum from where it was with the previous distiller, and from my tasting, it seems to be for the better. Months ago, I remember tasting the old silver rum, and I recall more tropical fruit notes; the current silver rum reflects that eau de vie technique and the rum contains more orchard fruit notes including apple and quince. While I did taste the amber back then, my mental notes were not strong enough to describe how the new amber rum has changed, but indeed, both were quite well done.

For ferments, the methodology is long, cool, and slow to create deeper and richer flavors and to minimize as much of the aromatics from being carried off with the carbon dioxide. While 24 hour to 3 day ferments are common in rum, Privateer's product takes a full 7 days. For a yeast, they use a European yeast strain that the original distiller selected from Scotland. The still, pictured above has the capability of being run as either a pot or a column still; the first or stripping run is done solely as a pot and the second or spirit run uses the hybrid pot-column.
One thing that Maggie spoke about was the art of élevage or the art of aging wine. Privateer uses a wide variety of barrels including second fill Bourbon and third fill brandy barrels, and the end product is an artful blend to reach the desired flavor profile. I found it interesting how Andrew, the owner, requires Maggie to devote 20% of her time to experimentation whether it be ways of improving the current products or creating new ones. One of the interesting ones that she spoke of was a single barrel experimental series using various wild and cultured yeast, with the wild yeast being collected from interesting geographical and agricultural regions.

sailor's delight

1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Benedictine
3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist a lemon peel over the top.

After attending the Speed Rack charity event two Wednesdays ago, I made my way across the Boston Commons to No. 9 Park for a nightcap. There, bartender Tyler Wang offered me his variation on the Widow's Kiss, although with the split spirit base, it might be more appropriate to say the Wicked Kiss. The last time I had an apple brandy-mezcal pairing was also at No. 9 Park with the Fire in the Orchard.
The lemon twist oils joined the fruity apple and savory Yellow Chartreuse aromas. A honey-apple sip was followed by the smokey mezcal, Benedictine and Yellow Chartreuse herbal notes, and Angostura spice on the swallow.

pomme en croute

1 1/2 oz Calvados (Morin Selection)
1/2 oz Curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)
1/2 oz Campari or Gran Classico (Campari)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a glass with a sugared rim. Garnish with a long orange twist.

Two Mondays ago, I picked up our copy of Food & Wine: Cocktails 2012 and saw which riffs on classics I had not yet made. The one that caught my eye was Chris Hannah's Brandy Crusta variation. Chris works at Arnaud's French 75 in New Orleans, and he selected the Crusta for it was created a mere 4 blocks away from his bar back in 1850. For this version, he took an apple twist and replaced the nonpotable bitters with Campari.
Lemon and Campari aromas greeted the nose, and the lemon continued on into the sip where it worked well with the Curaçao's orange flavors. On the swallow, the Calvados' apple mingled with the Campari. Overall, the drink came across more as an Apple Sidecar than as a traditional Crusta. Moreover, the recipe made me think of Rendezvous' Scott Holliday who has made me many Crustas as well as variations that replace a spirit with Calvados.

little ronnie

1 oz Zacapa 23 Year Rum
1 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Zwack (*)
1 barspoon Lemon Juice
1 pinch Salt

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.
(*) Another amaro like Averna might sub well here.

For a second drink at Eastern Standard, I asked bartender Seth Freidus for the Little Ronnie. Seth explained that the drink was "a friend of Little Giuseppe" created by Eastern Standard's Kevin Martin. The original drink was developed in a game of bartender telephone between Stephen Cole of Chicago's Violet Hour who crafted the Bitter Giuseppe and Boston's Misty Kalkofen who developed the Little Giuseppe. Both Giuseppes are Cynar based with the Bitter using sweet vermouth and the Little using Punt e Mes. I felt silly after asking Seth who the Ronnie in question was; Seth explained that the 'Ron' was the rum in the drink. The previous variation of the Little Giuseppe I had was Tyler Wang's An Epic and A Limerick at No. 9 Park and that post also contains the recipe for the original Little Giuseppe.
The drink offered up an orange oil aroma that led into the grape and caramel sip. The swallow showcased the Zwack and Punt e Mes herbal notes and ended dry and clean. The salt definitely softened the drink and minimized the bitter elements. Finally, as the drink warmed up, the Zacapa rum notes began to play a larger role in the flavor profile.

tuxedo cocktail #3

1 1/2 oz Bols Barrel-Aged Genever
3/4 oz Tio Pepe Fino Sherry
3/4 oz Martini & Rossi Dry Vermouth
1 barspoon Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Two Sundays ago, Andrea and I headed down to Eastern Standard for dinner. For a first drink, I asked bartender Kit Paschal for the Tuxedo Cocktail #3. This variation was created by Kevin Martin using the aged Genever from the Eastern Standard-Hawthorne-ICOB barrel and follows in series the Tuxedo #1 and #2 that appear in the Savoy Cocktail Book and earlier. The major changes in #3 from #1 and #2 were dropping the absinthe, cutting the dry vermouth with fino sherry, and swapping Genever for gin.
The orange twist brightened the Genever's malt aroma. The malt continued on into the sip where it mingled with the dry grape notes which I attributed more to the fino sherry. Next, the swallow contained the sherry, dry vermouth, and Genever flavors and ended with a smooth Maraschino finish.

arbitrary nature of time

1 1/4 oz Wild Turkey 101 Rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1 oz Campari
3/4 oz Cherry Heering
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters
2 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass containing a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.

After the Getaway, Andrea mentioned that we had not had a drink from Beta Cocktails in quite some time. Therefore, I began flipping through the pages until I spotted Maksym Pazuniak's Arbitrary Nature of Time. The combination of Campari and Cherry Heering reminded me of Maks' tasty Charlatan which used Punt e Mes instead of overproof whiskey as the base spirit.
The orange oils worked well with the Campari on the nose. The sip was vermouth-like with orange notes from the bitters, and the swallow offered up cherry, chocolate, and bitter Campari flavors. Suprisingly, the rye was harder to detect here than I expected, but it seemed to provide a sturdy backbone for the drink.

the getaway

1 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Another drink that I found on BonAppetit was a Cynar Daiquiri called the Getaway by Derek Brown of the Columbia Room in Washington, D.C. The Getaway offered up dark black strap molasses aromas that were countered by the citrus' brightness. Similarly, the tart lemon countered the sweet molasses and caramel notes on the sip, and finally, the swallow offered the black strap rum merging with the Cynar's funky herbal notes. Overall, I was quite surprised at how light this drink was, although that matches the profile of some of Derek's other recipes such as the Bitter Peach.

h bomb

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo LXVI) was picked by Ed of the Wordsmithing Pantagruel blog. The theme he chose was "(It's not easy) Bein' Green" which roughly translated into finding or concocting a drink recipe that uses at least one green ingredient or garnish. Ed explained, "Let's pay one last tribute to the greens of summer before the frosts come and our outdoor herb gardens give up the ghost for the winter... I'm giving you a wide berth on this one, anything using a green ingredient is fair play. There's not only the aforementioned Chartreuse; how about Absinthe Verte, aka the green fairy. Or Midori, that stuff is pretty damn green. Crème de menthe? Why not? Douglas Fir eau de vie? Bring it! Apple schnapps? Uh...well...it is green. ...Base, mixer, and or garnish; if it's green it's good. Surprise me."

While writing up a blurb about the Bikini Atoll on the Drink & Tell cocktail book's Facebook fanpage this past week, I looked up the drink that influenced it, the Nuclear Daiquiri. In that post, I referenced a recipe that Drink's Josey Packard found in Stan Jones' Complete Bar Guide called the H Bomb. The H Bomb has both Green and Yellow Chartreuse along with Bourbon and brandy. I am not sure what it is about Chartreuse that makes people think of radiation, but all of these recipes contain Green if not both Chartreuses.

H Bomb
• 3/4 oz Bourbon (Eagle Rare 10 Year)
• 3/4 oz Brandy (Foret)
• 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. In retrospect, straining into a rocks glass containing a large ice cube might be preferable here.

I never inquired how Josey made it to scale for Drink's three ounce pour; I guess that she might go with the house 1:1:1/2:1/2 ratio, although I have found equal parts recipes for the H Bomb on the web. I stuck with the recipe as written by Stan Jones for this one.
The Green Chartreuse's aromas greeted the nose. The Yellow Chartreuse was the next to show itself with a honeyed flavor that joined the Bourbon's malt on the sip. The swallow began with hot Bourbon notes that were followed by savory Yellow and spicy Green Chartreuse flavors. Finally, the drink ended with a sweet brandy finish. Here, the tension in the drink was between the hot proofiness of the spirits against the sweet and savory aspects. Perhaps serving this in a rocks glass with a large ice cube would allow the drink's heat to mellow as the ice melt. Overall, the H Bomb has a modern mixologist feel to it (or would that required a Fernet Branca rinse too?) even though the Complete Bartender was published in the late 1970s.

So cheers to Ed from Wordsmithing Pantagruel for hosting this month's Mixology Monday!

kaieteur swizzle

2 oz El Dorado 5 Year (Plantation Barbados)
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Build in a Collins glass and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with nutmeg and a mint sprig, and add a straw.

After the Havana Cocktail, I decided to keep with the tropical feel and make a drink from an old BonAppetit article featuring a recipe from Martin Cate of Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco. Martin's Swizzle was named after the Kaieteur Falls in central Guyana and features rum from that region. Due to dwindling Lemon Hart 80 supplies and no El Dorado 5 Year in town, I opted to use Plantion Barbados instead.
The mint and nutmeg garnishes filled the Swizzle's bouquet. The lime paired with the rum's caramel on the sip, and the rest of the rum appeared on the swallow along with maple, clove, and other spice notes.