60ml black rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel.
The afternoon’s drink in an effort to clear a bottle off of the shelf. Possessing several other dark rums (Havana 7, Appleton Signature, Cruzan Blackstrap, the list goes on) the Gosling’s seem superfluous. Whilst there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had going deep into the rum rabbit hole, I have limited shelving space. Gosling’s doesn’t bring quite enough to the table to be worth keeping around by itself.
The Benjamin Barker Daiquiri from Death & Co. (again) is a great Daiquri variation for something that presents a bit of complexity while still being eminently drinkable. On the sip, the rum presents first, the mild funk of the Gosling’s quickly giving way to the popcorn-caramel shared by the cane syrup (filling in for the rich demerara of the original recipe), before the Campari, made strangely funky, appears at the beginning of the swallow. Finally, absinthe and the familiar sharpness of Campari.
In future, I think Havana 7 blended with a small portion of Appleton and a dash of Cruzan would be a good way to approximate the Gosling’s here.
Brian Miller, Death and Co., NYC, USA, 2008.
