Two At The Most

Wanting to try out something new with my bottle of Grand Solage Calvados, I looked at a few recipes on the CocktailDB. I’m also in the mood to play with vermouth, which I’m only just beginning to appreciate.

I was underwhelmed with the two calvados/sweet vermouth combinations; there was just no there there. Not enough flavor in either to really wow the tastebuds.

I gave the Inspiration (Grand Marnier, calvados, dry vermouth, and London dry gin) a try, but once again, it was just not going in a direction i liked.

Tonight I thought I might try a rum-calvados-vermouth combination. The Kicker cocktail and the Leeward both specified light rum, while the Kicker called for “daiquiri” rum, so I went with proportions in the Kicker, using the Mount Gay Estate rum I had on hand.

Talk about underwhelming. There was a slight taste of calvados, once you got past the alcohol.

I restirred with a little more vermouth, bringing it closer to the Leeward recipe, in hopes of getting some depth, and it helped take the dominance of the alcohol off, but still…almost disappointing enough to just chuck.

On a whim, I made the Leeward with Gosling’s Black Seal, despite it specifically calling for light rum.

Now, that’s a cocktail. Deep and rich, with the rum balancing the calvados and the vermouth adding a nice bit of mouthfeel but not distracting sweetness.

So I present to you:

The Windward Cocktail

1 1/2 oz dark rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)
1/2 oz calvados (Grand Solage)
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cinzano)

stir in mixing glass with ice, strain into cocktail glass

Enjoy!

I rescued the bastard Leeward by tossing in a half-ounce of Goslings and glomming it off on b.

Related posts:

1. Pooh Bah Cocktail
2. MxMo: Rum — Nassau Cocktail
3. National Rum Day and the El Presidente
4. Lillet variations and the Bon Homme Richard
5. Knickerbocker Cocktail, or You never know how much tart 1/2 lime will get you!