Did you know March 3rd is Bottled in Bond Day? I didn’t either. This is why it is useful to have friends who are distillers, folks. You learn all sorts of wonderful things about science and our deeply weird liquor laws. I’d really recommend it. We have a strange relationship with spirits in this country, as I’m sure you are quite aware at even a cursory level (there aren’t that many amendments to the Constitution), so hey, it’s good to celebrate the wins.
There are a lot of technical aspects of bottling in bond that I’m not going to get into (I’m no expert, but the basics are it has to be exactly 100 proof, made in one season by one producer at one distillery, and aged at least 4 years). The thing that’s probably more important than anything to pay attention to in this case is that it’s 100 proof, so you are not playing with anything weak when you pull this out.
I’m most familiar with bottling in bond showing up in whiskey and bourbon, but it can show up in other places. Like apple brandy! Really, you should have a bottle of Laird’s around anyway. It’s just a good thing to have in your collection.
As for bottled in bond whiskey? Well the sky is the limit here people. But in terms of what I just keep in my collection on a regular basis? Rittenhouse, people, Rittenhouse Rye. You don’t need my help with this. But really, there is tons of great bottled in bond whiskey out there, and you should go explore it. Some of it nicer than others, but this is one you will be perfectly happy with, I assure you. Of course you can get fancier stuff, but we’re mixing here people. Plus it still goes well next to a High Life
Had I been more prepared, I could have also picked up some bottled in bond rum, but it hasn’t come up yet. Guess I need another bottle of rum, oh well. It’s unfortunately tough to track down at the moment though, and not expensive but not cheap either, you know? This is life sometimes. I guess at this point I’ve built out enough of a bar that I Really Shouldn’t Be Complaining™.
Anyway, what are we going to do with a couple nice bottled in bond liquors to belatedly celebrate the day? Make a tiki drink, of course
I cannot take full credit for this one, nor can I remember exactly what inspired me to start pulling these flavors together. Such is the way of things. But for whatever reason, I wanted to see what would happen with the previously mentioned bottled in bond spirits in a tropical setting.
What goes with whiskey? Pineapple of course (I’m not kidding). Lemon’s a good choice as well. So I grabbed those as well
For the sweetness, don’t settle, even if you don’t use much, this is a great place to use some 2:1 Demerara Syrup.
As for the rest? Well, it would be weird not to use at least some rum. I pulled out my trusty bottle of Smith & Cross. Also it needed a little something else. That something else is Pierre Ferrand Curacao.
Here’s what I settled on:
Golden Delicious
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz lemon juice
.25 oz demerara syrup (2:1)
.5 oz Curacao
.5 oz bottled in bond rye
.75 oz bottled in bond applejack
1 oz Smith & Cross
You know the rest by now, right? Throw that all in the tin, put some nice fresh cubes in there, and shake shake shake. Strain into a Hurricane glass, top with some fresh crushed ice. On the one hand, there’s not that much liquor in here. On the other hand, there’s 80 proof curacao and three 100+ proof spirits, so you ain’t got nothing to prove, I thought about these proportions and the bevy of crushed ice that follows for a reason. Garnish this one with an umbrella if you are feeling festive. Maybe float a little Stiggins Fancy if you like
If, for some reason you do have some bottled in bond rum you wanted to put in here, feel free to sub that for the Smith & Cross. I feel like that that point you should give it a more clever name, like The Man With The Golden Gun in homage to Bond. But for now we pay homage to applejack which kicked off this thought experiment.
Digging up a couple other original recipes for the next couple, I do think. But let’s see if another Steely Dan drink inspires me, shall we? I got some ideas for one called The Fine Colombian, though I somehow think Donald Fagen and Walter Becker had something else in mind when wrote that…
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something once or twice a week (that’s the goal for now at least), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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