How to make a DIY substitute for the 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican Rum used in the original, 1944, Tiki classic, the Mai Tai from Trader Vic's. That rum and the 15-Year-Old J. Wray & Nephew Pot Still Aged Rum have been out of production for decades and the backstocks got burned through extremely quickly, partially due to the popularity of Vic's Mai Tai.
This home barrel-aged version is an attempt to recapture some of the magic of this nearly extinct spirit. It's only nearly extinct because there are a few bottles left in existence. Martin Cate, Tiki aficionado and bar manager of several Tiki joints, including Smuggler's Cove, owns one of the last of the 17-year expressions from its original bottling. So, this rum is even more rare than Pappy in the Bourbon world.
Luckily the unaged, overproof J. Wray & Nephew is still commonly available today. So the idea is to take that and age it in a small barrel in a lot less than 17 years.
The flavor profile we're looking for, according to Vic Bergeron (the Vic from Trader Vic's), is a rum that is, “medium-bodied, but with the rich pungent flavor,” that is “nutty, and snappy.” That's how he described the original base spirit he used for the original Mai Tai. Essentially, you want to round off some of the hard edges on the Wray & Nephew, mellow some of the fiery, medicinal heat of the unaged stuff, add a little vanilla, maple and a touch of oak.
It's well documented that aging spirits in a small barrel (almost exactly 200x smaller than the full-size 52-gallon barrel) is not going to accelerate the aging process and leave you with the same product as you get with a slower, bigger barrel. This is because certain processes happen a different rates. So, just because there is a lot more surface area in a 1-liter barrel, it doesn't mean it can act as a fast forward button on the aging process. But even though it will not result in the exact same juice as the bigger barrel over a 17-year period, this small barrel, over a 1-month period, will definitely change the flavor and the profile of the rum. And it will get closer to Vic's tasting notes than his other adjusted formulas for the Mai Tai.
Additionally, it will make a really great sipping rum or a rum to use for Rum Old Fashioneds. Josh Miller of InuAKena.com did a similar experiment in 2013 and found it made a rum that made all his friends and twitter followers jealous. However, for cocktails, unless it's for an extremely potent exotic drink that calls for an overproof rum, I'd suggest lowering the proof to something more manageable. The original 17 year rum was bottled at 43% ABV, so you'd want to cut down from the 126 proof to 86 proof for most drinks. This cutting is best done as you're making the drink rather than diluting the whole bottle.
If you don't have an oak barrel to age your rum in, you can try making it with an oak stave and a glass bottle. You'll get less rum and it will take longer, but it will certainly do in a pinch. I aged the first batch in the barrel, then decided to do a smaller, second batch with the oak stave. However, I found that while the barrel produced a great result in 30 days, to get it to a nearly identical place with the oak stave took 60 days. So, the stave method takes a lot more patience.
But either way you do it, it's certainly worth it. And cut down to approx. 86-proof, it makes a killer Mai Tai, Rum Old Fashioned and Redrum ( https://youtu.be/EU0aJdwwmqs). Those alone would make it worth the price of admission, not to mention all of the other Jamaican Rum drinks that you can sub this in for. It will really take some of those cocktails to the next level. It's enough to make you want to keep this one on a constant rotation. Cheers!
Recipe:
1-liter Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
or
375 ml Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
Age Rum in a cured Oak Barrel for +/- 30 days. Or, alternately, age Rum in a bottle with an Oak Stave for +/- 60 days.
Music:
Links in a Chain (Instrumental) by Martin Carlberg
via Epidemic Sound
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Featured in this Episode:
Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
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Bluegrass Barrels
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Oak Stave
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Cocktail Aging Kit
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Barrel-Aged Tiki Rum - How to Make Poor Man’s 17-year Wray & Nephew (Mai Tai Rum) | |
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| How-to & Style | Upload TimePublished on 24 Mar 2017 |
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