Pelicans We – Plantation Black Cask

Before we go into detail about gin, I wanted to take a short excurse into rum. The Plantation Black Cask is a special edition which combines rum from two different countries. The 2019 edition comes from Barbados and Jamaica. I straight up thought about an El Presidente variation. However, it got a little out of hand…

As mentioned before, the 2019 Edition of the Plantation Black Cask Rum comes from Barbados and Jamaica. To be exact, the distilleries are West Indies Rum Distillery and the Long Pond Distillery. The fermentation takes three to four days in Barbados and two weeks in Jamaica. The different rums spent one to three years in their home countries in 200 litre ex-Bourbon barrels. After the transport to France the rum is aged for another year in Ferrand cognac casks. As with the more regular bottlings of Plantation, they add a relatively high dosage of 20 g / litre.

Sweet Jamaica rum notes

There is a noticeable sweetness to the rum. However, you still get a certain amount of Jamaica rum notes. It is not as pronounced as with Plantation Xaymaca, but you notice a certain amount of esters. Apart from that, there is a certain spiciness of cloves and nutmeg to it, which almost reminds me of a spiced rum. The most unique flavour of the Plantation Black Cask is a certain lovage flavour. Through its pronounced sweetness the rum is more suited for rum beginners. However, when mixing cocktails with the rum the sweetness does not matter that much.

Almost an El Presidente

When making an El Presidente, I always use Matt Robold’s aka the “Rumdood” recipe. This time I thought I use a white vermouth instead of a dry one. On top of that, I noticed that I had ran out of grenadine. So, I used hibiscus syrup instead. To change things up a little bit more, I also added some overproof Plantation O.F.T.D. rum. I added the hibiscus syrup and the rum to a shot glass and set the rum on fire. Of course, this is not necessary, but it was fun though! Moreover, it was quite hard to come up with a name for this drink. First, since this is a El Presidente variation, I searched for a song who would be an allusion to the original cocktail. However, in the end I noticed a Pelican on the label of the Plantation Black Cask Rum. Instantly, Cosmo Sheldrake’s song “Pelicans We” came to mind.

Pelicans We:
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4,5 cl Plantation Black Cask Double Cask Rum
2,25 cl Mancino Bianco Ambrato Vermouth
0,75 cl Pierre Ferrand Orange Curacao
Float 0,5 cl Blütensekt Manufaktur Hibiscus Syrup
Float 0,75 cl Plantation O.F.T.D. Rum
Stir first three ingredients – strain – chilled nosing glass – pour syrup and overproof rum to a shot glass – set it on fire – serve;
Garnish: Dried orange wheel;
Song: Cosmo Sheldrake – Pelicans We;

 

Two interesting things about the “Pelicans We”. First, my girlfriend enjoyed the drink and she usually is not a big fan of spirit-forward cocktails. Second, she suggested serving it as a Tiki drink in the corresponding mug. I might do that for next year’s Tiki month. With its complex Jamaica rum and backing spice notes, this cocktail is the right choice when you are craving something in between a Manhattan and a Tiki drink.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product.

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