Black Crow – Wood’s Navy Rum

Ever since I read about a Fernet Piña Colada at Punch.com, I wanted to recreate the recipe. Well, now that I did, I can tell you that the combination of pineapple and coconut with Fernet is a match made in heaven. At least this is what I remember after mixing up two different versions of my adaption of the cocktail.

I changed the rum I used in the recipe from originally the excellent Black Tot Rum to the more powerful Wood‘s Old Navy Rum. The Rum consists of a blend of three different Guyanese Rums distilled from Blackstrap molasses at the Diamond Distillery. Blackstrap molasses has the lowest sugar content after the sugarcane juice has been boiled three times already. The first part of the rum is the “SVW” marque a rum distilled to 92,9 % ABV on the French Savalle column still. It makes up the largest part of the Wood’s Rum. The second one, the “SV” marque is distilled to 82,4 % ABV on the same still. The last marque “REV” accounts for the smallest amount of the three in the blend, but actually contributes the most flavour. It is rum distilled to 69,7 % ABV on the wooden Versailles pot still. The „Navy Rum“ tag reffers to the wooden pot stills used for the production of the Wood‘s Rum. The rums which are up to three-years-old are blended together before the dilution to 57 % ABV. In addition to the distillery already coating their barrels with molasses, the colour of the rum also is not natural. There may even be some molasses in the finished rum.

Menthol and sherry notes

Don’t take the 2.5 lions the wrong way: If you are looking for a great value-for-money Demerara rum for mixing, you definitely should buy the Wood’s Old Navy Rum! However, in my opinion there a definitely other similar priced rums out there I would prefer enjoying neat. Nevertheless, the Wood’s Rum comes with quite a lot of sherry fruits and spices. Therefore, the rum is ideal for drinks like the Corn & Oil or the Dark’N’Stormy.

Piña Colada on steroids

While the original Brancolada calls for Branca Mentha, I chose a regular Fernet from Luxardo. On top of that, I also added a bit of overproof rum from Plantation. Additionally, I included Strega to further underline the herbal notes of the Fernet. I kept the combination of the original recipe consisting of orange juice, pineapple juice and cream of coconut.

Black Crow:
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3 cl Wood’s Demerara Rum
0,75 cl Plantation O.F.T.D.
1,5 cl Luxardo Fernet
0,75 cl Strega
6 cl Pineapple Juice
1,5 cl Orange Juice
2,25 cl Coconut Cream
Shake – strain – chilled Pineapple mug over ice cubes;
Garnish: Dried Dragon Fruit Wheel;
Song: Angus & Julia Stone – Black Crow;

Yes, I went a bit easy on the rum and you could make this drink even more powerful. However, I balanced the recipe so that it shows why the combination of Fernet, pineapple and coconut cream is such a winner. You get some eucalyptus notes from the Fernet, while the pineapple and coconut keep the drink refreshing and balanced. The Strega does not really shine through, but instead adds more depth and complexity to the drink. The combination of rums also works well here, but let’s face it – which drink does not work with the Plantation O.F.T.D. rum?

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