Several years ago I designed a cocktail which combined a well aged Brandy with a younger, more vibrant VSOP Cognac mixed in the style of the classic Sidecar. The idea was to construct a mixed drink which combined the best of both worlds, the youthful brashness of a young Cognac, and the aged character of a well-oaked brandy.
The results were spectacular, and I chose the name Brandy Février to reinforce the notion that I felt this particular libation would serve well as a ‘Winter cocktail’. (I always seem to enjoy well aged spirits much more in the cold months than in the warm months.)
This year, as Winter seemed to linger well into the Spring, I turned the idea towards one of my favourite rum families, Appleton Estate Rum. My new mixed drink, Rum Février mixes Appleton’s Brash Signature VX Blended Rum with their newly re-branded Appleton Estate Rare 12 Year Old Rum again, in the style of the classic Sidecar. Although we are trending well away from Winter, my new rum cocktail also seems to suit the latter half of this cool Spring.
Rum Février
a cocktail by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
1 oz Appleton Signature Blend VX
1/2 oz Appleton Estate Rare 12 Year Old Blend
3/4 oz fresh squeezed Orange Juice
1/2 oz fresh squeezed Lime Juice
1/8 oz Campari
1/4 oz Sugar Syrup (1:1 ratio)
Ice
Orange Peel
Add the six ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice
Shake until the outside of the shaker frosts
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with orange peel
Please Enjoy Responsibly!
If you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!
Note: My review for the newly re-branded Appleton Estate Rare 12 Year Old Blend with publish this coming Friday.
The Appleton Estate is located in Nassau Valley in St. Elizabeth which is part of Jamaica’s Cockpit Country. The Cockpit Country is a karst formation which was formed over millions of years as the underlying limestone was eroded by the chemical action of rain. Within a cockpit karst formation are valleys known as Poljes. They are formed where a river floods, then recedes and forms a flat valley over millions of years. In 1749, within the polje known as the Nassau Valley, the Appleton Estate Sugar Factory was founded. The Nassau Valley has a special mild micro-climate which is ideally suited to the growth of sugarcane. As well, a water source wells from the limestone formation and provides an exceptionally soft pure water which used for the production of Appleton Estate Rums.
The Last Mountain Distillery is Saskatchewan’s first micro distillery. It is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Colin and Meredith Schmidt. After Colin left his hockey career with the Edmonton Oilers behind, he and his wife, Meredith began to look for business opportunities in Saskatchewan, and the idea of starting up their own micro-distillery still appealed strongly to both of them. To make a long story short, in August of 2010, the ambitions and hard work of Colin and Meredith paid off when they opened Saskatchewan’s first micro-distillery, in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, called the 
The Rum Howler Blog 