Category: Tales of the Cocktail

Plantation O.F.T.D. Overproof Launch Party in Pictures

It’s Wednesday, July 20th, the first full day of Tales of the Cocktail 2016. The line outside of the Orleans room at the Hotel Monteleone had started queuing at least thirty minutes earlier, for a highly anticipated event that was scheduled to start soon: The official public unveiling of Plantation’s new O.F.T.D. Overproof rum.

Arriving early, I secure a spot not far from the head of the line. Shortly, Guillaume Lamy, Vice President of Cognac Ferrand and Plantation Rum, pops out of the room where preparations are still underway. We chat briefly and he mentions that just five days earlier, the half-pallet of O.F.T.D. now on-site in New Orleans was sitting in a warehouse on the East Coast, awaiting the U.S. government’s approval for importing–always an uncertain process. Talk about cutting it close!

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Inside Bacardi’s National Daiquiri Day Bar Crawl at Tales of the Cocktail 2016

The powers that be (whoever they are—curiously, no one ever seems to know) have decreed that July 19th of each year is National Daiquiri Day. Of course, in my book, every day is Daiquiri Day. I’d live life in a perpetual state of #DTO if I could get away with it.

Their name practically synonymous with daiquiris, Bacardi flew in top bartenders from around the country to make distinctive daiquiris at five bars around New Orleans for National Daiquiri Day, which conveniently enough landed during Tales of the Cocktail 2016. I personally am partial to a dry, expertly crafted Hemingway daiquiri (also a Mrs. Wonk go-to, over pebble ice if you’ve got it), but I also enjoy seeing what creative bartenders can do, starting from the classic daiquiri’s basic trio of rum, lime, and sugar.

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OMG!  O.F.T.D. and Other Rummy Happenings at Tales of the Cocktail 2016

Mrs. Wonk, ever-perceptive as she is, spotted it first. We’d just taken our seats at the bar at Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29, and I was already engrossed in the cocktail list. Pointing to the backbar, she exclaims, “Isn’t that the new Plantation rum you’ve been talking about?” Indeed it was! The new Plantation O.F.T.D., which outside of a small handful of very select people had never been seen before. In the months leading up to the Tales of the Cocktail 2016, Plantation had been teasing a new, high-profile rum release to be unveiled at a special event. Yet here it was, on the Latitude 29 backbar, nestled inconspicuously amongst the other rums.

I asked the bartender if I could hold the bottle. While I’d known vague details about a replacement for Plantation’s Original Dark Overproof for several months, it was only a few weeks earlier that I’d spotted the TTB label approval, full of details about the forthcoming release. Knowing a big launch was planned, I opted to not include it in my most recent rum label approval roundup, but did give a few big hints and nudges, if you were paying attention.

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Plantation Rums Brings Out the Rarities at Tales of the Cocktail 2015

The agony and ecstasy of Plantation Rums is a direct result of their many, many releases of rums purchased from distilleries around the world and finished in France. Once you’re hooked on their sublime expressions and start collecting their numerous bottlings, you realize it’s a herculean task; there’s always some obscure release you didn’t know about that needs a home on your bar shelf. Sure, Plantation has staples like the Barbados Grand Reserve five-year, the Original Dark, and the 3 Star Blend, but once you start collecting single vintages, say Panama 2000, or the even more exotic Black Label series, it’s like Pokémon card collecting. You can’t have just one.

Plantation often makes small releases for a single country, or custom bottlings of just a few barrels for a retailer, so it’s anybody’s guess how many different offerings are out there. If you’re not familiar with Plantation, you should read this post before continuing. Continue reading “Plantation Rums Brings Out the Rarities at Tales of the Cocktail 2015”

Grape Escape: Peru’s Pisco Varietals at Tales of the Cocktail 2015

Pisco is a spirit that’s taken me a while to wrap my head around. A clear, grape-based spirt from South America, I’ve been enchanted by it since my first sip, and later making my first pisco punch at home. But once you seek to move beyond the Pisco Sour, its many styles and terminology are daunting. In exchange for gaining this awareness, you’ll discover a world-class spirit that’s a joy both neat and in cocktails, and yet is a bargain when compared to tequila, cachaça, brandy, and so on.

Much like bourbon has specific rules (at least 51% corn, aged in new American oak barrels, etc.), the production of Peruvian Pisco also has very specific regulations, which make it equally worthy of attention as French Cognac (also a grape-based brandy) or single-malt Scotch. I have explicitly specified “Peruvian” pisco here because both Chile and Peru claim it as their own and have intense national rivalries about who makes the “real” Pisco. From an outsider’s perspective, the Peruvian regulations are more stringent and, based on price, are more highly valued. For our purposes here, “pisco” means Peruvian Pisco.

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Rumtastic Happenings at Tales of the Cocktail 2015

It’s 8:45 AM on the second full day of Tales of the Cocktail 2015, and I’m in bed, dreading the imminent alarm clock. Only a few hours earlier I’d been drinking 140 proof Jamaican Rum and cask-strength rye at an impromptu hotel room get-together, followed by a nightcap at the Monteleone’s Carousel bar, before finally falling into bed at 2:30 AM. What I really need is more sleep, but I’m scheduled to drink more rum in an hour. Ordinarily I’d miss the rum and opt for more shut-eye but this is no ordinary tasting. No sir! Plantation Rums had reached deep into their rum reserves, picked of their best casks from all over the Caribbean, and bottled just enough for two dozen people to enjoy at Tales. At 10 AM. The things I do for rum….

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