Sounds good, I’ll try it. Thanks.

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I have tried a few variations of this drink, and come to a couple of conclusions. Firstly, as has been pointed out already, it does not work with dry vermouth. Secondly, I actually like it with both the curaçao and grenadine. My favorite version so far was:

1.5 oz Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum
1.0 oz Lillet Blanc
1/4 oz Grand Marnier
1 bsp Jack Rudy grenadine

Perhaps sweeter than some would like it, but a very refreshing cocktail for a summer’s evening.

I’ve never made El Presidente with Barbados, but I think it would be worthwhile giving it a try. The drink seems to be originally a Cuban invention, which is probably why most people will suggest a Cuban or Cuban-style rum, in the theory that it would hew close to the original flavor profile of the drink, or at least as close as we can in these days. But I say, if you want to try it with a Bajan rum, give it a shot. And I will, too. Thanks!

Hi, Raphael,

I’m delighted that El Presidente barrel ages well. Aging is something I look forward to trying one day; I had always thought I’d start with a whiskey drink—Manhattan or Boulevardier, I guessed—but I may follow your lead and try El Presidente instead.

Thanks for letting us know about your experiement.

I’ve been experimenting with aged cocktails and though El Presidente would make a good candidate for aging. The results were fantastic! I describe my process here: http://armyofrobots.tumblr.com/post/64687600165/the-elder-statesman

Best Regards,

Raphael

I had not learned of Morazán before, so I’m a bit better educated in my Central American history. Thanks for that.

I’ve heard that El Presidente is pretty good with Flor de Cana, I look forward to giving it a try.

Went out and picked up a bottle of Dolin Blanc, then gave it another go. Delicious! I used Flor de Caña 7yr rum, which is one of my favorites, otherwise used your recipe exactly.

If one uses a Central American rum, maybe it should be called the Francisco Morazán? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Morazan

Love this blog, keep up the great work!

http://thelondonletters.wordpress.com/

I agree that the Bacardis are sort of light-flavored, but I think that’s sort of the style for Puerto Rican rums. I think that might play to this drinks advantage, in the sense that you need a rum that vermouth can be friendly with. I’ll have to try the Flor de Cana…

Interesting you should ask—I wondered the same thing, as I caught on to Martini/Manhattan as a model for El Presidente. Naturally, I did a couple experiments, and it turns out that a dash or two of orange bitters, either in place of, or in addition to, the curaçao, makes a pleasantly complex addition to the mix. Since bitters seem to appear nowhere in the drink’s history, I think you’d need to call it by some other name, but it does make a nice change of pace for El Presidente—and it gives you an option for pulling back the sweetness intrinsic to curaçao or grenadine.

CocktailDB does show an El Presidente variation along these lines:
http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=3017
It doesn’t specifically spec orange bitters, but that’s your best bet.

So now it’s time for more experiments.

Hi, Frederick— I’m guessing that my use of words like “dreck” and “undrinkable” probably isn’t going over well with Boston drinkers. It’s a good reminder (to me) that what’s sweet to one person is sour to another. (My sister reminds me of this every time I make her a whiskey sour.) I have to call ’em as I sees ’em, but my tastes change with the seasons to some extent; I’ll try El Presidente “Boston style” when cold weather rolls around, perhaps I’ll see it differently.

The grenadine is an interesting ingredient in El Presidente. I can imagine bartenders swapping out curaçao for grenadine on a whim, depending on their tastes, and their customers. Using both seems like gilding the lily. It appears I just never gained a taste for grenadine. I despise the “cooked” style, though I’m still contemplating how to exploit that molassesy burned flavor into… something, as an intellectual challenge. The uncooked “cold” style is more palatable, but not a flavor I search out.

And I guess that’s the story of how 2:1:hint with curaçao became my favorite El Presidente.