Post #351682 by The Gnomon on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 7:15 AM

On 2007-12-28 05:31, paulipbartender wrote:
Recreating the Mai Tai has always been about getting as close to the W&N 17 year old. Your rum choice needs to be pot-still'y, sweet but quite dry and certainly high proof.

Part of the reason that VJB dropped the W&N 17 was its dwindling availability, the other part of the reason was that the blending was so inconsistent then, a bottle of W&N 17 could not be trusted to possess its original character.

I hear of places that have miraculously acquired a bottle or so of W&N 17 and charge an arm and a leg for a Mai Tai made with it. I'd have to immediately question whether or not that was a bottle of the good blend.

I would suspect that the majority of any remaining bottles of W&N 17 would be of the crappy blend, most of the good blends being used up ages ago. There's always the chance that someone inherited someone's decent wine and spirits collection and has not touched it nor had it appraised. Then you might find a good W&N 17, maybe.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of AE Master Blenders' Legacy 18 in hopes that it comes close to what W&N 17 once was. It's still unavailable in the US. Of course, having no good blend W&N 17 (or any blend) to compare it to, I would be looking to see if it has the characteristics that I envision good blend W&N 17 probably had based on descriptions from the past.

Anyone know when it will be released in the US?