Post #739807 by Hurricane Hayward on Fri, Mar 20, 2015 11:38 PM

Looking forward to trying the revised recipe, but thus far I've been unable to find Hamilton rums in Austin. What would you recommend as the closest approximation? The only demeraras I have in my bar are El Dorado 12 and 15, which I believe are both 80 proof, and LH 151 which I've diluted down to 80 with success in the past. I suppose I can do the math to get that down to 86 to get that extra little kick the Hamilton provides, but I'm wondering, if I wanted to make this a stronger drink but maintain a similar taste profile, would using LH151 be out of the question?

While I await your expert input I shall enjoy this jet pilot...

Mike, many of the El Dorado rums are just fine in place of Lemon Hart 80 in The Mai-Kai cocktails that call for 80-proof Demerara rum. The new 86-proof Hamilton rum is just a bit more bold than LH, which tends to be smoother. The diluted LH 80 is actually pretty darn good if you can nail the decanting process just right. When LH became unavailable and before Hamilton was available, The Mai-Kai used El Dorado Superior Dark, which is more straight-forward and less sweet than the popular 5- and 8-year-old rums, both great mixing rums. I did some taste-testing, and I can see why they did this. They needed a smokey rum that could play a supporting role, and the drinks already had a lot of sweetness to them. The 12- and 15-year rums are great rums, but they were probably just too pricey to be considered.

So to be historically accurate to what The Mai-Kai has served in the past, go with "diluted" Lemon Hart or El Dorado Superior Dark. If you don't have those options, I've had some good results with a mix of 2 parts El Dorado 5 with 1 part El Dorado 12. If you just want great taste, El Dorado 12 on its own is hard to beat.

Hopefully you'll be able to pick up some of the Hamilton rums at some point to try. Coincidentally and before I saw your post, I was giving the Jet Pilot a test flight with the 151 rum tonight ...