Post #794382 by Quince_at_Dannys on Tue, Apr 9, 2019 12:34 PM

The other thing that would be lacking in a S&C/Xaymaca blend is the considerable amount of molasses that is added to a dark rum like Kohala Bay after the aging process. It's what brings a lot of the flavor and color in Coruba and similar offerings (that color ain't all coming from the barrel). I'm sure the old Dagger rum had a ton of it as well. Smith & Cross and Xaymaca are very pure rums, I don't think either one is "dosed."

A tantalizing prospect is that the raw ingredients for the blend that was sold as "Kohala Bay" are probably commercially available in some form somewhere. The biggest advantage the bottlers have is more stock rums at their disposal, as well as different proofs to bring in the right amount of heat vs. sweet.

I will continue to beat the drum for the Coruba/Xaymaca blend for everyday use; I found it to be almost identical to KB other than lacking a few subtle "bright" notes that I was unable to bring back with the rums I had on hand.

On 2019-04-08 23:07, Hurricane Hayward wrote:

On 2019-04-07 19:45, mikehooker wrote:

On 2019-04-07 14:11, Hurricane Hayward wrote:

Sorry guys, I don't have a definitive answer yet, but I can tell you that the best combination in the photo above was 50/50 Coruba/Xaymaca, as expected. Surprisingly, I thought the second best was Signature/Xaymaca, slightly ahead of Reserve/Xaymaca.

Mixing it in cocktails will be the true test, however. At that point, I'll need to compare it to a few of the existing recommended subs as well as Kohala Bay. More to come ...

Have you considered a Xaymaca/S&C combo?

Not really. That's just pot-still funk on top of pot-still funk, so I'm pretty sure it would not work. No doubt it would be plenty tasty, but not as a sub for Kohala Bay, which does not have that over-the-top pot funkiness. I suspect Kohala Bay was mainly one of Appleton's bulk column still rums (similar to Coruba) with just a bit of overproof pot blended in for flavor.

I do have one more to add to the mix, however. From Trader Tom and Hiphipahula, unveiled in their new book, "The Home Bar Guide to Tropical Cocktails: A Spirited Journey Through Suburbia’s Hidden Tiki Temples" ...
4 parts Smith & Cross, 4 parts El Dorado 12, and 1 part Lemon Hart 151. It's just a slight variation of our old standby. But Tom and Kelly have done some advanced research. They had a bottle of Dagger that they were able to use for comparison, so I'll have to give this some serious consideration.

[ Edited by: Quince_at_Dannys 2019-04-09 12:36 ]

[ Edited by: Quince_at_Dannys 2019-04-09 12:38 ]