On occasion being Ron Kapon's assistant offers some really great opportunities to learn about spirits, as well as meeting the people who work hard spreading the word about their fun products. I recently was able to attend a Cruzan Rum event in NYC preceding a Kenny Chesney concert at Madison Square Garden, an event Cruzan sponsored. With Cruzan Rum I learned a lot about a brand I only knew slightly and also met a number of people who clearly get to have fun doing their jobs.
If you have a brand strategy it's hard to improve on good taste, good people and fun. My introduction to Cruzan Rum not only included the three, it offered an impression greater than the sum of its parts. Usually that is the goal of a cocktail artist, creating a magical experience combining oft-times disparate ingredients into harmony on the palate. The people at Cruzan Rum, if not all artists behind a bar, without exception seem to understand and apply this dynamic.
Two of the recipes I tried (ahem) liberally were:
Cruzan Vanilla Slip
1½ Cruzan 2yr Light
½ Cruzan Vanilla
Top Ginger Ale
Build over rocks in a highball, and garnish with a lime wedge.
Cruzan Raspberry Breeze
1 Cruzan 2yr Light
1 Cruzan Raspberry
Fill half and half Cranberry juice and Sprite/7up
Build over rocks in a highball, and garnish with a lime wedge.
These two are nice and simple fun, and the Raspberry Breeze in particular tasted really light and refreshing in the heat. Duly refreshed I decided to sample some Rum and Cokes (a personal favorite) with both the new Cruzan Black Cherry and, separately, their Single Barrel Estate Rum. As I like to trust my instincts in different settings I tried these two again at home. The Black Cherry's fruity flavor carries over nicely with the sugars and carbonation of the Coke; a great drink for the beach and those hot days in the sun. The Single Barrel Estate Rum, though not often done in the Americas, is strong enough on its own to be enjoyed in a snifter, neat, or with a slice of orange as Cruzan itself suggests. I can see it fitting in easily at an esplanade cafe in the evening, or on the back of a private deck cruising.
If rum is on your personal menu or if you think it just might be worth it to satisfy a new curiosity, I recommend Cruzan top-down and, most certainly, bottoms up! As an aside --and an end to this piece-- I recommend visiting Cruzan Rum's website; it offers a lot of the experience, though one should explore the taste as well.