I’m toasting this incredibly fine creation with an incredibly delicious drink for the season. It’s a fine way to start a new year. The drink comes by way of Charleston, South Carolina where it can be found at the Dewberry Hotel’s rooftop bar, The Citrus Club, helmed by bar manager Ryan Casey. It’s an Old Fashioned, which speaks to old world charm and ancient things, like a five hundred year old wooden box. The drink is also named “First Time Caller”, which seemed somewhat apropos here. Even though Peter Canham has been crafting for a long time, this is his introduction here, and the first of many features I suspect.

The cocktail is based with aged Jamaican rum, and I’ve gone a bit further with mine by splitting that into two distinctly flavorful rums. Denizen Merchant is a unique blend of pot stilled Jamaican rum and Rhum Grand Arome from Martinique which has been aged for eight years in American oak bourbon barrels.  It was developed by Nick Pelis and Martin Cate (of tiki mecca Smuggler’s Cove fame) to best recreate the original rum used by Trader Vic Bergeron in the original Mai Tai. It is self-described as “intensely aromatic and unapologetically funky”. I also used a little of the super funky Smith and Cross rum, which clocks in at 114 proof and amps the “hogo” ante further. Hogo, Creole slang for the French term “haut gaut” (high taste) is the term used to describe the highly sought after decay-like flavor (believe it or not) found in distilled raw sugar cane. Jamaican rums, which are full of banana and pineapple notes, blossom incredibly well with the additional flavors of chocolate and banana found in this decadent drink. Do yourself a “flavor”, and try it. Here’s to the amazing new year ahead – cheers!

First Time Caller from The Citrus Club

2 ½ oz aged Jamaican rum

¼ oz crème de cacao

¼ oz banana liqueur

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to an Old Fashioned glass with a large cube and stir. Express an orange peel over the drink and garnish with a ripple.