A "Spiritual" Marriage

[bullitt]

From the WSJ for your consideration.

A Spiritual Marriage

There’s massive overlap in the Venn diagram of desirable qualities in aged rum and bourbon: hints of caramel, vanilla, and spice. The two spirits rarely meet in cocktails, but last October Jefferson’s Bourbon co-founder Trey Zoeller had a night of heavy drinking with the owner of Goslings Rum. Each man had a bottle of his product. Somehow, the two spirits were combined. “Pretty damn good,” was Zoeller’s reaction. The ideal bourbon-to-rum ratio was determined to be 3:1. “And we lose about 25% of bourbon to the angels’ share,” says Zoeller, referring to evaporation that occurs during barrel aging. “So I thought: Why not top that off with rum?” The rum rounds off the edges of the bourbon, adding sweetness and accentuating depth. “Bour-rum” has been floated as a designation for this new hybrid spirit. It hits shelves in March 2016, leaving plenty of time for Zoeller to come up with a better name.

—Stan Parish

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-sound-look-and-flavor-of-the-future-1449763684

[tanstaafl2]

3 minutes ago, bullitt said:

From the WSJ for your consideration.

A Spiritual Marriage

There’s massive overlap in the Venn diagram of desirable qualities in aged rum and bourbon: hints of caramel, vanilla, and spice. The two spirits rarely meet in cocktails, but last October Jefferson’s Bourbon co-founder Trey Zoeller had a night of heavy drinking with the owner of Goslings Rum. Each man had a bottle of his product. Somehow, the two spirits were combined. “Pretty damn good,” was Zoeller’s reaction. The ideal bourbon-to-rum ratio was determined to be 3:1. “And we lose about 25% of bourbon to the angels’ share,” says Zoeller, referring to evaporation that occurs during barrel aging. “So I thought: Why not top that off with rum?” The rum rounds off the edges of the bourbon, adding sweetness and accentuating depth. “Bour-rum” has been floated as a designation for this new hybrid spirit. It hits shelves in March 2016, leaving plenty of time for Zoeller to come up with a better name.

—Stan Parish

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-sound-look-and-flavor-of-the-future-1449763684

I will withhold judgment for now on the "bour-rum" (which sounds a bit like a direct lift from High West Bourye!) but there are indeed a few cocktails that manage to merge bourbon and rum. That includes a particular favorite of one of our own BOTY's, "The Smokin' Joe" (otherwise known as the Transatlantic Giant)!

 

This site notes Eagle Rare as the bourbon. The original specified Buffalo Trace but obviously they are similar. Admittedly it takes access to a fairly sophisticated bar. The pseudo legendary Bourbon Sampler pop up bar is a good example!