Pancho Villa

The raider of New Mexico was deadly and so is is namesake drink. There's so much booze in this cocktail that I wondered if it was a misprint. There's 2 oz. of rum, one of gin and about another 1.5 oz. of miscellaneous spirits and almost no juice, that you know not to mess with Pancho.

I took the opportunity to try out the new Vitae spirits I bought from Charlottesville, Virginia. Vitae makes a platinum rum with great flavor that tastes much like fresh cane juice. It is an excellent tiki cocktail addition. Then they have the only molasses-based gin in the U.S. with a fun aromatic scent and the flavor of local hardy oranges. The drink is further exoticized with apricot brandy and cherry brandy. I opted for kirschwasser for the latter for color consistency and the rummy flavor of kirsch that sweet cherry brandy doesn't have.

• 2 oz. light rum (Vitae platinum used)
• 1 oz. gin (Vitae modern gin used)
• 1 oz. apricot brandy 
• 1 tbsp. cherry brandy (Kammer Kirsch used)
• 1 tbsp. pineapple juice

 Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.