Banyan Cocktail

It's not huge like the ancient tree it is named after, nor is it visually impressive. The flavor, however, can transport you to a tropical place. This is accomplished with exotic tasting rum, apricot brandy--which always makes heads spin--and rich, creamy orgeat.

Vitae has a special edition barrel aged rum that I selected for this cocktail. It has a rich and spicy flavor that is close to an aged rum from Barbados, and less funky than a Jamacian rum. This was definitely a good choice, but be careful in selecting any "gold" rum for your own version. A blended down gold rum like Bacardi will have less character and you lose some of the woody notes that I think the cocktail requires. Aged rum is the key (though also blended) because it isn't trying to sneak into a blended daiquiri, it is making a statement in a stiff tropical cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. gold rum (Vitae barrel aged rum used)
• 3/4 oz. apricot brandy (Jacquin's used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat (Liber & Co. used)
• dash grenadine

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