The 'Distinguished' taste of Appleton Rum

Move over wine, there's a new food pairing partner in town. Appleton Estate Rum's spicy and rich vanilla notes were the corner stone of a very elegant luncheon hosted by The Gleaner's Flair Magazine, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston on Monday.

A prelude to International Women's Day, which is celebrated today, The Distinguished luncheon gave as much honour to the nuances of the great Jamaica rum as it did the 25 honorees. 

With menu in hand, the Appleton Estate team came on board and went to work, and specially created four cocktails -Stormy valley; Signature X-ale; Brown Sugar Daiquiri; and Honey Smoother.

The welcome cocktail of Stormy Valley was aptly named.

The Signature X-ale accompanied the salad of stuffed pineapple salad with organic greens, dried fruits and balsamic syrup. The orange, apricot and peach notes of the Signature blend, perfectly complemented the pineapple and dried fruits in the salad.

The entrée of garlic-flavoured snapper with a white wine cream sauce, accompanied by calaloo rice and herbed vegetables; and orange flavoured chicken, was paired with the Brown Sugar Daiquiri. The spicy notes in the rum enhanced the garlic in the fish. The lime juice in the daiquiri along with the orange peel notes in the Reserve provided the perfect pairing for the orange chicken.

And the cherry on top — Honey Smoother finished off the afternoon, accompanying the cinnamon chocolate cake served with Tia Maria sauce and chocolate cigar. The rich vanilla and coco notes of the rum proved to be the perfect companion for the chocolate cake. 

Want to experience what we did? Here are the recipes for two of the cocktails we enjoyed for you to recreate at home.  

Appleton Estate Stormy Valley

1 part Appleton Estate Signature Blend

3 lime wedges

Two parts spicy ginger beer

dash Angostura bitters (optional)

Signature Blend adds a great depth of flavour to this variation on the Mule, and is best enjoyed with a fiery ginger beer. The dash of bitters provides extra complexity, if preferred. Squeeze the limes into a highball glass, pressing them with a muddler.

 

Appleton Estate Honey Soother

2 parts Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Blend

1/4 part honey

1/2 part lemon juice

Ice

Pour the rum, honey and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass and serve.