What I have been able to piece together is this ROUGH timeline: 97 proof W&N Dagger Punch #1 (produced until +/-1983, but not exported to the USA after +/-1978), 97 proof Appleton Punch (available in the USA from +/- 1978 though +/-1993), 87.6 proof W&N Dagger #2 (+/-1993 through +/-1999), and finally 87.6 proof Kohala Bay at (+/-1999 through 2016)...something like that.
That sounds right. That's the basic timeline those rums were used at The Mai-Kai. I've tasted the last three and to me they seemed to be on a slow decline. Not just the proof but the overall taste and complexity. A new 100-proof Mai-Kai rum is coming in late 2023 or 2024 that should solve that problem.
@@atomicgrog Where does the Real McCoy Mai Kai blend sit in the spectrum of rums to use in cocktails? (If they're still in stock, I'd like to get one the next time the Mai Kai has gallons-to-go.)
@@Parent2ParentofMiami In general, The Real McCoy rums (the 3- and 5-year especially) fall into the general "Barbados rum" category, which isn't called for in many Tiki cocktails. But I've found that they work fine in place of column-still Puerto Rican or Virgin Island rums of the same age. The regular 12-year is more of a sipper, considering the price. However, The Mai-Kai had a special blend made that's a bit more heavy and funky, so it's possible to use in place of Appleton 12 in some drinks. I like it as a float on the Shark Bite.
Glad you tried the blend, and that it worked out as expected! If I recall correctly, Appleton Punch went in and out of production, with a couple of rebrandings and proof adjustments, eventually winding up as a 87.6 proof version 2.0 of "Dagger Punch" one last time around 1978, and then finally being discontinued in the (early? mid?) 1990s, which is when the Mai Kai had to switch to Kohala Bay.
@@MixingUpTiki I'm currently working on reverse engineering the pre-Castro Bacardi Silver, now that they have discontinued their Bacardi Heritage 1909.
@@MixingUpTiki I was tempted to try replicating the pre-Castro 123° Havana Club, but I only found ONE recipe that called for it (Trader Vic’s Tortuga) so I decided to pivot.
Stephen Remsberg shared a bottle of Appleton Punch from the 1970s at The Hukilau in 2019 when we did a presentation. Even after sitting for nearly 50 years, it was fantastic and still mixed great in the cocktails we tried. Let's hope Appleton pulls the recipe out of the vault some day. It won't be as profitable as Appleton 17, but bartenders would love it.
@@MixingUpTiki You might be right. I like what Garret Richard did with his Rum Barrel blend: 2 parts Worthy Park 109, 2 parts Coruba, 1 part Hamilton 151.
Glad to see this clone recipe of the rum. Can’t wait to see which version you use for the Kohala Bay. There’s a 2 hour video talking about all the clone recipes for that rum and one became the winner.
Once I find Caruba and Blackwell I definitely will be making this cocktail. At only 50 varieties of rum in my collection, the collection is still seriously lacking 😂
Oh, and this blend's proof is 96.866666666666. To make it an even 97 like the original, you'd need something like 277.1738ml of the W&N OP, but I didn't want to scare people off with fanatically lab-like measurements so I rounded off to 275ml and called it a day. 🙂
