Ever feel like you’re being inundated with spirit holidays? Every time we look around there’s some National Holiday happening. This Sunday is National Rum Day. This holiday I’m happy to celebrate! When we think about Rum, our minds usually take us to the Caribbean. Some sweet or blended drink with an umbrella. And, that’s not a bad thing. Today, I’m taking you to Boston. Yep, Boston. Bully Boy Distillers is the city’s first craft distillery.  All of the spirits are handcrafted in small batches. Bully Boy produces White Whiskey, White Rum, Vodka, American Straight Whiskey, Boston Rum and Hub Punch. One of their aged spirits, the Hub Punch, is a unique Rum spirit that is inspired by a lost pre-prohibition era original Hub Punch recipe from the Hub House Hotel in NY in the late 1800’s. Their Boston Rum is steeped with orange and lemon peel, raspberry and a mix of botanicals. Don’t let the fruits and herbs fool you. Bully Boy’s Hub Punch comes in at 70 proof. It’s great on it’s own and can stand up as a base spirit in cocktails.

When you first open the Hub Punch, you get a nice fragrance of the fruits and botanicals. There’s a sweet mellow aroma and we’re using it in one of our cocktails today. Hub Punch can be mixed in a number of ways. The Bostonians like it over ice, mixed with club soda or lemonade, ginger ale, iced tea and in cocktails. Because of the raspberries and citrus peels, Hub Punch is very fruit forward, in the best way possible.

The Boston Swizzle is a little dangerous. It’s like the best fruit punch you could ever make in your adult life. Super easy to sip on a long hot summer day. It’s really refreshing and all of the raspberry flavors and botanicals shine through.

Boston Swizzle:

2oz. Hub Punch

1oz. Pineapple Juice

1oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice

1oz. Lime Juice

3/4oz. Campari

*Add all ingredients to a hurricane glass and fill half way with crushed ice. Swizzle (or stir) to chill. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with raspberries and a lime wheel.

Our next cocktail for National Rum Day features a really unique Spiced Rum from South Hollow Spirits. Twenty Boat Hand-Crafted Cape Cod Spiced Rum to be exact. South Hollow Spirits is the first legal distillery on Cape Cod since Prohibition. Pretty cool. Twenty Boat is the ultimate Rum Runner’s Rum. “As legend goes, 10 men were arrested near the Cape Cod coast. After posting bail, they reclaimed the boat and raced out of the harbor. Twenty harbor police and coast guard boats kept watch near the tip of Cape Cod. Eventually, the elusive motor boat was spotted and the chase commenced. The boat sped into Provincetown Harbor where it was abandoned and the rum runners fled on foot, never to be found. Twenty Boat Rum honors the bold spirit of independence embodied by these Cape Cod Rum Runners.”-South Hollow Spirits.

What a story, huh? Don’t you want to try Twenty Boat now?? You should because this is a unique Spiced Rum. What stands out the most to me is the chai. I can’t recall a Spiced Rum with chai as one of the spices. It’s a great addition to the cardamom, cinnamon, vanilla, rose hip, anise, lemon peel, orange peel, allspice, nutmeg and more. It gives a nice warmth, intensity and complexity to the Rum.

For the holiday, we’re celebrating with the “Catch 20” cocktail. It’s a nice mix of Twenty Boat Spiced Rum, Scotch and other complimentary flavors.

Catch 20:

1 1/2oz. Twenty Boat Spiced Rum

1/2oz. Blended Scotch

1/2oz. Falernum

1/2oz. Ginger Liqueur

1oz. Lime Juice

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

*Fill a fizz or highball glass with crushed ice. Add all ingredients and stir to chill. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with grated lime zest and cinnamon.

Enjoy National Rum Day in style, cheers!