The Naked Ape

Created by Martin Cate in honor of the exotica band Ape. I really enjoyed this with the cinnamon coming through.

For my first time making this I used Gosling's Black Seal and Wray and Nephew White Overproof rums. The overproof really should have been Smith and Cross most likely. I imagine at Smuggler's Cove they use Coruba or Hamilton 86 or similar. I like this one enough that I will play with it to find my preferred combination with what I have available and will certainly try it with Smith and Cross.

Update 2023-08-13 I don't have access to Coruba or Hamilton 86, but as of recently Virginia ABC can get Worthy Park 109 which is probably the closest to those, It is theorized that this rum is intended to compete with Coruba and/or Pusser's Navy Proof,. I can see both. Although much higher proof than Coruba,I can now confirm that using Worthy Park 109 for the Black Blended portion and Smith and Cross for the Aged Jamaican (Pot Still Lightly Aged for Smuggler's Cove, who created this cocktail) is fantastic.