Quarantine Cocktail Club: A rum and maple Old Fashioned, from the Savoy's Declan McGurk

Beautiful in any weather: McGurk's rum old fashioned
Declan McGurk

The most famous job in cocktailing is being head bartender at the Savoy's American Bar. It always has been.

Declan McGurk isn't that bartender – he's their boss. As the hotel's director of bars, he looks after both the famous American Bar and its sister, the Beaufort, keeping the pair two of London's best. You imagine McGurk must have been tempted to keep things as classic as anything, never bending the rules, preserving the history.

Fortunately, he didn't; if he had, the sisters would have been museums – a curiosity, but not anywhere for cocktail lovers. Instead, working with the likes of Erik Lorincz (now at Kwant) and Pippa Guy (now in New York), and presently Maxim Schulte, McGurk has always pushed the place forward, reinventing what drinks are poured, how they're presented, and ultimately, what a bar is and what it can be. If this all sounds a little worthy, don't worry; McGurk takes everything with a pinch of salt – you only need to have a couple of drinks with him to know that.

Below, he's mixed up an easy one to do at home. It perfect for the up-and-down weather we've had lately. "This drink is moody enough to cope with rain, yet the rum reminds you sun isn't far away," is how McGurk puts it; we'd say, it's one of those that works whenever and wherever. The heavy slug of rum is a brightner, the maple syrup adds a little hit of sweetness, but nothing overpowering. Enough talk; it's time to make one.

A rum and maple Old Fashioned

Ingredients

  • 60ml aged rum 
  • 10ml maple syrup
  • Tiny pinch of salt 
  • Orange zest to garnish, if you have any 

Method

  • Pour the maple syrup and about half the rum into a cocktail glass, and stir them together, slowly adding the rest of the rum as you go. Make sure the two are well blended, and add the tiniest pinch of salt to bring out a little extra flavour.
  • Next, add a healthy sized block of ice in, give it all another stir, and garnish with orange zest, if you have any.

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