Shipwreck Coconut Rum

Shipwreck Coconut Rum is a coconut-flavored rum, which puts it in a different group from the white, gold, aged or agricole bottlings. Flavored rums like this are usually made from a light rum base with coconut flavor and some sweetener, and they commonly bottle at a lower strength than a standard 40% rum. Check the label for this bottle's exact proof. Expect a clear to pale liquid that smells of toasted coconut and sweet cream, with a soft, round, fairly sweet palate and little of the molasses, oak or funk found in traditional rums. That profile makes it a mixer first. It can be sipped very cold over ice, but it has no barrel character or complexity to reward slow tasting, and it is at its best when something tart, creamy or fizzy balances the sweetness. The Piña Colada is the obvious use. Shake or blend it with pineapple juice and a splash of cream of coconut. Because the rum already brings coconut, you can use less cream of coconut than a classic recipe calls for, which keeps the drink from getting heavy. Serve it in a hurricane or tall glass over crushed ice, with a pineapple wedge. A coconut Daiquiri also works: shake it with fresh lime juice, and a little extra lime to offset the sweetness. A Mojito variation, built with mint, lime and soda over ice in a highball, gives you a lighter, less sweet drink. The simplest option is the rum over ice in a rocks glass or highball, topped with pineapple juice or lime soda. A Dark 'n' Stormy or a Rum Old Fashioned depends on a spicy ginger beer or the molasses and oak of a darker rum. A sweet coconut rum would mostly work against those drinks, so use a dark or aged rum for them. For serving, keep the bottle in the fridge or freezer if you plan to take it neat, since cold dulls the sweetness. For shaken drinks, use plenty of ice and a fresh citrus component. Light tropical flavors pair well with it, such as grilled pineapple, jerk-seasoned chicken, shrimp, or a coconut dessert.