We all know the preferred spirit of the sailing gods, and all we all know that it can be savored in so many ways. We are, of course, talking about Mount Gay Rum—Eclipse, Black Barrel, Extra Old and the many other special blends—all of them silky and full-flavored, delivering to our taste buds a complex explosion of vanilla, banana, honey, ginger, nutmeg and so much more. Whatever the preference for your Mount Gay serving, be it neat, chilled, mixed with tonic and garnished with a lime, or paired with fruit juices, and yes, even ice cream, it’s always a cocktail that calls for another.
No matter how you serve it, the essence of Barbados always radiates.
Sir John Gay Alleyne, credited for perfecting this versatile Bajan spirit back in the 18th Century, would likely lean neat, but were he alive today to judge the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta’s Mount Gay Rum Recipe Contest, he would no doubt cast his vote for sailing mixologist Mark Macke’s Low Tide Old Fashioned, our undisputed 2024 winner in St. Petersburg (and, frankly, the best of the entire series).
The ingredients of Macke’s winning concoction were curious yet simple, but the delivery to the judging panel’s palate was complex. The submitted recipe card read: 2 ounces of Mount Gay Black Barrell, 1/3 ounces banana liquor, 5 drops Angostura Bitters and 4 drops Peychaud’s Aromatic Cocktail Bitters.
How to make Macke’s Low Tide Old Fashioned is even simpler: mix ingredients in a stirring glass, then dress your cocktail glass with a dark simple syrup and generous ice ball, layer the rum and add the banana liquor. Dust with a grate of cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick, dried banana chip and Luxardo Maraschino cherry (worth the price).
Sit back, sip, savor and let your worries go out with the tide.
Macke, now retired and embracing his new mixology hobby with gusto, is the official bartender and trimmer on board Michael Cichon’s Beneteau Oceanis 41 Va Bene. When he envisions new recipes, he says, his approach is to reimagine the classics from a sailor’s point of view.
Rum, however, is a rare ingredient among the classics of weathered bartender’s bible, but therein lies Macke’s opportunity to get creative. He doesn’t just substitute a spirit and slap on a new name; he explores and tests every element of it. “That’s what is exciting to me,” he says. “It has to have fresh ingredients and it also has to be pretty. You want to pick it up, look at it and say, ‘I really want to drink this,’ and the ratios have to be right.”
When he crafted his award-winning Low Tide Old Fashioned, he knew nothing of Mount Gay’s Black Barrel.
“I bought a bottle and wrote up my own tasting notes. I love Old Fashions but I wanted to take it in a different direction that brought it to the Caribbean.”
Macke’s creation for this year’s contest, he says, may just be better than the Low Tide. “It’s more complex and more nostalgic,” is all he will reveal, and it’s been properly vetted by his in-house tasting team (his wife and daughter). His daughter has advised him to stop perfecting perfect, but Macke can’t help himself.
“It’s now down to just a few minor tweaks,” he says, “but everyone’s happy with this one.”
And for those with aspirations of dethroning Va Bene’s Cocktail King, all he can say is, “I’m ready. Bring it.”
Macke and registered mixologists will be posted up at the St. Petersburg YC’s Ball Room during the post-racing party. Entrants (a sign-up link is at the QR code above) will be provided Mount Gay Rum and basic mixers, but mixologists are encouraged to bring their own special ingredients. With limited mixing stations available, selected teams will be announced at the Skippers Meeting on Thursday evening, and on the regatta’s social media channels.
