The most expensive rum cocktail in New Zealand history was made, and then consumed, near Queenstown on Friday night.
Made from 30-year-old Jamaican rum, Louis XIII cognac, Jamaican brown sugar syrup and saffron, and with a garnish of gold dust which is set on fire, the special drink launched at the function at Kohara Lodge, Arthurs Pt, was the limited-edition Appleton Estate cocktail, which will cost customers a cool $1000 each.
Special guest at the function was master blender Joy Spencer, of Jamaica. Talking to the Otago Daily Times over a nip of the golden spirit, Ms Spencer said that by ‘‘sheer accident'' she found herself working under a master blender of rum 28 years ago.
She became fascinated with the senses used in the rummaking process and found herself sitting in the master blender's room, inhaling and working out the smells.
When he retired, Ms Spencer was given the job.
She is still the world's only female master blender, with one of the world's most finely tuned noses - she can identify more than 300 different varieties of rum by smelling them.
When Ms Spencer first started, her father was quite horrified ‘‘because any woman involved in the spirit industry was deemed to be a loose woman''. Fortunately, times have changed.
The limited edition of the 30-year-old Appleton Estate rum, of which just 1440 bottles were made, will mean just 30 bottles will be released in New Zealand later this year. However, Rum Company of New Zealand general manager Allen McCormick said anyone hoping to pick up one of the bottles from a liquor store was out of luck.
‘‘We're going to auction all of them. We won't ever produce this again - it's once only.
‘‘We would expect it to auction for between $500 and $1000 a bottle. I would say whoever gets one has impeccable taste and lots of friends.'
