Recently, I have been taking a look at the Presidente Cocktail and have been amazed by it and it has since become one of my new favourites. It appeared in the 1920s in Cuba and the following recipe was taken from page 14 of the “Manual de Cantinero, Habana 1924, Cuba”:

Sírvase en copa de cocktail, con cascara de naranja y una guinda.
Serve in a cocktail glass, with orange peel and a cherry.

As most people are aware the Barcardi rum from the 1920s has nothing to do with the rum of the same name today. Using a premium aged light Cuban style rum instead of Ron bacardi really makes this cocktail special. Being half rum to half dry vermouth, you could hint at calling it a Rum Martini and it does have similar qualities to that most famous cocktail. The vermouth plays off the a good premium light aged rum well and the curaçao plays off both the rum and vermouth extremely well.

Puerto Rican and U.S. Virgin Island rums, such as Cruzan® Single Barrel Rum, would be an alternative to Cuban rums, although the Mixelero has not yet tried the Presidente Cocktail with these rums (update to follow). Using such premium rums does make the cocktail quite pricey, but Mixelero believes that the results speak for themselves and you won’t regret it. To achieve a great cocktail use great ingredients.

The following recipe is Mixelero’s currently recommended expression of this classic cocktail. I have chosen to omit using grenadine, because the cocktail is simply perfect without it.

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and twist orange peel and drop into glass. Stir for at least 30 seconds to chill. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora or small cocktail glass. Optionally garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherry.