Appleton Estate Resurrects One of History's Great Lost Rums

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The missing ingredient from Trader Vic's original mai tai is back, and we tried it.

While there is some debate, most spirits scholars and history buffs agree that the mai tai — arguably the most famous cocktail to emerge from the tiki movement of the mid-twentieth century — was invented in 1944 by Victor Bergeron, or as you may know him, Trader Vic. And while these days the "mai tai" you receive at most bars may contain things like pineapple juice, grenadine, and maybe a float of 151-proof rum, none of these overpowering ingredients appear in Vic's original recipe.

Instead of a syrupy fruit bomb, Vic created the original mai tai for a specific purpose: to showcase the qualities of J. Wray and Nephew 17 Year. This gold Jamaican rum was considered the gold standard back when Vic was just getting started in the fledgling tiki business, and he created a drink that would complement the notes from this special rum, not smother it. Mixing up the spirit with fresh lime juice, orange curacao and dashes of simple syrup and orgeat (a milky almond syrup tinged with orange flower water), Vic served his new concoction to a couple of friends visiting his restaurant from Tahiti. As the story goes, they exclaimed ’Maita’i roa a’e’ upon trying the drink, which translates to "the best." And that, according to Vic, is how the mai tai was invented.

A couple of decades later, J. Wray and Nephew 17 Year disappeared from shelves, never to be produced again. To try and recreate the taste, cocktail sleuths like tiki historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry have recommended blending fine-aged Jamaican and Martinique rums, but with Wray & Nephew 17 bottles essentially impossible to find, it's hard to say how close those approximations come. Until now, that is.

Jamaican rum distiller Appleton Estate has unveiled a one-off recreation of J. Wray and Nephew 17 Year that they're calling Appleton Estate 17 Year Old Legend. The rum, which is limited to just 1,500 bottles worldwide and can't be reproduced, was crafted by master blender Joy Spence, who referenced original manuscripts and formulas and worked with four rare distillates — all at least 17 years old — that had been set aside at the distillery due to their similarities to the Wray and Nephew's flavor profile.

I will never taste J. Wray and Nephew 17, but I have tasted Appleton's recreation — neat in a tulip tasting glass. So, while I can't say whether or not it tastes anything like what it's trying to replicate, I can say that it is a very good rum. On the nose, I get heavy notes of caramelized banana. It reminds me of my wife's abuela, who is from Cuba, cooking platanos maduros — in other words, it's sweet and comforting.

Jamaican rums are frequently noted for their "funk" derived from the high amount of esters in the spirit that give off a range of flavors and smells, often resembling overripe fruit. And this Appleton definitely brings the funk. On the palate, it's sweet, a little smoky and very rich. There's more caramelized banana here, along with some burnt brown sugar and a little grilled pineapple. It's tropical, heavy and delicious. The finish is warm, and there is some noticeable burn but it's not unpleasant. Basically, it tastes like a vacation somewhere near the equator.

It would be considered sacrilege to make a cocktail with a whiskey as special as this, but rum is a different beast. Much of the spirit's allure and prestige is wrapped up in cocktail culture — namely tiki culture — and that's especially true of this rum, as it's trying to replicate the most desired lost rum among tikiphiles. And since I'm a bit of a tikiphile myself — I own the aforementioned Berry's books and app, along with Martin and Rebecca Cate's acclaimed Smuggler's Cove tome — and had all the ingredients on hand already, I whipped myself up a mai tai that would make Trader Vic himself proud.

For the recipe, I went with Vic's original, as unearthed by Berry in Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Shake all ingredients with plenty of crushed ice, pour into a double old fashioned glass and garnish with your spent lime shell.

I'm no stranger to making mai tais at home — why else would I have a bottle of orgeat in my fridge? But I do find that the drink varies greatly depending on the rum you're using. Most of the readily available rums in stores can't hold up against the rest of the ingredients, resulting in a drink that's too sour and lime-forward. But that is not the case with the Appleton.

The first thing I noticed about the drink was its color. A deep amber hue that just screams tiki. The smell of the rum also comes through excellently in the cocktail, almost amplified by its complementary ingredients — I could easily smell it while casually holding my glass. And then there's the taste. This is, without question, the most rum-forward mai tai I have ever had (and yes, I've had a mai tai at Trader Vic's). It's strong like a tiki drink should be, but not too strong, as all of the flavors are there. The sour notes from the lime, the light floral sweetness from the orgeat, the citrus notes from the curacao, it's all there, but decidedly in the background. The star of the show here is the Appleton, which brings its heady and funky tropical rum flavor to the forefront of every sip. This is the best way to enjoy this rum, and it's easy to understand how Vic must've felt when he first whipped it up knowing that he'd created an absolute banger.

Given its limited availability, this Appleton will not be easy to come by (I, sadly, received just a tiny sample bottle). It's getting worldwide distribution with just 1,500 bottles, and only a portion of those are reserved for the U.S. It will go on sale later in June for $500 at select retailers, including ReserveBar later in the year, and you can sign up for Appleton's newsletter to be notified as soon as it's available. If you can't wait, there are also 36 NFTs (I know, I know) that can be exchanged for bottles that are for sale on BlockBar right now, but you'll pay above SRP for those.