Make Your Alexander With Rum

The Alexander? It's great.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Brandy Alexander, a three-ingredient classic that combines brandy with heavy cream and creme de cacao, for a milky, chocolate, dessert-like cocktail confection. 

But the Brandy Alexander wasn’t always a Brandy Alexander. At first, it was just an Alexander, and it was made with gin. 

The drink’s evolution suggests that, like virtually all other classic tipples, the Alexander is not just a specific cocktail, but a modifiable format, and that the easiest way to adapt the drink is to change the base spirit. 

Readers: That is just what I did. Although I don’t much care for the original, gin-based version of this drink¹, it’s delightful with the right rum. 

What’s the right rum? Well, you should probably start with the rum you already have on your bar cart. 

But if you’re making choices, you want something darker, richer, a little sweeter and oakier, with some age. I don’t think I’d try this with a light, dry rum like Flor de Cana 4 Extra Seco. But my go-to bottles of Appleton Estate Signature and El Dorado 8 work quite well in this format. If you’re looking for a splurge-y version, try Brugal 1888, which at $45 or so is on the pricey side for a cocktail rum, but works wonders in this drink, giving it a caramel-y, baked-good like character. 

Like the Brandy Alexander, this drink is decadent and delicious. It’s a liquid dessert, a sweet-and-creamy nightcap. You might even be tempted to order four of them.

Rum Alexander 

• 1 ounce heavy cream

• 1 ounce creme de cacao

• 1 ½ ounces aged rum

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

2. Add ice, then shake until thoroughly chilled and integrated, about 15 seconds. 

3. Strain into a glass. 

4. Garnish with grated nutmeg or cinnamon. 

Tiger Woods Saying “Big Dog”

1. Although I haven’t tried it, I suspect a gin-based version might work better with an aged Old Tom-style gin.