Malecon (cocktail)
The Malecon is a cocktail named after the El Malecón, the winding beachfront avenue atop the seawall in Havana, Cuba.
The cocktail has at least three different main types: a pre-prohibition version from Cuba itself, an updated American version afterwards in 1941, and a more modern version from 2007.
Malecon cocktail (1915)
From John Escalante's Cuban cocktail guide, Manual Del Cantinero. The drink called for equal parts Cognac and Chambéry vermouth as the base, with additions of one dash of gum syrup and one dash of Angostura bitters. Garnish with a strawberry.Malecon cocktail (1941)
From Crosby Gaige's drink book, Cocktail Guide and Ladies' Companion. He said the drink was meant to evoke "the leisure and luxury of Old Havana".- 1.5 oz. White Rum
- 1.5 oz. Swedish Punsch
- 1.5 oz. Dry Gin
- A dash of apricot brandy
El Malecón cocktail (2007)
As updated by Erik Lorincz when he bartended at the Connaught Bar, London.- 50ml Bacardi Superior white rum
- 15ml Smith Woodhouse 10-year port
- 10ml Don José Reserva Oloroso sherry
- 30ml lime juice
- 2 bar spoons / teaspoons caster sugar
- 3 drops Peychaud's Bitters
I have read that the essence of what it means to be Cuban is to accept the inevitabilities of human existence, that we are born and must die, and to make the very best of the life in between and have as good a time as possible. With this admirable attitude in mind, I wanted to create a drink that could be enjoyed at any time of day or night, and that would be at home in the most elegant London cocktail bar and equally at the Malecón in Havana with music, laughter and tobacco smoke in the air.
El Malecón was Lorincz's entry in the "Bacardi Legacy 2007" rum cocktail contest and was one of the reasons he was chosen in 2010 to head the revitalized American Bar at the Savoy Hotel. The Savoy Cocktail Book included the recipe for the original version of a cocktail known as the Havana in 1937.