Hotel Nacional Special

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (98 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 23 oz Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
12 oz Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur
34 oz Pineapple juice
12 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
14 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
16 oz Rhum Clément Blanc optional
6 drop Difford's Daiquiri Bitters optional
2 drop Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water) optional
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of pineapple (or lime) wedge.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with pineapple (or lime) wedge on rim.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 5/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

A fruity but sophisticated riff on the classic Daiquiri with fresh pineapple and apricot liqueur. It would appear the Hotel Nacional was originally made with a charcoal filtered light white rum but in his influential 1939 travel log, Charles H. Baker says, "We indicate Gold Label Bacardi for the simple reason that Carta Blanca is so delicate in flavour it barely comes through any rich drink. " This cocktail does indeed suit a more characterful rum, to the extent that I like to add a splash of grassy agricole rum. If you have it, use it. And the minty pineapple notes of Daiquiri Bitters brilliantly suit this cocktail.

View readers' comments

AKA: Hotel Nacional Daiquiri, The Nacional Cocktail and simply Nacional

History:

The flagship cocktail of Havana's famous Hotel Nacional de Cuba was created sometime during or after the hotel's opening in 1930. The hotel's elegant opulence was a magnet to the style set and celebrities, including Ava Gardner and Nat King Cole, as well as mobsters such as "Lucky" Luciano.

Such a hotel opening off the US coast during the height of Prohibition attracted some of America's greatest bartenders, including Will (or Wil) P. Taylor, Eddie Woelke and Fred Kaufman. All three of these have been credited with creating the Hotel Nacional Special, and perhaps they all contributed. However, Charles H. Baker's 1939 The Gentleman's Companion, credits Wil P. Taylor, describing the cocktail as "one of the three finest Bacardi drinks known to science."

The "National" is the first and very much the lead entry in the "Cuban Concoctions" amendment of Albert Stevens Crockett's 1935 Old Waldorf Astoria Book. This and the "other Havana recipes" that follow were contributed by "Will P. Taylor, manager of the Hotel National in Havana."

NATIONAL
Equal parts of Bacardi and Pineapple Juice
Squeeze of Lemon
Dash of Apricot Brandy
Ice; shake; strain

Albert Stevens Crockett, Old Waldorf Astoria Book, 1935

ASTORIA
WIL P. TAYLOR'S HOTEL NACIONAL SPECIAL, which, along with the TROPICAL DAIQUIRI & the SANTIAGO de CUBA MINT
JULEP is ONE of the THREE FINEST BACARDI DRINKS KNOWN to SCIENCE.
Who, who knows his Havana, does not know, or has not heard of, Wil Taylor. We met him back in 1931 when in charge of World Cruise Publicity for Hamburg-American Line, and got into Havana one time in 1933 just after they had mighty near blasted a marvellous hotel off the map, to get at those Machado-phile officers hiding there. And Taylor kept right on managing just as if it had been old times!
. . . But that time with pineapples sounding off all night along the Prado, we elected to stick to the old downtown Plaza, what with wife and child, but that did not prevent our remembering with great pleasure Taylor's own Bacardi concoction. . . . It is "mighty lak" a Mary Pickford, but still not, as the latter omits her limes.

Carta de Oro Bacardi, 1 jigger
Lime, juice ½
Fresh pineapple juice, 1 jigger
Dry apricot brandy, 1 tsp

Shake with cracked ice, strain, serve in a tall cocktail glass with a stem. . . . We indicate Gold Label Bacardi for the simple reason that Carta Blanca is so delicate in flavour it barely comes through any rich drink.

Albert Stevens Crockett, The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, 1931

Nutrition:

One serving of Hotel Nacional Special contains 190 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 16.94% alc./vol. (16.94° proof)
  • 19.5 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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7th April at 20:36
Having tasted this on a few occasions recently for the first time in an exquisite central London cocktail bar, I couldn't wait to re-create it at home, and Difford's take is a slightly refined improvement on what I was served. Use a dried apricot in a big coupe glass to make this an absolute gem of a cocktail that everyone will love.
Jose Cruz’s Avatar Jose Cruz
20th March at 02:55
Mostly rum forward, so i used Bacardi white and what i got was a meh drink , maybe try 8 year old or so . refreshing, delicate, balanced. 8/10
Leo’s Avatar Leo
11th February at 13:21
One of my favorites, changed the gold rum for once and it comes out to have a children toothpaste taste. By changing the gold rum you’re using you may have varied outcomes on this drink.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
23rd December 2024 at 19:36
The Rhum and daiquiri bitters additions are intriguing, and I will come back to this (my) recipe and test them... The above recipe (as of 23 Dec 2024) is yuck, and I made measure-morphs of this 4-5 times this 1/2 hour... Here's the skinny: 50 ml Bacardi Gold, 15 ml each: rich cane simple, lime juice, Giffard Abricot-d-R, Libby's pineapple juice.
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
2nd March 2024 at 18:02
Something ain't right here and I can't place it. I tried with two different rums, I've tried each ingredient separately, I've tried with and without a little saline...and I can't make it taste more than a average-to-mediocre daiquiri sadly.
Andy Prior’s Avatar Andy Prior
21st July 2023 at 22:48
This cocktail is bangers! Playing with sweetness and ratios - I feel like I’m this drink I have discovered something to ease my “where has all the Chartreuse gone” blues!
Lukas  Gomber ’s Avatar Lukas Gomber
26th April 2023 at 20:08
Made the Smuggler's Cove Recipe, which muddles fresh pineapple chunks before shaking. It really like the elegant pineapple flavor of the muddling. The SC Recipe uses more sugar and liqueur. I guess I can bring down sugar to 1/4 OZ if using 1/2 OZ of Apricot Brandy
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
19th May 2022 at 04:47
Tasty indeed; made with Bacardi Ocho Ańos. Want to bump it up a bit. Will try Smith & Cross Navy Strength next.
Chris Colvin’s Avatar Chris Colvin
8th January 2022 at 19:44
The bitters really help this, balances out the sweetness for me. Bitters no longer optional...
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
1st October 2021 at 23:52
This is outstanding. A classic rum drink from 1930s Havana. You can taste the history. Flavours blend perfectly. A little sweet, but not overly. I used an over-proof gold rum which upped the rum flavour a little.