Hunter's Verdict

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (204 ratings)
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    Hunter's Verdict

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Hunter's Verdict image

Glass:

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
2 fl oz Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years
3⁄4 fl oz Amaro Montenegro
1⁄4 fl oz Ginger liqueur
1 dash Orange Bitters by Angostura
1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. Prepare orange slice for garnish.

How to make:

  1. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish:

  1. Garnish with orange slice.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Brilliantly balanced and composed, this is a rum-forward boozy digestive with herbal complexity and enlivening ginger to contemplate a great meal and a good yarn relayed by a fellow diner.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2020 by J. E. Clapham of Clapham Cocktails. The original recipe specifies 60ml Plantation Xaymaca Jamaican rum, 22.5ml Amaro Montenegro and 7.5ml King's Ginger.

The cocktail's creator explains, "Hunter's Verdict, where big Jamaican flavours are melded with King's Ginger and Amaro Montenegro (incidentally, the name refers to Dr John Hunter, who declared Jamaica rum safe to drink in 1788 – the lead pipes were to blame! - and henceforth Jamaican rum would feature prominently in Navy rations)."

More cocktails by J. E. Clapham of Clapham Cocktails

Nutrition:

One serving of Hunter's Verdict contains 253 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 26.98% alc./vol. (53.96° proof)
  • 24.5 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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Tim Cull’s Avatar Tim Cull
15th February at 20:50
It felt like the ginger was a smidgen unbalanced so I added the smallest dash of Aztec chocolate bitters and that helped, but still needs something
1
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Tim Cull’s Avatar Tim Cull
27th February at 23:05
Actually, just doubling the orange bitters and angostura bitters did the trick.
1
reply
Gareth Hives’ Avatar Gareth Hives
4th February at 19:01
Tried this tonight after seeing Calvin’s comment because unusually I had all of the exact ingredients. It’s hard not to use cliches but I found it to be the sum of its parts rather than more than that. I did love Simon’s review though.
1
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Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
4th February at 02:27
Started making this, realized I was out of the Cocchi Vermouth Amaro I was going to substitute for the Montenegro. Went with Cynar 70 and Bacoo 12yr. Doubtless not the same drink but it was spectacular!
1
reply
Josh Walthall’s Avatar Josh Walthall
16th August 2025 at 03:54
Would this work with Cynar instead of Amaro Montenegro?
1
reply
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
16th August 2025 at 13:15
They're quite different amari, but Cynar could work as a substitute. Certainly worth a try.
1
reply
Robert Holen’s Avatar Robert Holen
17th December 2024 at 20:46
This one's great! It isn't often you discover so good cocktails that's so unlike any others.
2
reply
Caspian Berggren’s Avatar Caspian Berggren
11th December 2024 at 01:37
This cocktail is lovely as long as you pick a good rum. You need a Jamaican rum that is funky but not *too* funky. If needs to stand up to the ginger and amaro, without overtaking them. Appleton 8 is a good rekommendation, and if you don't have that then use 2cl of Smith&Cross and something non-funky but aged rum.
2
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Mark Messingham’s Avatar Mark Messingham
23rd November 2024 at 21:52
Very enjoyable! Substituted King’s Ginger for Crabbies Ginger Liqueur as the newer version of King’s Ginger is a bit lemon heavy.
1
reply
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
29th February 2024 at 21:28
Due to my current state of stock, I had to revert to using more fringe ingredients... El Dorado 8 and Barrow's ginger might be a fine base combo... but the amaro sub of 2:1 Cardamaro to Amaro Sfumato? Not bad, but too intense... All in all, nice drink.
1
reply
Mary Bellamy’s Avatar Mary Bellamy
3rd May 2023 at 00:13
I'm a big fan of montenegro amaro and ginger, but something was off in this one. Very spirit forward and had almost a cough medicine flavor. It did mellow out quite a bit as it chilled, but I think it was still a miss for me.
1
reply
Frederic D.’s Avatar Frederic D.
27th June 2022 at 21:42
This was lovely. Well balanced, the amaro's herbaceousnss was lightly accented on the finish, while the rum shone nicely through. Recommended.
2
reply
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