Are you a Discerning Drinker?
Join thousands of like-minded professionals and cocktail enthusiasts, receive our weekly newsletters and see pages produced by our community for fellow Discerning Drinkers.
Forum
Rum Swizzle
Dark rich sugar, equally dark and richly flavoured rum, sweetened and spiced with the clove and cinnamon flavours of falernum and freshened with citrus...
Chris Dimal
16th May at 19:42
Absolutely delightful, perfect swizzle. I doubt anything can top this. I used a blend of Old Monk, OFTD and Appleton Reserve Blend to simulate somewhat of a complex yet potent Demerara Rum. The Falernum and brown sugar make it delectable and warming, yet refreshing and complex. Deserves the 5* no doubt and I think you can experiment with the rum or rums!
4th October 2025 at 16:55
This is grand.
8th November 2024 at 09:59
This is not very far away from a drink called a Freight Train Swizzle which adds a touch of Green Chartreuse and leaves out the lemon juice. Either way you can’t go wrong!
7th September 2025 at 18:05
I just made one of these, and it's genuinely one of my favorite swizzles I've ever tried. Thanks for the tip!
8th August 2024 at 10:26
Bacardi 8 year worked well for this. Prominent rum flavor, but balanced out by the citrus/clove/brown sugar/bitters. Great easy-to-make rum drink.
26th July 2024 at 01:13
Delicious - rum leads the flavor, and is underscored by the Demerara syrup. Falernum and bitters add depth of flavor, and the lime (softened by the lemon) give a citrus brightness.
17th June 2024 at 19:58
Made this with diplomatico reserva exclusiva. Gorgeous! The garnishes really add to the whole experience. The drink is dark and sticky but smells fresh because of the mint/orange.
22nd January 2024 at 04:50
Added 45ML pineapple, for a easier sipping drink. Used my 12 YO rum but too much going on for it to shine, next time will use 6 year old :)
17th December 2023 at 04:50
Made with El Dorado 12 YO rum, i used turbinado syrup instead of demerara. amazing Drink. Cheers
28th February at 14:58
El Dorado 12 hits so well with this one!
16th October 2023 at 01:31
Made this with Mount Gay gold, cut the sugar syrup in half, added a float of 151 Demerara rum. It was wonderful.
19th September 2023 at 02:14
Pleasant first use of Falernum and swizzling but a little on the mild side. Look forward to a Green Swizzle next time.
3rd March 2023 at 23:56
Interesting that I lean away from sweet cocktails, and yet found this one not overly sweet as posted. Next time, I may try the over-proof rum as John suggested.
3rd January 2023 at 12:23
Substituted sugar with an equal amount of (slightly less sweet) cane syrup after reading the reviews here, as well as bumping up the lemon just a notch to match the lime. Wonderfully refreshing; need to see about making more of these during the summer months.
17th November 2021 at 02:32
Being big rum drinkers, we loved this. Did cut back on the sugar syrup by 1/3. Also used a slightly overproof rum (90 proof) which balanced out the sweetness. All-in-all a very refreshing drink which went perfect with a spicy dinner. Would do again, but perhaps cut back on the sugar syrup by 1/2.
Anonymous
28th June 2021 at 15:35
Fully agree with Chelsea Noble that it’s a little on the sweet side and increasing the juice while reducing the syrup does make it more refreshing to my taste.
24th May 2021 at 01:01
Delightfully refreshing! Great way to feature a good aged rum while still making it easy to drink. A little sweeter than I would normally go with both the falernum and the demerara syrup. I think I might try just a quarter oz of syrup next time.
Anonymous
17th March 2021 at 04:18
A bit too tart with the specified lime/lemon (and I'm not really a fan of sugary drinks)- should be balanced with pineapple juice or perhaps honey to offset the bitter/tart citrus. Very good base and can easily be layered with complimentary flavors (on the strong side)
5th June 2020 at 17:27
Yes! This was really yummy. The angustora is prominent and you get all the different flavours. A new favourite.
27th April 2020 at 19:03
Like like like! This could become one of my favorites.