Running With Rum at Parrish

Typically, when one orders a daiquiri or a mojito, it is not preceded by a call brand the way a Grey Goose martini or a Jack and coke is. With the advent of premium small-batch rums over the past few years, however, that should change.

New York State has become a nexus for craft distillers, and rum, with a rich history traced to the earliest colonies, is tied to this area in many ways. Whether it was the first colonists who discovered their own from the natural fermentation of molasses by air-borne yeast, the whalers who brought back barrels of it from their Caribbean sojourns, or the rumrunners bringing it to our shores during Prohibition, rum could be called our most traditional drink.

In recognition of this history and connection to the area, the Parrish Art Museum and Edible East End magazine brought some rum makers together with a “locavore” mixologist on Friday night to discuss rum and how alcoholic beverages in general have benefited from the “slow food” movement.

Brian Halweil, the editor of Edible East End and the moderator of the panel, said that “Although Prohibition ended 80 years ago, the intense regulation of alcohol persisted for a long time.” As a result, only the largest producers of alcohol were allowed until the passage of the state’s farm distillery law in 1999, which opened up distilling in the way that the farm brewery and winery acts before it loosened more restrictive laws in the state.

Since then, New Yorkers have contributed to more than 60 craft distilleries nationally that have begun offering their take on classic spirits. A law passed last year has relaxed regulations even further to allow distillers to serve their product on premises as a mixed drink instead of a quarter-ounce sample, which was the previous rule. The Wall Street Journal noted that this recent legislation has made New York State one of the most attractive places in the country for farm distillers.

Jason Laan, a former Murph’s bartender, has been aging rum he has sourced in the Caribbean for a couple of years. He infuses it with fruit juice and spices, and then puts it in bourbon barrels to create an amber-style “sipping rum” he bottles under the name Sag Harbor Rum. “We don’t make rum. It’s more like rum-running. We bring it here and age it, like whalers bringing back rum” in the old days. While other companies offer different liquor styles or variations on a core brand, Mr. Laan said not to expect a catalog of brands from him. “I had one vision I wanted to bring to life.”

Leslie Marinoff represented Owney’s Rum, which was named after a bootlegger and speakeasy operator in New York City during Prohibition. It distills its non-aged white rum in Brooklyn using New York water, molasses that is not genetically modified, and a proprietary yeast strain. She said of the fermentation process, “Yeast can’t control themselves. They reabsorb all this ethanol and die of alcohol poisoning. But if you make them happy, treating them like Kobe beef and massaging them, they develop this will to live and they’ll produce incredible flavors for you,” including the smokiness that is Owney’s signature.

The recent explosion of craft distillers in the state and region has made Richard Scoffier’s job much more interesting. He is the food and beverage director for Honest Man Restaurants, the parent company of Nick and Toni’s, Rowdy Hall, Townline BBQ, and La Fondita. On his honeymoon in 2010, he said he discovered a distillery in the Finger Lakes that was producing sophisticated bourbon, grappas, a London dry-style gin, and cassis. After years of finding local and regional produce for the restaurant, he had a revelation, “Why can’t we do this at the bar?” Now the various restaurant bars reflect the region’s produce in the way their menus do. This ethos extends to using things like raspberries from Nick and Toni’s garden to create a homemade syrup or drink base.

Mr. Scoffier brought a drink to the talk and tasting that will be available on tap at Town Line BBQ in Sagaponack soon. He calls it the Keep on Wine-in, for its inclusion of Channing Daughters Winery’s gewurztraminer grapes. The grapes are put in a mixture of sugar and vinegar known as a shrub, a once common farm-made blend of seasonal produce preserved in drink form that is regaining popularity, in part due to Mr. Scoffier’s use of shrubs in drinks at Nick and Toni’s and the other restaurants. The drink also has Dutch’s Spirits Sugar Moonshine, Dutch’s Colonial Cocktail Bitters, and lemon juice.

It was tart and complex and is now being carbonated in a keg for future use. It might also age well. Yes, you read correctly. Mr. Scoffer said barrel aging of cocktails “rounds out the rough corners” of a drink in a process he calls magical in its way of transforming them. The restaurants also bottle cocktails for similar reasons.

With the return of “cocktail culture” in full force and the interest in artisanal and locally sourced drinks at a level The Atlantic described last year as its “heady early Internet phase,” it is likely, as it noted, that many will enter the market with inferior products, which could dampen the enthusiasm for them in general. Similarly, Ms. Marinoff said that one of the largest liquor companies is taking matters into its own hands by building and staffing small distilleries in different cities and hiring local “cool kids” to lay claim to the companies as a marketing ploy.

Still, with the devotion this area has to slow food production and its related offshoots, here, the trend is likely to stay.

Jason Laan’s Sag Harbor Rum Old Fashion

    2 oz. Sag Harbor Rum

    2 dashes Angostura Bitters

    1 splash of water

    1/2 tsp. sugar

    Cubed ice

Garnish with orange peel.

Leslie Marinoff’s NegrOwney

    2 oz. Owney’s NYC Rum

    1 oz. sweet vermouth

    .75 oz. Campari

Stir with ice.