“Charm is a product of the unexpected.” – Jose Marti
For Wil P Taylor, the product is a cocktail that may have had a hand in sending Fulgencio Batista from the garrison to the seat of power in Cuba during the “Revolt of the Sergeants.” The Hotel Nacional Special is not your common, everyday, rum-based cocktail since it brings a certain sophistication that evokes memories of the old glory days of this island nation in the Caribbean.
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Episode 4 – Cocktail Revolution at the Di6mond, Gastown
Image Cutline: Ron Oliver tells a story to each classic cocktail he shakes up.
It’s1933.Cuba is undergoing another revolution and the Hotel Nacional in Havana is under heavy artillery fire. The expats, huddled around Wil P Taylor’s bar, ask the barkeep to invent a new drink – something special – after all, this might be their last.
Fury: Going out in style like it’s my last night on earth is how I usually roll. So after hopping through a few Gastown cocktail joints, the Hotel Nacional Special at The Di6mond stopped me in my tracks.
Raj: You mean those three Hotel Nacional Specials stopped you in your tracks. Great choice of venue though. Located at the epicentre of Gastown’s summertime hoopla, the second storey room somewhat removes you from the roaming crackheads below. Yet, the large bay windows let summer in all its glory.
Fury: As a rum-aficionado, Wil P Taylor fired back under pressure and concocted this sophisticated summery drink with a jigger of rum, dry apricot brandy, some fresh pineapple juice for sweetness and a touch of lime. This blend goes down so smoothly – can you blame me for slinging back three in a row?
Raj: Plenty of credit has to go to barman Ron Oliver, who I first met at a seedy undisclosed Gastown location during Hopscotch a few years ago. He’s so knowledgeable that when I need info about Scotch, he’s my go-to guy. But now he’s shifted his efforts and has become equally successful behind the bar. In Wil P Taylor style, he didn’t miss a beat.
Fury: They didn’t even see us coming. We totally blindsided them exactly like that artillery fire in 1933.
Raj: And somehow, Ron just nailed it. If anything is a perfect summer cocktail, it’s the Hotel Nacional Special, a daiquiri tasting like a dry fruit punch with pineapple and apricot flavours, it’s sooo smooth going down.
Fury: If it takes a surprise or an uprising to push bartenders to make fabulous, timeless drinks, I say viva la revolution!
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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour. Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.
