The Great Pretender is a dangerously drinkable, crazy-potent overproof daiquiri from Thomas Waugh at Death & Co, patterned after his colleague Brian Miller’s Gilda recipe.
Like the Gilda, the Great Pretender features Death & Co’s signature pineapple-lime-cinnamon combination, this time bolstered with a bit of vanilla syrup and banana-esque esters from overproof rum. Waugh calls for Smith & Cross, which falls somewhere between light and dark overproof – we’ve tried it with lighter and darker rums, and it’s equally good each time.
The sugar-and-cinnamon rim seems like overkill, but it helps to keep the overproof rum in check; we heartily endorse it.
