You’d be forgiven if the very thought of coconut rum was... not a good one. For much of the modern cocktail revival, coconut rum has been more or less filed away as a product of youthful misguidance. Recent years, however, have seen the flavored spirits category shed its gimmicky reputation and become a serious pursuit for serious producers. Planteray was a pioneer in this realm when the brand released its pineapple rum in 2015, and now, its Cut & Dry rum joins the fray as a fast-track way to fresh coconut flavor—no fat-wash needed. 

Unlike many of the other coconut-flavored rums on the market, Cut & Dry leans on aged rum as the base, specifically a blend of column and pot still Barbados rum. The coconut flavor, meanwhile, comes from ripe coconuts that have been cut and dried—hence the name—in the sun to concentrate flavor before being infused into the spirit. The result is a richly flavored rum with no trace of artificiality.

As someone with firsthand experience attempting all the ways to coconut your cocktail, from fat-washing to coconut-aging, Cut & Dry has become an immediate fixture of my home bar for its ability to bring a tropical burst of flavor to the classics. Swapped in for gin in a Negroni, the aperitivo staple takes on an overt tropical edge; it offers an easy yet decadent upgrade to the Espresso Martini; it’s a shoo-in for the Piña Colada; and a no-brainer simply topped with coconut water. It’s even good enough to wash away the memories of bad coconut rum.