The Real McCoy Donut Rum Situation
There are certain inventions that make humanity look briefly magnificent. The wheel. The printing press. Antibiotics. The emergency Tim Tam. And now, with absolutely no regard for the dignity of civilisation, Real McCoy has launched a Cinnamon Doughnut Whiskey Liqueur, which sounds ridiculous until you taste it and begin making dangerous plans involving ice and a second bottle.
It is, technically, a flavoured whiskey liqueur. Emotionally, however, it is a cinnamon doughnut that has put on a leather jacket, joined a motorcycle club and developed opinions about bourbon. It smells of warm vanilla and freshly baked doughnuts and it tastes of cinnamon sugar and smooth whiskey.
Origins of the doughnut or donut
The doughnut itself has had a heroic career. Its ancestors were likely the Dutch “olykoeks”, or oily cakes, brought to America by settlers in the 18th century. These were balls of fried dough, often filled with fruit or nuts, which sounds wholesome until you remember they were essentially hot carbohydrate grenades. The ring-shaped doughnut arrived later, allegedly thanks to 19th-century sea captain Hanson Gregory, who, fed up with raw doughy centres, punched a hole through the middle. The world owes him.
That hole, of course, became famous. The doughnut went from snack to icon. National Donut Day in the United States was even established by the Salvation Army to honour the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.
And doughnuts, like gossip, have gone global. Germany has the Berliner, Greece has honey-drenched loukoumades, New Orleans has beignets buried under powdered sugar like tiny edible snowdrifts, and Hawaii has malasadas, those Portuguese-style doughnuts that boldly reject the hole altogether.
Which brings us neatly to Real McCoy Cinnamon Doughnut.
The Real McCoy Cinnamon Doughnut
This is a liqueur that arrives with cinnamon sugar on its shoes and a suspiciously festive twinkle in its eye. At 30% ABV, it is sweet, yes, but not silly. The American whiskey and bourbon base gives it backbone, so it does not collapse into cupcake nonsense. It has enough grown-up warmth to be poured straight and enough fun to be shot with friends.
It also arrives at a time when flavour-led drinking is having a moment. People want drinks that do more than sit solemnly in a glass tasting of smoke, oak and someone’s disappointing gap year. They want nostalgia and a little bit of mischief. Real McCoy has already played in this deliciously unhinged sandpit with Salted Caramel and Buttered Popcorn. Cinnamon Doughnut feels like the next logical escalation, assuming the logic is being handled by a pastry chef with a whiskey trolley.
The real joy is its versatility. A quick chilled shot? Absolutely. A cinnamon-sugar-rimmed party starter? Obviously. Mixed with espresso into a velvety after-dinner cocktail? Stand back, because Aunt Linda has taken her earrings off and the night is only just beginning.
No one needed a cinnamon doughnut in liquid form. But then again, no one needed glitter, karaoke or tiny hotel slippers, and look how much they have contributed to the human spirit. Real McCoy Cinnamon Doughnut is silly in the best possible way: nostalgic, warming, spiced, smooth and just dangerous enough to make a casual catch-up feel like the opening scene of a very entertaining mistake.
Available nationally through leading independent retailers, it comes in a 700ml bottle for $55 or a 50ml size for $8.
Espresso Cinnamon-tini
Rich, spiced and velvety, this is what happens when an espresso martini raids a doughnut van and comes back wearing cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
60ml Real McCoy Cinnamon Doughnut
60ml fresh espresso
15ml Vok Coffee Liqueur
3 coffee beans, to garnish
Method
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add Real McCoy Cinnamon Doughnut, coffee liqueur and fresh espresso. Shake hard until the mixture is cold and foamy. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with three coffee beans.
Serve immediately, preferably with the confidence of someone who has never once checked their step count.
