Ye Olde Ink Link

Gabriel Leif Brilman

After a trip to Coney Island, tattoo artist "Philadelphia" Eddie Funk recounts: "I wanted a skull and crossbones like the pirate flag!" Drinking, sex and body art ("stewed, screwed and tattooed") are the muses of Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry, a documentary featuring artists like Funk and Ed Hardy recounting tales of the infamous "F**in' Sailor Jerry." Based on a recipe fond in his belongings after his death, the company that produces the rum founded around Norman Keith Collins (better known as Sailor Jerry) sponsored public summer screenings of the Erich Weiss film in NYC, SF, LA, Austin and Portlans (the five golden rings of US cities). Other than the obvious (sell rum), why get his name back out there?

TOTC 2010- William Grant & Sons House Party

Tales of the cocktail is in full swing this week, and the william grant & sons house party saw over 800 attendees last night! here’s a look at some of the fun:

Spice It Up

If you infuse high-proof vodka with spices and call it gin, trendy mixologists will beat a path to your door. Do the same with rum, and they usually beat a path to the exit. Truth be told, the Caribbean compatriots of rum and spice have been mixed together in hot drinks and punches since at least the late 17th century. And the combination has been a bar staple since the creation of Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum in 1983. It is currently the third best-selling spirits brand in America.

Now a bounty of new spiced rums are adding diversity to this suddenly booming category. Rather than cola or ginger ale, we’d suggest enjoying them neat or with your favorite tonic. After all, at their best these complex spirits are the closest rum comes to being gin.

Sailor Jerry Spiced Navy Rum ($18)

This amber rum, with big aromas of caramel and crème brûlée, pays homage to tattoo artist Norman Collins, A.K.A. Sailor Jerry. It’s rich and creamy on the palate, with a complex sweetness of maple syrup and molasses and a hit of cinnamon on the finish.

The Ticker

William Grant & Sons, maker of Sailor Jerry Rum, commemorated Norman (“Sailor Jerry”) Collins with screenings of Hori Smoku, a documentary about the legendary tattoo artist who opened several tattoo shops in Hawaii and died in 1973. “His best phrase was ‘Good work ain’t cheap, and cheap work ain’t good,’ ” says Erich Weiss, the film’s director…

Free 'Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry’ screening at Laemmle Sunset 5

Hanging out at Hollywood pool parties is one way of getting an eyeful of tattoos, but you’ll get more ink per minute at the screening of the feature-length documentary “Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry.”

Appetite: Celebrating Sailor Jerry, Tattooist and Rum
     
 
What do tatooing and rum have to with each other? Well, there's a rum named after one of the most legendary tattoo artists of all time, Sailor Jerry. It's his own personal recipe, distilled in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is truly a beaut. Bracingly strong at 92 proof, it's got a spiced, caramel burn that goes down smooth on its own as it does in a cocktail (Dark & Stormy, anyone?) It lingers pleasantly while also delivering a punch. Kind of like the colorful Jerry himself?