A leap into the unknown

Tomorrow is 29th February, a rare phenomenon that winks into being only in a leap year, once every four years—and is the only day, traditionally, when a woman can ask a man to marry her. (Clearly these rules were drawn up by men.)

In honour of this Brigadoon-like occurrence, those crazy coves at Master of Malt have added a new concoction to their range of premixed, bottled cocktails. This libation, which will only be for sale for one day, 29th February 2012, is known for now simply as the Secret Leap Year Cocktail. And indeed its recipe is a secret, apparently known only to one person.

The drink will be on sale in 20cl bottles, priced at £14.95 and, as a competition, you are invited to see if you can work out what the five ingredients are. (Note that the finished blend weighs in at a hefty 44.2% ABV, so it would seem to be all spirits and bitters.) To take part you will have to buy one of these diminutive flasks tomorrow, sip and ponder, then send your answer to leapyear@masterofmalt.com before the closing date of Friday 16th 2012. The winner will have the honour of naming the production version of this cocktail when it is released in a full-sized 70cl bottle later in the year, and you’ll also receive a set of 20cl bottles of each of the cocktails in the current range: Manhattan, Martini, Old Fashioned, Negroni, Rob Roy, “The World’s Best Cocktail” (i.e. a Sazerac, but they’re not allowed to call it that) and the brand new Martinez.

More details at the Master of Malt website.