Preheat oven to 450. Line a large baking sheet with foil, then place a wire baking rack inside.

Pat the chicken wings dry, then place them into a large bowl. Drizzle about 2 to 3 tablespoons of avocado oil all over the wings and massage each piece. They should not be dripping in oil, just thinly coated enough to help them “fry” in the oven.

Season the chicken evenly with just flaky kosher salt — anything else will burn! Place each chicken wing on the baking rack in an even layer. Roast the wings on the middle rack of your oven for 40 to 50 minutes (it’ll depend on how crispy you want them) until golden brown all over.

Meanwhile, add the cola, brown sugar, ketchup, yellow mustard, worcestershire sauce, vanilla extract, liquid smoke, soy sauce, cinnamon, granulated garlic, granulated onion, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, and 2 ounces of the rum to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir everything together until the sugar is dissolved, and bring to a manageable boil. You wanna let this stuff reduce by about half, and it will take anywhere from 15-22 minutes.

When the mixture has visibly thickened and has become syrupy (like the consistency of real maple syrup, not that Mrs. Buttersworth mess), it’s ready. Reduce the heat to LOW. Taste the glaze and adjust the seasoning as you need to (I used more of every seasoning I listed, but I wanted to give you starting-point measurements so that you can adjust everything to your liking). If you want to add more heat, do that. When it’s perfect, turn off the heat then pour in the last ounce of rum, and whisk in the cold butter and vinegar. Taste it again, adjust if necessary. Cover it and set it aside. I had exactly 1 and 1/4 cup of glaze when it was all said and done.

When the wings are done, place them into a large clean bowl and toss them with just a third of the glaze. You can either pop them under the broiler for about 2 to 3 minutes or until they develop a nice spotty char, or you can skip the broiler and just eat them as they are, dipping them into more glaze as you please. Save any leftover glaze for another application, it will keep in your fridge for several days.

Enjoy!