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Written by Jeffrey Hixon (KrustyKrab)
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Sunday, 02 March 2008 |
 During the February school vacation here in Massachusetts our family took an eastern Caribbean cruise, with stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico, St Thomas, La Romana, Dominican Republic and Grand Turk. This was to be a great opportunity to relax as a family and also visit some of the great rum producing areas of the Caribbean. I knew that the Bacardi distillery was near San Juan so I checked into visiting the facility. I am a big fan of rum, but not a big fan of the Bacardi line of rums but I figured it would be fun to see the mega-facility anyway and it would be better than anything else I could do in San Juan, aside from shop for other local rums, which I should be able to do on my way back to the ship anyway! Unfortunately we were going to be docked in Old San Juan at night and the distillery visiting hours were only until 5PM. I was a bit disappointed but then received the list of tours offered by the cruise line and alas, there was a private after hour’s tour of the distillery. It was a bit pricey but after looking at the limited options offered for San Juan (tour of Old San Juan, or shopping tour) I decided I should do it, especially since I never made it to the distillery in Nassau on last years’ vacation. My wife and daughter had no interest in going, so I signed up alone. |
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Written by Dood
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
Short & Sweet: A Tour Of The Pyrat Rum Factory  During my most recent trip to the Caribbean, I had the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while: get an inside look at rum making in the islands. The island of Anguilla lies just to the north of the French-Dutch island of St. Martin/St. Maarten, accessible by ferry from the French town of Marigot. The island is British territory, roughly 16 miles (25 km) long and 3 miles (just under 5 km) wide at its widest point. It boasts 33 white, sandy beaches and a peaceful island atmosphere for its 12,000 residents and many visitors. The island is also home to the Anguilla Rums Ltd. Located just to the east of Sandy Ground (on the northwestern side of the island) is a small, yellow building with brown shudders and a blue sign containing the image of a single bottle of Pyrat XO Reserve rum. This is the home of Anguilla Rums Ltd., makers of Pyrat Rum. Like many rum manufacturers, Anguilla Rums allows for tours of their facility – provided you have an appointment. Visitors are allowed in to the tasting room any time, but if you have the desire to see a few details of how their operation works, you need to call ahead. I setup our appointment about a week prior to our arrival with no trouble whatsoever. Getting ThereComing from St. Maarten, my party and I took a taxi from Philipsburg, on the Dutch side of the island, to Marigot, on the French side. The cab ride was about 30 minutes or so.
Once we arrived in Marigot, we purchased tickets for the ferry to Anguilla. The ferry ticket costs $12US, in addition to a $5US departure tax. With tickets in-hand, we boarded the small ferry and were whisked off to Anguilla. The trip took about 25 minutes, and ferries run all day at a rate of roughly one ferry per hour.
We landed at Blowing Point, on the south side of Anguilla and made our way through Customs. We rented a car for $30US, plus $5US for insurance and another $25US for a temporary driver’s license and then proceeded northward to the factory. |
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