A gentleman's guide to life's more refined vices. Rum, whiskey and cigar reviews.

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New Delhi, May 10: Havana Club rum and the Havana cigar have long been the bridge between revolutionary fervour and gentlemanly refinement. Now they are going to drive contact between India and Cuba.

Cuba’s post-Fidel Castro government wants the Havana Club rum bottled in India for the first time, and is sending a team to talk about it — perhaps over a few bottles of the liquid. If the deal is done, Indians can hope for cheaper Cuban rum. The 19-member Cuban mission, which arrives on May 17 on an 11-day visit, will also be trying to push India’s import of the famed Havana cigar, which at well over Rs 1,000 a stick is becoming a craze in Indian high society.

Although business is high on the agenda of the team — headed by the deputy minister for foreign trade, Eduardo Escandell Amador — no memorandum of understanding is likely to be signed with the Indian government. Amador will be calling on commerce minister Kamal Nath, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and junior foreign minister Anand Sharma, but it’s the Indian private sector he is interested in.

“Now the Havana Club rum will be bottled from India and it’s going to be one among the many important developments of this visit,” Nidia Banos Ojeda, the first secretary (trade, economic and scientific co-operation) at the Cuban embassy, told The Telegraph.

Rum From Seven Fathoms Deep

Seven Fathoms is a new small batch premium rum from George Town, Grand Cayman. It is made entirely from locally grown and pressed sugar cane. It is also the first distilled spirit made locally in the Cayman Islands and will not initially be available anywhere else.

What makes this rum so special is the unique aging process that takes place underwater, seven fathoms deep to be exact (12.8 meters, 42 feet). This aging technique has previously been used to age wines, but this is the first time that rum has been aged in this fashion.

“By aging our spirits underwater, we are able to take advantage of the kinetic properties of the ocean tides and currents to create a very unique flavour profile and a remarkably smooth rum”

The specially designed oak barrels are sealed and submerged in the caring touch of the ocean where the barrels rest until the ideal balance of oak characteristics has been achieved. In contrast to traditional aging techniques, the underwater aging process is accelerated by the tides and waves, making it possible for the rum to take on characteristics of much older rums.

April 1, 2008; Kingston, Jamaica. Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum has introduced a limited edition 30 year old rum.

Only 1,440 bottles of Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Jamaica Rum has been produced, and according to David McConnell, Managing Director of Global Marketing for Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, this limited edition rum will be available in select markets across the globe.

“Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Jamaica Rum is a very rare and special rum that has been aged in oak casks for 30 years. It is a limited edition product and we are only producing 1,440 bottles which we will release in select markets across the globe where it will be available in duty free and luxury or boutique accounts.”

Renegade Rum Company

You may recall reading a news article about Renegade Rums some time ago. I have now received more information about these rums, including tasting notes that are at the end of this news article.

As said in the previous news article, Renegade Rum is a brand created by the independend bottler, Murray McDavid who over three years ago decided to venture into the world of rum. They tracked down casks from a select group of single distilleries from the Caribbean and the Americas, some of which have either closed down or changed production location.

Renegade Rum combines single distillery rum provenance, with their innovative cask expertise. These rums are originally matured in American oak casks and then additionally matured in exceptional quality wine, madeira or port casks for extra complexity and texture.

These vintage aged limited edition rums are bottled naturally without chill-filtration - to retain natural cask flavours - at the Bruichladdich Distillery and reduced to 46% strength with Isle of Islay spring water. Renegade Rums are for the true spirit connoisseurs and intended to be savoured on their own.

Read more to discover the tasting notes of each Renegade Rum (Please note that these tasting notes are not by me).

The Polished Palate International Rum Festival 2008 is over and the results of the 2008 3rd annual rum competition results are published. The competition took place in Ybor City, Tampa Florida at the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn.

A total of 148 sugar-cane based spirits were judged at this event including various Temptryst rums from Au Natural Spirits which won many awards in many different categories. You should definitely check out these rums when they become available on the market. Congratulations on your success Mr. Watson!

Temptryst gold winners:

Temptryst Lemon Wood Rum
Temptryst Reserve Rum
Temptryst Sugar Cane Matured Rum
Temptryst Applewood Aged Rum
Temptryst Hickory Aged Rum

Click read more to check out the rest of the results of the Polished Palate 2008 3rd annual rum competition.

Ardbeg 1974 Double Barrel

Ardbeg presents a truly innovative and luxurious creation of single cask bottlings – Ardbeg ‘Double Barrel’. Inspired by the tradition of a shooting party, Ardbeg have created a ‘Double Barrel’ guncase, crafted by a traditional guncase maker.

Only 250 of these exquisite cases exist anywhere in the world - The ultimate in luxury for the ultimate Islay Malt. It can be yours for a mere £7,500 - £10,000 at the Ardbeg online shop or Whisky Exchange. A true collectors item.

Click read more to see what the Ardbeg Double Barrel case contains!

Miami, FL - Introducing Camacho Cigar’s Camacho Corojo 10th Anniversary cigar selection - a smooth, creamy blend created by Christian Eiroa as a follow-up to his highly-rated Camacho Triple Maduro cigars selection. This box-pressed anniversary cigar commemorates the Eiroa Family’s 10 years of growing the world’s only Authentic Corojo Seed tobacco. Due for release in March 2008, these special, medium to full-bodied cigars blended with an all Honduran-grown Corojo-seed filler, binder and wrapper recipe, are in the process of receiving some extra aging.

The Camacho Corojo 10th Anniversary is presented in 21 count boxes and will be available in the following four sizes: 50 x 4.5, Torpedo, 11/18, and 60 x 6.

Source: Camacho Cigars.

I would recommend reading a review of Camacho 10th Anniversary cigar at Cigar Jack's Cigar Reviews. They also have an ongoing contest where all the participants have a chance of winning Camacho 10th Anniversary cigars!

Talk about Camacho at the forums.

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