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Friday, 08 August 2008 |
 "What the cripes was that ungodly screech?" Asked an old American sergeant after hearing the bloodcurling howl made by the commanding officer of the first detachment visiting Newfoundland during World War II. "The screech?" 'Tis the rum, me son" said the host who offered a drop of rum to the commanding officer after dinner. So strong was the rum it would make whoever drank it to release an ungodly screech. A legend was born and the rum was labelled Famous Newfoundland Screech Rum. The soul warming qualities of the early version of this rum were appreciated by the early Newfoundland fishermen who traded salt fish for Jamaican rum in the West Indies. According to legend this is why the national dish of Jamaica is salt fish and the rum is the traditional drink of Newfoundlanders. The recipe of Screech rum has changed from those days, mainly the alcohol volume has been lowered and the flavours mellowed making it more palatable for todays consumers. I've heard many horror stories about this rum and I've also read some bad rum reviews which really do not make this rum sound very appealing. I acquired this bottle from my cousin living in Canada who also screeches at this rum. He wanted me to have this because of its limited availability - Screech rum is available in most of Canada and in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont states of United States.
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Sunday, 27 July 2008 |
 Today is plantation weather. For the past couple of evenings after the hot sun has set behind the trees giving the garden a break from the scorching heat of the day, I find myself having nothing better to do than to sit quietly on my porch sipping rum and reading Wayne Curtis' latest book. As the day seems almost still with only a slight breeze rustling the leaves I've found the perfect moment to write this rum review. Plantation Rum Barbados Grande Reserve is another Plantation Rum with no vintage date on the label and no age mention and instead of the normal map on the label there seems to be a warehouse and a docking bay. But like all Plantation Rums this one also has the signature straw wrapped around the bottle. No change in that. |
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Tuesday, 15 July 2008 |
 Continuing with the Mahiki Rum reviews, next in line is the Mahiki Gold Rum which is a significantly different rum to Mahiki White Rum. Thank you again for sending me the samples!
Mahiki Gold Rum is a blend of rums aged for a minimum of five years in Madeira and Bourbon casks. The blend is predominantly from Bourbon casks with the remaining 10% or so of the rum used in the blend from Madeira casks. The rums spend some additional time marrying in a tank but it is unknown exactly how long this process takes. Like the white rum, this one also uses pot and column distilled rums.
The bottle for the Gold Rum is exactly the same as the bottle for the White Rum, only the contents and the pamphlet are different.
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
 Inspired by his passion for rum and rum based cocktails, Julien 'Papa Jules' Gualdoni went on a six month journey to create the perfect blend for his new premium rum line working closely together with Richard Seale, a Barbados based distiller and blender. Eight months later on June 19, 2008, the Mahiki Rum was officially launched at the famous Mayfair Mahiki club, a London based tiki-themed rum bar managed by Papa Jules. Currently, the availability of Mahiki Rums is limited as they are exclusively available only at Selfridge’s stores in London until September 2008. After this Mahiki Rums will be available in other stores located in the UK and sometime in 2009 it has been planned to begin sales in the US. Fortunately, I have been granted the opportunity to review these exclusive rums, for which I must say thank you Mahiki. Mahiki Rums have been distilled, blended and bottled by the Bajan Foursquare Rum Distillery, currently under the ownership of R.L. Seale & Co Ltd, the third largest bottler in Barbados. Mahiki White Rum has been aged for around two years in bourbon barrels, consisting of a blend of pot- and column distilled rums. Using lighter column distilled rums with the heavier pot distilled rums, ensure the purity of the rum. |
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Wednesday, 02 July 2008 |
 The history of Appleton Estate dates back to 1655, the year when England captured Jamaica from Spain, but the first known record of rum production at the Estate is dated 1749. It was during the British Empire when they discovered that rum that had spent a long time at sea, stored in wooden barrels, became smoother and more flavourful. Appleton Estate rums are crafted using the traditional column still method and 'small batch' pot distillation method, which produces more flavourful rum than a column still. The rums are aged in 40 gallon (151.4 litres) oak barrels and are carefully hand-blended by the Master Blender, Joy Spence, who also has each barrel checked individually before blending to ensure the quality of the rum. The approved blend is placed in a vat to 'marry,' which means that while marrying, the flavours of the rums meld together in the vat, producing fuller and more rounded rum. Once Joy Spence is happy with the blend, it is certified for bottling. The Appleton Estate rum range includes: Appleton Estate V/X, Appleton Estate Reserve, Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Old, Appleton Estate Master Blender's Legacy, Appleton Estate 21 Year Old, Appleton Estate 250th Anniversary and Appleton Estate 30 Year Old rum. The last two are extremely limited editions and very difficult to find. The 30 Year Old 1440 bottle limited edition rum has not been released yet, however. |
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Monday, 02 June 2008 |
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 I’ve always been intrigued by the Plantation rums. It is the multitude and the different styles the rums offer, each of the rums capturing the typical style for the island it is made on. The full line of these rums would not only look great on the shelf of a collector but they’d offer a welcome variety of styles for any rum aficionado. This is something I hope to achieve one day, one bottle at a time.
Plantation Rums are produced by Cognac Ferrand who currently offers around 10 different Plantation Rums, all of them bought from distillers around the Caribbean islands and then blended and bottled under the Plantation name by Cognac Ferrand. The rums are produced in pot- and continuous stills and aged in small oak casks previously used for bourbon, cognac or sherry. In which casks each of the Plantation Rums are aged is left for me to guess because there is no mention about the casks on the official website or on the labels of the bottles. The Plantation Rum bottles can be recognized from the straw wrapped around each bottle and the labels on the bottles distinguish the island of origin. Most of the rums in the Plantation series are vintage rums which means that these products are constantly changing so if you find a vintage you like, grab a few bottles because they might not last very long. The only bottles in this series that I know not to have any vintage dates on them are Plantation Rum Barbados Grande Reserve and Plantation Rum Jamaica 8 Year Old, which I am reviewing today. |
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Wednesday, 21 May 2008 |
 When I bought this rum in Spain I didn't know anything about it and previously I had only seen some advertisement for the rum so the image of the chieftain in the label was somewhat familiar. I had already bought several rums from Spain but I decided I needed one more for "research" purposes that is rum reviewing, so I picked up Cacique 500 Ron Extra Añejo because it stood out from all the generic Captain Morgan bottles. I didn't know what to expect from this rum but little did I know I was in for a treat. Cacique rums are produced by Licoreras Unidas S.A. which is located in La Miel, Lara State, Venezuela. The facility produces more than 3.5 million cases a year and all the rum brands made by Licoreras Unidas have been awarded the coveted ISO 9000 international quality certification. All Cacique rums are a blend of different rums in different proportions. Before blending the first aging phase is done in white oak barrels. Cacique 500 Ron Extra Añejo was launched in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the New World. This rum is produced exclusively at Hacienda Saruro, in Lara State, Venezuela, where the purest spring water and fertile cane plantations ensure the availability of the best ingredients. Cacique 500 is artisanal rum made of molasses, distilled in old copper stills and aged up to 8 years in carefully selected oak barrels. After the aging the master distiller tastes the final result of each barrel reserving only the best for Cacique 500. |
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