Last Friday I decided to check out Cushdy, one of Adelaide’s premier cocktail lounges owned and operated by Shaun Pattison on Hindley street since 2008. Cushdy is also the home of the Adelaide Rum Club that had its first rum tasting in 2009 with Flor de Caña rum.
This time the rum in question was a little bit closer home than Nicaragua and is an interesting blend of rums produced in Australia at the Beenleigh distillery and the other half coming from Fiji.
Originally Inner Circle Rum was produced by the Colonial Sugar Refinery for its employees, or for the so called Inner Circle, back in the 70s until 1986 when sadly the distillery closed down.
After a break of nearly two decades Stuart Gilbert, a former Olympic Yachtsman and 8 times World Champion Windsurfer and more importantly a rum enthusiast, acquired the trademark for the brand and in 2002 re-launched the iconic Inner Circle Rum in Australia with the help of CSR’s former Master Distiller Malcolm Campbell.
Rather than choosing continuous distilling, Inner Circle Rum is produced using the more traditional Copper Pot stills that produce a heavier, more aromatic and flavoursome distillate. The spirit is distilled up to 80% abv and then set to rest in vats for up to 6 years in Australia and 2 years in Fiji and then cut down with water to the appropriate abv of 37.0% for Red Dot, 57.2% for Green Dot and 75.9% for the Black Dot.
Arriving at the rum tasting room at Cushdy we were offered an old fashioned cocktail made by Shaun Pattison with Inner Circle Rum. Before tasting the three rums we were introduced to Chris Illman of Vok Beverages and listened to his informative and inspiring story of how Inner Circle Rum came to be.
After the presentation we were offered to taste the Red Dot, Green Dot and the Black Dot rums while Chris was walking around in the room engaging in conversation and getting our opinions of the rums.
For me the over proof Green Dot or the cask strength Black Dot hits the spot every time as I find the flavours and aromas are more pronounced than in the Red Dot, though I'd still consider it a good sipper.
If you're visiting Australia or lucky enough to live in Australia I definitely recommend giving these rums a go if you haven't already.
Check out the Inner Circle Rum Masterclass photographs on our Facebook page. Like and share!
