Rum Ruminations

Next Wednesday's rum tasting...

@YakLord What are the details for the two Valinch & Mallet bottles?

@YakLord Please report back on the results of your rum tasting.

@fiddich1980 Saint Catherine 14yr Cask Strength Single Cask (Jamaica, so also Worthy Park), and Diamond 17yr Column Still Cask Strength Single Cask (Guyana, so also Demerara Distillers Ltd.)

@YakLord a really solid and varied line-up.

@MRick Will do!

@cricklewood It certainly was! Interesting as it was primarily whisky drinkers with little exposure to rum. The Barbancourt was definitely the lightest of the rums, and a good one to start with. It's just under $50 CAD, and had people wondering why they'd been drinking other rums, and things improved from there.

The Foursquare Premise was complex, but still enjoyable. Of the two Worthy Park rums, the V&M was the better of the two, but the Single Estate Reserve was still quite good. The two DDL rums were both fantastic, but hard to do a direct comparison because they came off of different stills.

@YakLord Thanks for the comment. I saw $50 CAD and though "Does the LCBO carry that? I wonder where he got it"? A quick LCBO rum search didn't turn up any Barbancourt or Worthy Park...BUT a name search did show those rums. I ordered one of each.

@OdysseusUnbound Their site is so broken when it come to searches...

The SAQ has the full Barbancourt lineup ( minus the 15 year-old), and the 8 year-old is slightly cheaper in Quebec, but not much.

Black Tot Rum a blend of Carribean rums. The disclosure of the blend components can be found a their website. It is a blend where each component contributes to the overall quality of the experience.

El Presidente...

• 2oz El Dorado 12 year-old

• 1oz Cointreau

• 1oz Lillet Blanc

• 1tsp Grenadine

• a dash each Orange Bitters and Angostura Bitters

• garnish with a Blood Orange Twist and a Cocktail Cherry

Two excellent blended rums:

The 50th is a very well executed Caribbean blend.

The 2021 is a flavour trip in both flavour profile and textual mouth feel.

Daiquiri with Welsh White Rum and Violet Syrup...

The white rum is from this taster pack from Anglesey Rum Co.

Florida Daiquiri (a slightly sweeter version of the Hemingway)...

Fire Island Rocket Fuel... it's like a Pina Colada with amaretto and a float of Goslings 151 Proof. One is more than enough.

Queen's Park Hotel Super Cocktail:

1.5oz amber rum (El Dorado 12 year-old), 0.5oz sweet vermouth, 0.5oz lime juice (or a lime-forward Falernum), 0.5oz grenadine, dash of lime bitters, garnish with a lime wheel.

The last of my El Dorado 12 year-old with Eggnog, over ice... 'tis the season...

@YakLord does the rum make the eggnog palatable?

I’m not a big fan. The only time I ever really liked. It was when I made it myself. And if I recall correctly, that had rum in it.

@Nozinan I don't mind eggnog, even without the rum. Haven't tried making it myself, but most of the recipes I've seen include rum or brandy.

@YakLord @Nozinan I include rum, brandy, and bourbon in my homemade nog. It’s fantastic !

More eggnog! This time with a Spiced Rum from the Anglesey Rum Co., in Wales.

I make my egg nog as well. Use rum and bourbon. I found an old recipe in a book for a Baltimore Egg Nog. The great thing about it is you make it by the glass, not the punchbowl. I played with the recipe until I got a nog that does not taste like a creamy lighter fluid (which is how pre-made egg nogs that contain alcohol taste IMO). It has become a favorite with guests and it will sneak up on you if you are not careful.

Our New Year's Eve cocktail was the Pallid Carcosa, from Mike Slater's 'Lovecraft Cocktails'. It's a riff on the Pina Colada(?), but can be made into a Mocktail by dropping the rum & using frozen peach slices in place of the Peach Moonshine...

Just opened a Pussers Deptford Dockyard Reserve Limited Edition Rum @54.5%.

Very nice, on first acquaintance. Rum raisin fudge (but top quality), banana flambe and dark treacle toffee loom heavy with some lighter, more fragrant notes like mild lemon grass or lime leaf. Less dried fruit than the regular Gunpowder version, I'd say. Goes a little 'fizzy' and sherberty on the palate, which wasn't expected, with touches of cola.

My kind of rum, it must be said. And at 54.5%, it's very sippable; I feel no urge to add water. On the contrary, I suspect it would break down easily. Good for this belly ache too, one hopes!

Finish gets a little 'over burnt treacle' at times, but it fades as you sip. Nice to have a sipping rum again. I suspect a rum aficionado would enjoy picking out the different regions in the blend ...

And a much belated happy 2024 to everyone! Cheers

This afternoon's rum tasting: a mostly Plantation line-up. The O.F.T.D. is a blend of Guyanese (DDL Diamond Estate), Jamaican (Long Pond), and Bajan (West Indies Rum Distillery) rums, so it was interesting to try and identify the various components in the nose, palate, and finish. The Barbados Single Cask Maury Wine Cask was interesting, but the finish sort of buried most of the Bajan character.

@YakLord The initials on OFTD are appropriate. I love the nose especially. This one is great in banana flambees.

@Nozinan I need to try it head-to-head with the Gosling's 151...

@YakLord have you tried Lemon Hart 151? Powerful stuff. And delicious!

@Nozinan I have not. Haven't ever seen it available at the SAQ or LCBO.