Ed Hamilton
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Posts posted by Ed Hamilton
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I agree with you LindyCat, Barbancourt White is a little tough to mix in the usual rum cocktail. The high-ester finish gets in the way of the body and aroma. I should be noted that although Barbancourt Rhum is spelled with an H, that this wouldn't qualify as rhum agricole since it isn't made entirely from fresh sugar cane juice, but rather sugar cane syrup, it is also distilled to more than 72% alcohol, but it does have some of the floral characteristics of the French agricole rhums.
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Danny, there is a Club Havana that is imported to Miami. That rum was bottled in Grenada but I haven't heard how much damage that facility sustained from hurricane Ivan.
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In the Dominican Republic some of the older rums are bottled at 38% alc, and I've seen some Cuban rums bottled at the lower proof as well.
As for shipping to the US, several retail stores will ship to you and sometimes you will get what you ordered. The problem isn't that the stores won't ship, it is that US customs prohibits alcohol from being shipped to you unless you have a federal basic import permit. Additionally the US still maintains an embargo against certain Cuban products, though I've seen Cuban cigars being smoked freely in Washington DC.
Prior to 9/11, it wasn't uncommon for rum shipments from Germany to get through the mail inspections, but that has changed.
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To me this rum seems to occupy an odd place where it is too distictive for mixing, yet a little too unrefined for sipping.
Other opinions?
Having drunk St James in Martinique for many years, I was surprised when I tried a bottle of the Ambre in the states, I couldn't find any rhum blanc. Then I discovered that that rhum is bottled in France in 750ml bottles and then shipped to the US, which explained, in part, why this rhum is different from what I enjoyed in the islands.
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Starr Africa rum is apparently disitlled in Mauritius from molasees produced at the largest sugar factory on the island. I'm told that this clear rum is actually a blend of aged rums. The bottles come from South Africa and are fillled in Mauritius. I've yet to taste this rum though I have tasted some Green Island rum from the same distillery.
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Twenty years ago I had some rum from Thailand and it was memorable, but not something that I'd pursue. The Philippines on the other hand, make some great rums and a lot of it. I have a couple of people tell me in the last year that they were the importer of Tanduay from the Philippines, but I haven't seen it on the shelf yet.
And since Dan admits to looking for some other rums to import, if you have been looking for some One Barrel Rum from Belize contact him. He's a little shy.
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Good point Garcia, anyone who hasn't been confused from time to time while drinking rum, well, he probably hasn't been drinking rum.
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While I appreciate that you would like the distiller's to adopt your rules as law, that just isn't going to happen. On the other hand, understanding the labeling, and how it differs from, for example, the european whisky industry, is your best chance of knowing what's in the bottle. But as I've written many times, the proof is in the glass and not the label.
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Sherry isn't an uncommon additive to rums, but I don't have personal experience of any of the commercial distillers using honey as a additive. Sugar cane syrup is not uncommon, especially in spiced rums.
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While the name Single-Barrel may sound like the rum was aged in a Single Barrel, Cruzan takes a different approach to the name. Their Single-Barrel Rum is actually a blend of aged rums put into another barrel and aged an additional year or more until this blend reaches the peak of maturity and is then bottled as Cruzan Single Barrel Rum.
In the whisky industry, distillers talk about blended products which are blends from several distilleries. In the rum industry almost all aged products are blends of aged rum from the same distillery, there is a distinct lack of cooperation between rum distillers compared to that in the whisky industry.
Even rums labeled a 5 year-old, for example, are commonly blends of rums aged at least 5 years in accordance with federal labeling requirements.
Rums are also blended from several barrels containing different products taken from different product taps on a column still. These higher ester products are commonly aged and then added to flavor the lighter aged rum that makes up the bulk of the blend.
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Pusser's naval rum is made in pot stills, but they neglect to mention how many times the distillate is run through their stills. Reading their website it mentions
"Our old wooden stills are not efficient; to the contrary, they are very inefficient. They operate at about 67%, which greatly increases the cost of distillation. "
This to me implies that their rum is double distilled. However it also mentions being made of a "blend of five west indian rums", so it may simply be a mix of continuous rum and double distilled rum like Mount Gay Extra Old. Inner Circle rum from Australia also seems to fall in this grey area as well.
Pusser's is a blend of rums distilled in some modern stills and in some pot stills, but the bulk of that rum is made in multi-column stills. I can't tell you the five stills, but if you look closely at the label you'll probably wonder where some of that rum comes from.
Westerhall Strong Rum from Grenada is made in pot stills, and if neither blended or triple distilled and watered down (the website is a bit unhelpful on this) it would be a straight double-distilled overproof rum.This rum is also probably distilled in a multi-column still since the pot still at Westerhall has been under repair for some time. A close look at the label will reveal that this rum is bottled on Grenada without reference to where it was distilled.
It should be noted that although the term 'pot still' tends to lend a romantic air to a spirit, a single column still, in the hands of a skillful operator, can produce a spirit with many of the attributes found in a spirit distilled in a pot still. In reality, I have a few rums which have fooled some very well-known spirits experts as to their origins.
On the other hand, it is much more difficult to distill a spirit twice in a pot still and attain the attributes found in a spirit distilled in a two-column still.
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Over the last year I've heard about Barrilito 5 star rum. I'd never seen or drank this rum, but it wasn't until last week while at the Barrilito facility that I was able to ask Manuel Fernandez about a limited edition 5 star rum. From the horse's mouth, "We've never made a 5 star rum." Coming from one of the owner's of the company, I believe Barrilito never made such a rum, but understand that after a few drinks it's possible to see 5 stars instead of 3 star on the label. Cheers.
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We're talking about two different rhums. The Clement white rum I found was at the Flatiron Lounge on 18th Street. The Clement Rhum Vieux you found in France could well have been bottled in Martinique and depending on the year can be a good aged rhum agricole. But don't get your hopes up for their white rhum.
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Prichard's also makes a great white rum that is definitely worth trying if you get the chance.
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Without having a bottle of each of these popular Puerto Rican rums in front of me, I will tell you that there is little difference between them. A number of Puerto Rican rum brands have been bought by the last two remaining distilleries and a number of white rums are bottled under different labels.
You may find slight differences but they are both molasses based rums from the same distillery and both are supposed to be aged at least one year before they are bottled. The difference you may find is that one of these rums will have a slightly more floral or citrus nose than the other, but it will hard to discern.
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A few months ago, I read a press release that Clement was importing their white rhum agricole to the US. Last week I ran across a bottle of this rhum in New York.
I was surprised that it was bottled at only 80 proof, almost every white rhum agricole in Martinique is bottled at 100 proof, and it didn't taste anything like the Clement I've enjoyed in Martinique. This rhum is contract distilled at the Simon distillery in Martinique and presumably bottled in Martinique in 750 ml bottles for the US market.
I'm encouraged that Clement is working to bring rhum agricole to the US, and look forward to tasting this rhum at 100 proof as it is bottled in the French West Indies.
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Ed - there was a tasting in Astor Wines and Liquors, and it's sold there for $29.99. It's appearing in many bars/lounges in the East Village too. The guy told me that it was made from molasses, and claimed that you'd given it rave reviews!
Interesting that I'd never heard of it before I read this post. I'll be talking to Astor about rhum agricole soon and will be interested to hear about my rave reviews. Since as a rum-drinking sailor the only I have to sell is my crediblity, I wonder if they have my rave reviews in writing. Don't believe everything you hear.
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Navy Rum, as we know it, is very different from what was served on board 17 and 18th century naval ships. Pusser's is pretty close to what was being served on board in the early part of the last century but previously the rum wasn't aged as long, nor was it distilled as carefully as what is bottled today.
To put it in perspective, 17th century navies were one step above slavery or prison and in the West Indies the death rate was nearly 50%, not due to the sporadic battles with the French and Spanish, but due to tropical diseases which decimated the white Europeans who lived and worked in the islands. The navy rum was never meant to be a top shelf product but more to keep the men's mind off the immediate task of survival. It's ironic that people will spend hard earned money for what is touted as Navy Rum, but the real irony will be when someone opens a Las Vegas or New York restaurant and charges $50 a plate for Army food rations.
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Interesting that there is no mention whether this is a molasses-based or sugar-cane juice-based product. I've had a couple of other rums from Mauritius and wouldn't have expected something from that region to be highly refined.
I tend to ignore monikers like ultra-premium, but will look for it. Where did you find it in New York?
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Here's the rum list to date, there will be more.
Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum
Cruzan Estate Diamond Rum
Cruzan Coconut Rum
Cruzan Estate Dark Rum
Cruzan Vanilla Rum
Cruzan Pineapple Rum
Cruzan Mango Rum
Cruzan Banana Rum
Cruzan Rum Cream
Cruzan Blackstrap Molasses
Flor de Cana 4 YO Limon
Flor de Cana 4 Year Old Extra Dry
Flor de Cana 4 YO Gold
Flor de Cana 5 YO Black Label
Flor de Cana 7 Year Old Grand Reserve
Flor de Cana 12 YO Centenario
Flor de Cana 18 YO Centenario Gold
Flor de Cana Limited Edition Centenario 21
La Favorite Rhum Agricole Blanc Coeur de Canne
La Favorite Rhum Agricole Ambre
La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux
Niesson Rhum Agricole Blanc
Niesson Rhum Agricole Eleve Sous Bois
Niesson Rhum Agricole Vieux Reserve Speciale
Noa Noa
Prichards Fine Rum
Prichard’s Cranberry Rum
Prichard’s Crystal Rum
Prichard’s Sweet Georgia Belle Liqueur
Ron Botran White Rum
Ron Botran Oro (Gold) Rum
Ron Botran Anejo 8 YO Rum
Ron Botran Anejo 12 YO Rum
Ron Botran Solera Reserve Rum
Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Year Old Rum
Ron Zacapa Centenario X.O. 25 Old Rum
See you Friday,
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I look forward to finding a bottle of this new rum from Havana Club. I'm suprised that they would tout this as cask strength with only 45% alcohol. I don't know of any other rum that's aged at only 45% alcohol. And I know they age their other rums at a higher proof, so have they put these barrels aside at a lower strength? A lower alcohol strength in the aging process generally yields a better rum, so I look forward to tasting this one.
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Cockspur VSOR bottled in Barbados is very nice rum, but I can't share the same opinion of the blend bottled in the US.
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I'm a little confused by the article because Société Martiniquaise owns St James now. The Martiniquaise, as they are known in Martinique also owns J. M. Now the only two family owned distilleries are La Favorite and Neisson.
If you like the St James Ambre, you should try the La Favorite Ambre or, better yet, Neisson Eleve Sous Bois.
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There's a list of my favorite rums on my website, take a look at the menu on the left side of the page.
First Sip of Cuban Rum
in Spirits & Cocktails
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I'll second the comments on Varadero rum. I've only drunk a couple of bottles of this rum but was consistently unimpressed.