Ed Hamilton

Steen's isn't what you are looking for. It tastes more like molasses than sugar cane syrup. I hope to be bringing some sugar cane syrup to my giftshop online after Christmas. I'm in Martinique and looking for an exporter.

Jason is right millesime just means vintage and doesn't necessarily mean that the rhum was aged since that date. I tend to avoid special vintages since most aren't aged as long as you might think.

Since rum has so many different aromas I use a straight sided glass. There is no need to concentrate the aromas. If you smell the high side of the glass and then the lower side as you tilt the glass you will notice a marked difference in the aromas.

Certainly one of the favorite standards from the Dominican Republic. Years ago the bottling facility in Puerto Plata gave tours to a few small ships and everytime the tourists came ashore the boating community lined up at the back door where the samples were served.

Welcome to the forum. Botan Solera is one of my favorites but distribution is sketchy, worth the wait. Sounds like you have found a lot of good rums and I look forward to reading more.

There are some bargains in St Thomas, but check the grocery stores as well as the numerous liquor stores. Don't feel bad about not buying the 15 yo Barbancourt, the 8 is one of my favorites but the older one doesn't seem to justify the fancy price. Don't overlook the Dominican Republic rums, Barcelo and Brugal available in St Thomas. The best selection in the islands is St Maarten but if you are looking for French Caribbean rums then you will find better prices in Martinique and Guadeloupe. And I have to agree with your comments about Estate Diamond, it is one of my favorites.

From what I know Rum nation products are private labels of rum from various countries and distilleries. I have not been able to determine where they are aged or why they tend to be more expensive than others from the region.

The rum you are referring to is slightly better by some measures than the Centenario Anejo but I'm not sure how much more money you're talking about. It is true that this is a limited edition.

Pretty nice, most people spend years going to SXM and never capture the local color of the place.

I think that pretty well sums it up. But things do change and Barbarosa's is a place where I would eat any time. Barbara was in charge of the kitchen at Seabourne for about ten years after having a place on the old ferry dock but lack of population forced her to close. Now she has her own place again and everything is as fresh or fresher than anyother place on the island. But when you consider that a fancy place on a small tourist island can't survive in the off season and that on a big weekend the whole population grows to maybe 6,000 people no one can offer the meals you'll find in San Juan or even Luquillo but you won't go hungry on Culebra.

And welcome to you maggiethecat, I didn't know you were interested in rum. I'm really going to miss the heartland crowd, but next summer or maybe in the spring.

If you're going to PR and you don't take time to get to Culebra, well you missed the boat, or rather the ferry, though you can fly there now. But the ferry is a lot more fun. Barbarosa's near the airport sure ain't fancy but consistently has some of the best food on the island.

Like every kind of spirit there are a lot of different qualities. But we are lucky that more good rums are coming to the consumer every month. Rum is certainly the best value in distilled spirits and there are a lot of varieties of the spirit. Aged French Caribbean rums will rival the best cognacs. For $25 - $35 you can buy some very good rums here in Chicago. Like food you have to know what you're ordering, but once you educate yourself, there are a huge variety of wonderfuls spirits to enjoy.

Welcome awbrig, I wouldn't think about telling anyone that you'd mix rum with Coke. Good rum is like food, there are many levels of food and many levels of its appreciation. Too bad we didn't meet earlier I'm right around the corner from you and Aurora suggested that we might meet. I'd love to introduce to a selection of some of the best rums in the world. Although the stores are catching up, albeit slowly. I have been known to drink Captain Morgan and ginger ale. Actually the rum isn't going to hurt you, it's highly distillled in Puerto Rico, but the Coke will kill you.

I've only seen this rum from across a room and didn't bother to get any closer. Does the label say what country the rum is from or anything about the importer, where it was distilled or who bottled it?

I'm really interested Dave, where does St James fit into your selection since it a really different rum. How do you drink it. Where did you find it in Indianapolis?

I've only had this rum a few times in smoke-filled bars from a plastic cup with music so loud that I couldn't even begin to write any notes. Tonight I had the opportunity to at least do some preliminary assessment of this rum from a proper glass. The color is a rich, dull copper but quite transparent. At 80% alcohol by volume, this isn't a particularly high alcohol content. The initial nose has a light floral approach over a deeper roasted nut aroma. The first taste is smooth with a delicately balanced mature body of toasted coconut, ripe black berry and smoky vanilla followed by a well-rounded mellow and slightly viscous finish. When I added a small piece of ice the flavor blossomed as I would expect from a quality rum. Holding the glass at an angle of about 45º, before I tasted this rum I noticed very little difference from the high to the low side of the glass. I expected more character in the aroma but certainly wasn't disappointed when I tasted it. According to Jim Haughinberry of Sidebar Spirits, the importer, Montecristo was blended to be a premium quality rum with a price that you could afford to use as a mixing rum. I don't know why I would want to mix this rum, or what I'd mix with it. While the family resemblance to Ron Zacapa Centenario is apparent Montecristo is certainly a rum of it's own merit. And there is a cork closure if anyone is keeping track.

Everyone who went to the Rum Fest in NY noticed the Montecristo display. I'm trying to catch up on my notes before I take off to the islands and don't want to carry too many bottles back with me so I'm enjoying that fine 12 year old, rum, just in case your mind is wandering from the topic here. I'd like to hear some of your impressions since that is a popular rum so I'm going to start a new thread, so this one doesn't get sidetracked. But, just to see if you were paying attention, what is woman's name who is holding the bottle of Montecristo in Jason's pictures?

I couldn't agree more mick, when there is ambient air in the bottle, the oxygen that has been introduced will oxidize the contents of any spirit but this will be much more apparent in wine than in distilled spirits. 5 years sounds like a long time, I don't think I've ever had a bottle of spirits last that long, but then it was drunk before it had a chance to oxidize. I serve spirits that have sat around a while taking up space on those nights when I need to stretch the punch, works fine.

The Cruzan coconut is very good as are some of their others. I couldn't taste all of them last week. What a shame, so many good rums, so little time.

It's been great meeting the members of this forum, I have to leave tomorrow night to continue the research. I'll be online from time to time but won't be around nearly as much, really enjoyed getting to know some of you and looking forward to getting back here.

I'm not really that tall, the blondes are a little short. I was surprised at the Angostura but I didn't have a good taste since I had a lot to do that night. Wednesday I'll be back in Trinidad and will give it a proper tasting on board with some friends. Seems I always have friends around when it's time to try a new rum. In spite of what some people will tell you, Sea Wynde is pretty good. Better than I thought it would be. But remember that this was rum blended for sailors on ships and not necessarily for rum connoisseurs ashore. Sea Wynde is as close as I've tasted to the rum given to sailors in the first quarter of the last century. The formula and rum has changed over the last 300 years to be sure. This is pot still rum, aged, blended and colored. I drink it with a little ginger ale. I should say that Sea Wynde is a little smoother than the original. I look forward to getting some opinions of this rum from ex-Royal Navy sailors who literally grew up on their daily tot of rum.

Well after three months I guess no one else has found any other coconut rums. I discovered another one, again at the Penthouse Rum Fest, as well as meeting some beautiful women, see the other thread for pictures from Jason. Brinley Gold is blending a coconut rum that is dark in color and quite nice, maybe not as good as their vanilla rum, but certainly good enough to mix with a little (fill in your imagination) .

Bolivar, You're right, those Cuban rums are almost the same color, very pale yellow. There is no legal designation for white rum, but it is commonly associated with spirits that haven't been colored or acquired a lot of color from aging in oak barrels. After many years, barrels will be essentially leached clean of their tannins, which impart color to rum. So confusion isn't out of order. If you ask a Cuban which is his favorite ron blanco, white rum, no doubt he will name a rum that has at least some color. The difference between these 3 yo rums and one from, Puerto Rico for example, is that the Cuban rum hasn't been carbon filtered to remove the slight color, or more of the congeners that account for at least some of the taste and aroma of the rum. I hope this adds, I mean subtracts, from the confusion. In fact, we aren't talking about 'white rum' at all but actually clear, or as it's called in Barbados, 'see through, ' a much more accurate description.

If I am correct Caribbean Spirits isn't actually a distillery but more than likely buys rum from a distillery and then puts their name on it. So here's the deal, if anyone questions the age the bottler, when it isn't a distillery, will say, that's what I was told. You might recognize this as the old pass the buck game. According to the US BATF, age statements must reflect the youngest spirit in the blend, almost all rums are blends, but enforcement is difficult at best for rums distilled or bottled outside the country. It was interesting to me that the newer Abuelo rums are much more in line with what I expected for the age claimed, but then these are going to be imported to the US. When I evaluate a bottler I try to look at what other brands they are bottling. Sometimes the credibility is improved and sometimes well, I learn more than they want me to know.