Ed Hamilton

I'll list the descriptors I use on my website after I find the time to organize them.

Sailor Jerry is also spiced.

The comparison of these two rums illustrates two very different styles of aged rum. Appleton is a much heavier, drier rum. Jamaican is known for its heavier style rums which are distilled from molasses while Zacapa is a lighter body rum. This comparison also demonstrates the point that you shouldn't get hung up on the age of your rum. Zacapa is aged in warehouses high in the Guatemalan mountains while Appleton rums are aged just above sea level where the temp and humidity are much higher.

The International Sugar Cane Spirits Competition is coming to Ybor City, Florida at the end of March, 2006. It has been a few years since there has been a tasting competition solely for sugar cane spirits. Two days of tasting will be followed by a Rum Ball. If you would like to considered as a judge check out the International Sugar Cane Spirits Competition information site and you may have the opportunity to taste some of the newest and best rums on the market. Some of these spirits aren't even imported to the US. See you in Ybor City, but if you can't make it, results will be posted on the Ministry of Rum website.

The biggest reason that no one has produced a commercial nose wheel for rum because unlike whisky, rum is produced and consumed in a much lower key marketplace. I have a number of descriptors which I commonly refer to, and tend not to seriously consume those which have components which I would describe as nail varnish remover.

Bacardi's Anejo from Mexico is different from the Puerto Rican Anejo which was sold in the US until a few years ago.

I just revisisted a bottle of Captain Morgan Private Reserve I found in a locker on my boat. It wasn't any better than the first time I tried it and after a couple of years less than 2 ounces are gone from the bottle which is a record for opened of bottles of rum on my boat.

Foursquare is one of the only spiced rums I've drunk which isn't sweetened with sugar cane syrup which lets the rum and spice speak for themselves. On the other hand, Cruzan is one of the few spiced rums made with aged rum, 2 years, which makes a serious difference in a molasses-based spiced rum.

Admiral Rodney is a blend of some of the oldest rums from St Lucia Distillers. Their more popular is Chairman's Reserve which is a little easier on the palate. I find Admiral Rodney good but slightly past the peak of maturity.

I thought holiday egg nog was always made with rum. Nice recipe, though I'd add some freshly grated nutmeg or at least some cinnamon.

That about sums up my experience with this rum. I'm a little skeptical about this rum being distilled in copper kettle stills as I haven't seen one of those stills in operation at Westerhall for some time, but things change.

I tend to stay away from the special bottlings as many don't like up to the hype, or price. Besides most of us mortals can only get our hands on a bottle or two or most. As you can see from the price on rum, it is the most undervalued spirit on the liquor store shelf. A couple of bottles that I'd add to the list are Barbancourt 8, as opposed to the 15, and I'd add a white rhum agricole for my first drink of the day.

I can't confirm that progression of Bacardi products but it doesn't sound unlikely. Many Bacardi products have changed over the years especially when they are produced in other countries.

Everyone reading this forum, already knows rum is one of the best spirits. Now for the first time, rum has been named the Best White Spirit for 2005 outpacing all of the vodkas, gins, tequilas and rums reviewed by Paul Pacult.

Availability of rum depends on where you live. I you'll add your location to your profile I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions of where to find not only St James but a lot of other great rums.

Callwood's Arundel is locatd across the road from Cane Garden Bay. As for other rums, you'll find Havana Club in the grocery stores in Road Town. You'll also find some other rums, but it is next to impossible to tell what you'll find since the inventory changes regulary. The good news is that the grocery stores in Road Town handle a pretty good selection of rums.

I've seen the 1873 in San Juan, but the Anejo which I used to love, is not made in Mexico, so maybe the 1873 will suffer the same fate. Bacardi 8, sold in the US, is made in the Bahamas.

Oronoco doesn't have a cane taste per se, I would describe it as more of a light, clean taste with a vanilla hint.

Oronoco is a highly distilled sugar cane juice spirit produced in Brazil to which is blended a small amount of aged Venezuelan rum giving the blend a slight vanilla flavor. I would describe this rum as a clean, crisp rum with a vanilla overtone that lingers through the finish. This is definitely not cachaca. And since it is blended with aged molasses-based rum, it has to be called rum in Brazil.

The Zacapa 25 year old rum is a little sweeter than the 23 and unless you want to brag about serving an older rum, I'd stick with the 23. There are a couple of reasons the 25 year old rum is more expensive. First, there is less of it, and second it takes longer to make. Sounds simple but the costs of distributing small quantities of spirits is much more expensive.

If you love Ron Zacapa Centenario, you owe it to yourself to try Santa Teresa 1796 Antiguo de Solera. As big as the rum market in Florida may be, there are still a number of very good rums which aren't sold there yet, due to the problems of distribution.

I have never heard of this rum, but it might be Isla Cohiba. It should be noted that Caribbean Spirits, Panama is not the same as Caribbean Spirits, an importer in the US.

You will notice that this list of my top twenty rums differs slightly from that on my website. There are a couple of reasons for this. First after every article where anyone talks about the best rums, I am flooded with email asking where they can buy everything on the list. While I do my best, there are a lot of rums that just aren't imported to the US and since many Americans feel that it is there right to be able to buy what ever they want, these lists can be a real problem. What I would rather that publishers do is tell people to try as many different rums as possible with an eye toward developing their own list. Short of that, I suggest spending some time at places like eGullet where opinions are free and quite valuable.

Pyrat Cask 23 is undeniably good rum, but there are other rums for which deserve your attention. For starters you owe it to yourself to taste the following (in alphabetical order): Cockspur VSOR El Dorado Special Reserve Mount Gay Extra Old Neisson Reserve Speciale Ron Zacapa Centenario Santa Teresa 1796 And it should be noted that you can buy all of the above rums for much less than the price of one bottle of Cask 23.

The still is very important to the taste of the rum, but there are other factors that are equally important. Fermentation, skill of the distiller, water and, of course, the raw material. I have not confirmed that Inner Circle is moving production to Fiji, which I find hard to believe since they own a distillery in Australia. This rumor, may have been born because they use molasses from Fiji in their Inner Cirlce Rum. If Inner Circle is moving production from Australia to Fiji, the new still would be one of the least of my concerns.