gato_mato

I mind as well throw my hat into this one too here is what I have been drinking lately Bottles on the works Aside from that I also have my Grandmother's Home Made Rum (we call it Ca~na -- and that is an N with a Tilde over it). And Bacardi A~nejo, and Bacardi 1873, and Ron Palo Viejo Gold, and my aunt's ca~na too! Gato If it seems like I am partial to Bacardi - well I am not really too partial to it but its hard to turn it down when you get it for free you know (Uncle works for Bacardi in Puerto Rico) - and Bacardi 8 is a NICE every day drink.

Ok - try this link Some of the stuff I have been drinking this week! Gato

Not completely exactly like the one I have but VERY close - Let me see if I can take a digital pucture of it and upload it somewhere that then I can link to here. Gato

Bacardi Reserva is nothing out of the ordinary – I find Bacardi 8 to be a significantly better rum. I use Reserva to make Pina Coladas – it has enough taste to make the mix taste great but not something I drink straight. Reserva can be had anywhere in Puerto Rico and I have seen it sold in the US in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. My Suggestion – If you are looking for a straight drinking rum save your cash and find yourself a good bottle of Don Q Anejo. Gato

Hi Folks – so far as the limit on the bottles brought back from afar. US Customs doesn’t care how many you bring back from Puerto Rico. I was able to bring back 37 bottles that I packed @ my grandparents house that I carried & checked in. The only thing that you have to do in PR is that you have to put all your luggage through the Department of Agriculture inspection station to make sure that no critters are stowing away in your luggage. Now from any other place again they do not care how much you bring back – so long as you pay Taxes on anything above and beyond the specified limit for the country. Example I used to live in Italy and any time I came to the U.S. I would bring back a couple of cases of wine that I knew that I would never find in the U.S. It was a matter of building a sort of cache of wine for when I got back to the mainland. The limit from customs was 3 liters per person per trip. I had to pay Excise TAXES only one the remaining quantity of bottles of wine. Carlos

My $0.02 worth on this post. First the caveat/classification – I am not some connoisseur of Rum – I just grew up in Puerto Rico (and thus have drunk a LOT of RUM). That said I would go for the Don Q Gran Anejo on the trip back to the USA. Gran Anejo is a blend of 8-12 year old rums. You flat out can’t get Don Q outside Puerto Rico – Seralles can barely keep up with demand in Puerto Rico so they do not export. The cheapest place to get it (believe it or not) is @ the airport. I went to the distillery in Ponce and they distillery shop sells it for $37 and the aiport Duty Free has it for $32 (as of Sep 2002). The Seralles Distilery DOES NOT have tours like Bacardi so unless you know someone that works there do not expect a tour of the place if you go (my uncle works there and got me the hookup – can you say Contact Alcohol High?). If you have the time take the tour of the Bacardi Distillery – if anything its worth it because of the free drinks – the best time to take the tour is the last tour (16:30 I think) because when you take the tour you get 2 drinks from the bar – but @ the end of the day they have a LOT (at least every time I have gone on it) of Mix left @ the bar that the bartender does not want to waste & they can’t keep overnight because of health code – so instead of the 2 drinks you pretty much can get hammered there (BTW – Tip the bartender he will be MOST kind to you). How ever if you take the Bacardi tour DON’T believe the hype, Bacardi 8 (8 year old Rum – Really nice), 1872, Anejo, and Reserva can all be bought in the USA – they will tell you that you can’t but I buy it in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Meijer so I imagine that it can be bought anywhere in the USA. In fact the Bacardi 8 that sells @ the distillery for $23 and the airport Duty Free for $19 can be bought in the USA for $14. For the REAL taste of Puertorican rum - go to Old San Juan – next to the Cruise Ship Piers there is a tourism office that has ALL the rums made in PR that are worth trying – and they give free samples so its well worth the trip there and the you can walk off the booze in Old San Juan. Do not buy Rum @ the docks/port authority/pier they have outrageous prices ($50 for a bottle of Don Q Gran Anejo that you can buy @ the airport for $32). With all that said I mailed most of my clothes last time I was in PR so that I could pack more rum in my suitcase – total of 16 bootles of Don Q Anejo, 6 Bottles of Barilito, 6 bottles of my Grandmother’s “Canita” if you can find Canita (that should be an N with a tilde) its worth giving it a try – nothing more than Puertorican’s version of Moonshine. Carlos