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Flor de Cana 4yo gold, despite being from Nicaragua, works well for me as a sub for Brugal. As do Cuban rums if you have access to them. Theoretically a bit of a different style from the Puerto Rican rums but they seem pretty similar to me. Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva (a "solera" aged rum) also works as do other Dominican rums like Bermudez and Barcelo although they tend to be harder to find in the US (Kirk & Sweeney rum is likely 12yo Bermudez rum. Haven't tried it in a Zombie). Some might say these are more in the Cuban style than the Puerto Rican style. Again not sure there is a ton of difference. Puerto Rican rums tend to be a bit lighter I suppose. Then again Bacardi is made in Puerto Rico but considered to be a Cuban style and is as light as they come in their basic versions. Oddly enough the ones I don't really recommend are the Puerto Rican gold rums! Some people seem to feel Don Q is the best of the bunch (certainly a big seller on the island) but I find Ron del Barrilito pretty decent if you can find it and prefer it over Don Q or Bacardi. I suppose Cruzan is also a Puerto Rican/Cuban style rum as well. The Single Barrel is the only one I have used with and regularity in the past although they do make a 2yo "dark aged rum" that would likely be the closest to a Puerto Rican gold rum in a pinch.

I see a new rhum from Clement on the K&L Spirits Journal that might be of interest to the Mai Tai set (or rhum lovers in general!). $30 for a 3yo Clement Barrel Select seems like a pretty decent deal but whether I can get any to see for myself remains to be seen. Getting anything from K&L is always a challenge and so far I don't see it available anywhere else. Hopefully it will be eventually.

I was surprised to see the Goslings Old available in Atlanta recently. Had not seen it before in town. Of course I had just picked up a bottle at TPS just before I saw it so I didn't need it by then. But good to know it is there. Perhaps distribution is starting to expand.

Finally got a chance to play a little last night. First I started with the baseline above with St. James Hors d'Age and Appleton 12. A very pleasant drink but the rums did indeed seem to get a bit lost under the thumb of the Bonal. Then I moved on to a version with St. James but subbed the S&C for the Appleton. Definitely an improvement that gives the rum a fighting chance and seemed to bring the drink into better balance. Finally I kept the S&C but exchanged Depaz for the St James. It is younger and a bit more "brash" than the older and more subtle St. James Hors d'Age in my opinion and seemed like it might be a good fit here. I thought it worked the best. Not a huge difference but it worked for me. Not a drink for a subtle spirit to be sure!

A daquiri variation using St. Germaine from the St. Germaine website. But if VPB has a specific meaning (I suppose it must?) then it is a mystery to me as well!

If you see the original WT101 in 750's at $25 and you like rye I would encourage you to buy! I find the older bottle to be better. Not a huge difference perhaps and especially if you primarily mix with it but to my palate at least it was better even in a blind SBS.

The present claim is that the new label will not be accompanied by a price hike. But with time in the current environment it seems almost inevitable that it will go up. It has been a steal to this point. That said, with the exception of the older Elijah Craigs which I think are grossly overpriced and the absurdly high price of the HH gift shop offerings, HH has done a decent job of keeping most offerings at a fairly reasonable price as best I can tell.

Hmm, have always liked Greg Best's concotions (supposedly he is opening up a new place in town soon). Tend to like the rye in my Sazerac to be a bit more on the lower rye and higher corn side like Baby Saz or Rittenhouse. I wonder how this would work with one of those compared to Bulleit. I guess it is a good thing it is a long weekend!

I regularly sub Bonal for sweet vermouth to good effect but I don't think I ever quite made the connection to that ambrosia of the gods, Pineau des Charentes, and the other vin de liqueurs. I think I am going to have to explore that Pompadour riff this weekend!

And yes, any price increase is always hideous!

I confess I have little regard for the nuances of label designs in general and so it hadn't really bothered me much one way or another as long as it had the info on it I care about (which so few labels do these days!). I do know if the contents are good it could be a brown paper sack written in crayon for the label as long as it had the pertinent details and I wouldn't mind!

A couple of unexpected finds the past couple of days. First is a Bushmills rum cask Single Malt Single Cask distilled in 1991. Not sure when it was bottled but some speculation that it is 19yo. Also not clear if it is a rum finish or a single malt that spent its entire life in a rum cask. Would have liked a bit more proof but didn't have much choice! I have emailed Bushmills in hopes they will provide some info but I don't know if I will get a response. The second is the first bottle of Teeling whiskey available in the States. It was released last month but made it to Georgia this week (which may be a record as Georgia seems to be slow getting new items). A NAS whiskey from Cooley stock that is alleged to be a high malt blend and then finished for 6 months in Flor de Cana barrels. Hope to try them both over the coming weekend.

The new label featuring the diamond shape is a throw back to the early Rittenhouse labels which in the 30's was known as Rittenhouse Square Rye Whisky (the traditional spelling for the brand) and was named after a square in Philadelphia close to where I think it was originally made (some dispute about that it seems). It was one of the first Pennsylvania style ryes to return after Prohibition and although it ihas changed distillers many times it was one of the classic names that has survived the tough times of American whiskey. Whether or not it is indeed hideous is certainly a matter of personal preference!

Hmm, burnt, stale molasses. I must say that sounds rather tasty!

I loaned my Perique to a couple of fairly accomplished mixologists but they didn't come up with anything that was better than just drinking it neat. I have therefore resolved to drink it that way at all times and have yet to regret that decision! The Nikka from the barrel is on my short list and I believe I have a willing mule lined up by the end of the month to bring me some from London. I intend to add the 15yo Miyagikyo to that list as well. Might as well be greedy! I have seen the 12yo Miyagikyo here in the US but have yet to lay hands on one and with this opportunity coming up figured I might as well go for the 15.

Also wanted to note that it was pointed out to me that dunder is generally not likely to be a pleasant smelling or tasting thing to add to a spirit after distillation! And even if one wanted to do that it would be extremely important to insure that the bacteria was definitely thoroughly killed as you note before doing so as some and perhaps even most of the bacteria in dunder can be quite toxic. That whole decomposing bat thing don't ya know...

With the fairly rapid growth in different vermouths in the recent past there is something to be said for searching out and trying various ones on their own as well as in cocktails. I tend to prefer "sweet" vermouths by the glass but many of the dry and blanc styles work well with soda and a twist for me.

Was looking for some bourbon cocktails to share with friends over the weekend beyond some of the ones I have made in the past and came upon one called the Mountain Man on Kindred Cocktails. Proved to be quite popular. Ended up using Buffalo Trace instead of Bulleit since that was what was readily available. Nice to add another option for using Bonal. Wouldn't have thought of using it and Cocchi Americano in the same drink though.

Maybe try a nice genever that is not very juniper forward or has a bit of age to mellow the juniper a bit. I don't think of Ransom Old Tom gin as particularly juniper forward.

Well now, that is certainly some dense reading! But I get the sense that, as I would expect, the dunder is always employed in the fermentation process and that post distillation he is mixing different fractions of distillate and redistilling portions of it and not redistilling other portions. But he is not using dunder post distillation as best I can decipher. At least I don't think so. Hard to be sure! Bryan noted in our email exchange that he also adds anerobic bacteria (that he specifically cultures) as part of his banana "dunder" to his stressed fermentation to create "volatile acids" that will eventually lead to esterification in a method that sounds like it might be at least similar to this process. He notes the use of Lactobacillus and "other bacteria" but doesn't specifically mention using a Clostridium sp. in his process. I would think that adding "killed" dunder post distillation would be an "additive" but as you say maybe that is not how a distiller looks at it and that is his "short cut" to color. His says the color is more a "byproduct" of his special techniques in the aging process he developed to extract the catalytic acids from the wood that lead to esterification. But those techniques are what he prefers not to provide details on becasue I presume he considers them to be "proprietary". He did not go into much detail about the cuts he uses on his distillate or additional rounds of distillation. Then again I didn't think to ask that.

This is the first bottle from Lost Spirits I have had in my own hands so I can't say for sure. Pictures from the Coopered Tot blog from 2012 would seem to suggest he does although it is a bit difficult to read. It also contains some links to other blogs that might be of interest. I asked in my email exchange with him about whether anything, to include molasses, molasses extract, sugar, or E150a/caramel was added after distillation. Bryan can say what ever he wants in an email I suppose but the answer was no.

Took a few moments to get reacquainted with the Lost Spirits rum last night with a "fresh" palate. I had been tasting a variety of things last time to include heavily port finished Devil's Bit, several cask strength unpeated Caol Ila's and the standard CI 12 as well as a couple of other rums before we got to the Lost Spirits rum. Best attempt to try to illustrate the color. A headless selfie reflected in the lovely deep reddish brown spirit... Don't think it gets much clearer than this. The color is what it is. Certainly surprising but I will take the distillers word on the bottle and in emails to me for it until I can be convinced otherwise. The nose is still a strong and pleasant scent of baked molasses/caramel. The palate picks up on the molasses at the start but this is definitely drier than even what I remembered from before. Nothing cloyingly sweet about the one. The light plummy red fruits came in quickly but are not intense like a PX sherry finish (the barrels were reportedly virgin oak treated with oloroso sherry so that certainly fits). The light funkiness is also still present but perhaps not as strongly as I recall from the last time. Certainly a bit of heat from the proof but not excessively so (then again I have gotten rather accustomed to higher proof spirits! YMMV). The finish is moderately long and pleasant with the fruit notes and that bit of funkiness carrying through the palate for me to the end. Not particularly tannic and the bit of bitterness seems well balanced and pleasant. A touch of water helps it open a bit further but too much water, in trying to bring it down to around 100 proof, results in a much too thin flavor for me. 115-120 proof minimum seems about right. I have since learned that he uses new American oak staves or slabs in the barrel that are what have been treated with his "photocatalytically charred" processed (I think I did that in my youth with a magnifying glass! Although I do apologize for the ants that might have gotten in the way... ). He also appears to re-barrel (and possibly re-char?) his spirit in new or "new-ish" barrels one or more times. In addition he indicated to me he keeps his own anaerobic bacteria cultures on site to develop his "dunder" (which he referred to in quotes). He says he uses quotes deliberately to indicate he knows his process is not going to be the same as the dunder produced in long standing pits in Jamaica and elsewhere. For one thing dunder pits in the ground will pick up soil bacteria from the ground with their own unique set of acids they produce as compared to the Lactobacillus and other strains he uses. Idiosyncratic indeed! This kind of info tickles a research scientist like me to the core even if I don't always follow every detail. I don't know exactly how or what the distiller did to create what he did but I certainly like it as much now as several days ago and that counts most of all to me. And if I get back out to the Left Coast anytime soon this place is high on my list for a tour and tasting!

Ah yes, that jogged my memory! It was Makers Mark, owned by Beam (and soon to be Suntory), and not Jack Daniels who recently started rinsing barrels (although JD may do it too for all I know) and it was master distiller Fred Noe who was reported to have said that. http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2013/05/squeezing-barrel-and-public-purse.html

Indeed so. Jim Beam now uses a process to pull bourbon left in the barrel and blends it with 6yo bourbon to make Devil's Cut. I seem to recall that Jack Daniels is now building a facility to wash barrels and pull residual whiskey out to recover before shipping the barrels off to their next destination but can't find that report to confirm at the moment.

When first tasted it was in a session with a variety of other spirits at one of my "Wednesday tastings". I will make an effort to taste it again tonight or soon and taste only the Lost Spirits rum with a fresh palate to get another impression. But I do not recall it tasting particularly woody in the way a craft whiskey often does that uses small barrels, pressure cookers or other unusual techniques. And I have had more than my share of young craft whiskey because I am always looking to support something that proves innovative AND good. Occasionally I do find something interesting. But it is not the same as a traditionally matured whiskey. I did reach out to Bryan through a mutual acquaintance and he indicated the following: "If I added flavoring or coloring additives and stated no additives on the label I would be committing consumer fraud. I'm not committing consumer fraud." I am inclined to take him at his word until proven otherwise. In addition others who know him (I do not) have indicated they have no reason to believe he is lying. He also noted that creating color in a spirit is not difficult in his opinion and that the use of well charred "new or newish" (to use his words) and then re-barreling a few times over the course of time can achieve this. Given that much color comes from the wood in the early stages of aging it seems plausible to me. I also suspect the use of smaller size barrels but that I did not get confirmed. Just not sure what technique he might use to minimize the tannin or woody flavors that I would normally expect to accompany such a process. Which is not to say he might not have found a way. He also noted the following: "The thing I usually try to point out to people, is that I am interested in making the densest and most complex spirits I can. Whatever tricks I can devise to gain control over the maturation process, are ultimately tools that help me do my job. I recoil at the idea of adding caramel and sugar to garbage juice as much as the next spirits geek. On the other hand I have no problem using technology to accomplish my goals." As Rafa notes I think he is indeed an "idiosyncratic, technically apt if autodidactic enthusiast with a very clear idea of what he wants his spirits to do, and the imagination and technical know-how to devise unusual ways of getting them there". However I am not surprised he is reluctant to share the nature of his technology with just anyone in this day and age. But I know none of this will satisfy our resident skeptic, Capn Jimbo. Bryan did note he will be in Miami this month to talk about "engineering rum". I take this to mean he will be at the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival next week. That is in the Capn's backyard I believe and if he isn't already planning to attend perhaps this will add further encouragement for him to do so. Finally, I do try to not wade too deep into the fray on these essentially anonymous sites but I have to note that this comment sounds to me like a bit of blather from the good Capn: "I'll be frank - I only had to see the dark mahogany of this very young rum to know that this rum is not worth my serious consideration. However if the distiller wishes to forward a bottle, I'll see to it that several experienced tasters will evaluate it; further, we will subject it to our own tests for the addition of sugar and solids." This sounds remarkably narrow minded to me. You "know" it to be true and therefore not "worth" your "serious consideration" just by looking at the color of the rum? And you became the end all and be all of all things rum just how exactly? Because you have a blog on rum? No matter how many others may color or flavor their rum to dismiss one that apparently you haven't even tried is not particularly objective and rather seems the epitome of blather. Since the Capn can't see fit to acquire his own bottle of the rum before lambasting it if the good Capn would care to PM me his address (or an address he has access to), which I pledge here to keep private, I will do my very best to acquire and send him a bottle on my dime to try for himself. Although at this point I am not certain any "evaluation" he provides will hold much value with me given the scorn heaped upon this spirit without so much as trying it himself first.