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I am based in UK and can offer the following. Don't know if any are of interest . The 17yo comes in a lovely bottle and box (but is a little expensive!!) Wild Turkey 17yo (originally for the Japanese market) Wild Turkey Rare Breed Wild Turkey Rye Wild Turkey 10yo Russell's Reserve Wild Turkey Freedom All 75cl bottles Limited quantities. If interested send me a message and I can get photos and prices. If you let me know about quantities as well that would be good. 1855 Reserve (37.5cl) bottles MAY be possible in about 8 weeks

Yes these are from the Classic Rum collection. As for the ages, these are currently the latest bottlings and because they are single cask ones they change quite frequently As for the price, these are the UK agents ones which I am sure will differ from the European ones especially when you add the UK's high Duty rate and VAT (duty on a 46% bottle is GBP6.30). I do know the price from the producer but as he is a friend of mine I think that it would be indiscreet to mention them.

Ed. You say that there are only a few rums sold in Japan. In fact I have found that there are very few rums from around the world that are not imported into Japan. I have one customer there who only wants to import rums that no-one else is doing but am having difficulty finding too many of them!! (Maybe if you know of some producers who want to be imported into Japan you can send me an e-mail and I would love to help out!!) Japan is a funny place. I get the impression that some producers decide that Japan is the first port of call as they are perceived as a bit gullable and prepared to pay high prices. This used to be the case but those days are long gone.

The UK agent for these rums was listing it at the tasting (although it might be possible to get it from them cheaper) at GBP29.25 (including all taxes) or say about US$45. Whether it was reasonably priced I would have to say yes. The rums are truly fantastic and no more expensive than the equivalent aged whiskies. When I say equivalent in age I mean the number of years old it is although I believe that a 16yo rum must be the equivalent of a 25yo scotch whisky. If you take it along these lines then it is a much better valued product and also one that is by comparisson quite rare

Local pub Thought that this might be of interest to show what hardships I have to put up with! Generally they have an interesting cask or two on tap. It is a well known pub with pretty frightening prices, but the beer is kept very well (apart from a bad patch a few months back) Would be interested to hear what your local watering holes have to offer.

Some of my favourite sweet wines are the Vendange Tardives from Alsace along with their Selection de Grains Noble. I used to sell a fantastic sweet wine from Ch. de la Colline (Bergerac). It came in halp bottles and was similar to a Barsac but to me was more interesting.

I also think that Finland has a Monopoly board as well. Other countries like Japan and Taiwan have relaxed their import regulations to come into line with GATT but I don't think that the US have had the pressure applied to them yet. With regards to this little spat with the EU, is it some retaliation to something else? The usual favourite that the EU and US squabble about is bananas! I suspect probably not as this has been a "problem" to EU producers for some time.

Just been to a tasting of bits and bobs and had some fantastic rums from an independant bottler here in the UK. All are single cask bottlings and labelled by distillery. Gardel 10yo (Guadeloupe) French oak finish Rockley Still 16yo (Barbados) Fino sherry finish Versailles 16yo (Demerara) Port finish Port Morant 20yo (Demerara) French oak finish Monymusk 25yo (Jamaica) Bourbon wood finish The best to my mind was the Rockley Still (full of really powerful iodine flavours - quite like an Islay whisky in certain respects) and the Monymusk (which was ooh so smooooth).

Ducru Beaucaillou had this problem (that is why the 1990 vintage was not that great) and they rebuilt their cellar. This is quite common knowledge, but what isn't so well publicised is that Latour had the same problem.

What is the usual strength of beer in the US. I was always under the impression that it was quite weak. Here in the UK we don't quite go as far as the Belgians and stick to about 5% (or 4% for a bitter). Are you guys the same? I know it is quite a vague question but..

Here in the UK we really don't get too many Canadian wines. The last one that I had was a Sauv B (?) from Inniskillin. I would also agree with eat2much and say that I find the Icewine's fantastic. Again this is something that you don't find too often over here. One of the problems with Icewine is its strength. Maybe you can correct me, but I was led to believe that these were very often over 15% alc. If that is the case they cannot be classified as table wines in the EU (as has to be 15% or less) and that creats some import problems.

1967 and a rum - why? That's a good question and one I can't answer. Very easy for me to find whisky, cognac and armagnac but it has to be rum!! To be honest I think I am going to give up looking as it is more trouble than it is worth.

I am not sure, but secondary fermentation shouldn't happen with 32% spirit

Could it be the opposite then? The sunlight reacts with the "lemon additives" and throw a haze?

Would the sunlight "bleach" the colour out of the product?

Not sure if this helps or not, but I received this from a Japanese importer friend of mine. Hope it is of some use. 1. Importing As far as we import rum as a rum, there is no regulations. When we import the goods the law forces us to categorize the goods. There is a huge table listing thousands of categories. We have to put the goods into one category. For example when importing cognac we put it into category "brandy". For port wine we put it into "fortified wine". When it comes to rum, there is no category "rum". There is only "spirits", such as gin, rum, vodka and tequila. This means therefore it should not be just rum but should be at least Spirits. 2. Definition It is bit weird but we do not have any official definition for rum as the government doesn't rule it. Therefore the general(not official) definition of the rum in Japan is I believe as follows. 1. "distilled" alcohol (Spirits) 2. made of sugar cane For your information we have the official definition for Spirits as follows. 1. must be Spirits with the extract degree of less than 2 2. must be Spirits with no carbonic acid.

I will ask some of my Japanese clients who are into their rums and see if they will be kind enough to reply.

Thanks for all the info. The age of the rum really doesn't matter as I think that it was probably someone's birth year Cadenheads et al don't have anything. Lamb's 1939 - just about to buy a bottle for the same client Bally - can get the 1929 and after that it is up to 1979 (I think). As yet no joy at all for the 1967 although I think that Martinique might be the best bet. Someone like Trois Rivieres. Not holding out any hope but will let you know if I find anything!

Thanks. I have tried them but no answer. They seem to be the best bet so will continue trying.

There was a test carried out here in the UK by some winos & chefs who cooked up the same dish but used different wines. The results showed that there was no difference in taste in the dishes. Obviously they weren't using the oxidised bottle that had been open for a month!

I need to get my hands on some Boord's Old Tom Gin but cannot find who owns/makes this. Does anyone have any more info?

It isn't a joke for some. Apparently in Ireland there is a merchant who sells thousands of bottles of St. Amour along with a red rose!

I had a Bonny Doon P. Meunier a few years back. I remembered it being a little too alcoholic and "sweet" and unbalanced. It wasn't something I would try again

"..received an offer about a rare CHANTAL COMTE Grand D'ORS age rum from my dealer, but again no further information.i would appreciate any further details on this one too ( age, nummer of bottles produced, Grand H'ors Age and the price).." I think that this is the same rum as you were talking about: Rhum Vieux de Chantal Comte, Brut de Futs 58%, Hors d'Age Marie Galante. 600 bottles produced, with about 300 remaining as of a month ago. The rum is older than 7 years and about an average of 15 years. Price is v. high. In the shops about €150 in Europe (after the typical 30% mark-up).

I am quite desperate to find a bottle of rum distilled in 1967, ie it HAS to state 1967 on the label. It does not matter how old the spirit is. Can anyone help me on this one as I have no idea where to find one?