westsail

I did a rapid infusion with gin,dry vermouth , and a chopped up green apple. Subtle , but nice...not sickly sweet like an 'appletini'.

Call me a heretic, but I use a brandy sniffer type glass....however I do cut the rum with a small amount of water .

I think you have nailed it Ed. I thought 4 yrs was rather a long time. As far as Martinque or France, it says both ! The lable reads ( this is the 7 yr dark ) " Chauffe-Coeur " RUM Appellation Rhum Controlee Martinque Agricole Dark Rum Aged over 7 years in oak casks Produced in Martinque 750ml 47% ALC by vol. Produced and bottled in France By Chais Chauffe-Coeur E. Laborie, Le Costil Rouge F14340 Whatever the origin of this rum, it is certainly top notch...compares favorably with the 'real stuff' I brought home from St. Martin last year....Pere Labat, Trois Rivieres, Damoiseau, Montebello, J Bally, Saint James...Quite a haul !! I'd post a photo...if I knew how ! I will post some photos in an album.

I saw a bottle of 'Chauffe-Coeur' white rum from Martinique at High Time Wine in Costa Mesa ( near Newport Beach CA. ) the other day. It is labeled as being aged for 4 years. I didn't purchase it as I got the 7 year dark instead...very tasty !

In Marigot, St. Martin I saw a bottle of St. James ( from the late 1800's ! ) for a little over $1000 ...however since the rum doesn't continue to age after its bottled your actually getting a hundred year old... 8 year rum ...or something like that.

Ed, the only hope for that Capt. Morgans is to splash a little in your coffee....not a bad way to start the day.

Here in Southern California I have found 10 Cane at Bev More and I think I also saw it at Cost Co. I also was a bit amused at the " first pressing " jargon, however this is definitly an 'agricole' tasting rum. While I usually prefer an aged rum this was quite tasty with tonic ( of course ) ! I think I prefer the 10 Cane to the Rougue Rum I recently tried, which was also quite good, very clean; but the 10 Cane's 'agricole' taste does it for me.

I was recently lucky enough to 'score ' a bottle of Ma Doudou rum punch from St. Martin. Fruit juice, vanilla, banana, rum, and sugar syrup are the ingredients. It is bottled at 30 % Vol. and was fantastic. I'll be in St. Martin in Nov. and will definetly be bringing some more of this stuff home. I wonder if they make any other flavors ...Ed ?

I just found a bottle of Rogue white rum and a bottle of 10 cane rum ( white and from Tinidad ) at my local Southern California Bev and More store. I haven't tried any yet....what am I waiting for?? Bev and More has been slowly improving their rum selection, I've seen Barrilito 3 star there lately. My sister just returned from Sint Maartin and brought me back some goodies...Clement Rhum Vieux, St. James Rhum Blanc Agricole, Ma Doudou Punch. and some El Dorado from Guyana ( not Demerara I'm afraid ).

This sounds rather interesting...I will give it a try. I've had some of the Bounty rums when I was in Fiji...very nice, with the typical agricole flavor. I'm off to Belize for a week, wonder if I can find anything, rum wise, interesting down there ?

I'm currently enjoying a bottle of La Muny....rhum blanc agricole from Martinique. This lovely stuff just might make me a white rum drinker after all. ( Not that I'll get my hands on another bottle any time soon )

On my last trip to the British Virgin Islands we stopped by at the Callwood Distillery ( as is my habit) and found it to be as pleasurable as ever ( after 200 + years why change ) Anyway , we tried the Arundel white rum , which I expected to taste just a little harsher than battery acid. Oh my !! It was fantastic! I have never beeen a fan of white rum , but this really opened my eyes. I guess being a rum agricole helps unaged rums as well as its darker cousins. If any of you get to the BVI, the Callwood distillery on Tortola is well worth a visit,they well give you a short tour and pour a sample of all 3 of their products ( dark, white, spiced ). I enjoy the white with a slash of tonic and a little lime. Yum Yum.

Matusalem was a good deal back when it was $18 , but at $28, sorry to much competion at that price. I didn't particulary enjoy Zaya, ok,but a bit to expensive. If you can find the Cruzan 5 yr. ( estate diamond ) give it a try....I like better than the single barrel. Speaking of Cruzan, the Trader Joes out here in California are now stocking both the 2 yr ( light and dark ) and the blackstrap ( which I would stay far away from )

I'm down in San Diego, where I have yet to find a good source for interesting rums. It was a lot better when I lived in the Florida Keys. I assume I would have to travel to L.A. to get much of a selection out here, might just wait until May; another sailing trip in the B.V.I. should add some fine stuff to my collection !

No I have not seen that , but my selection of Cruzan out here in California is pretty weak ! Mostly its just the single barrel or the dreaded flavored rums...arrgh why do they try and shove that stuff down our throats? By the way I just saw the single barrle in a 1.75 litre size! Same shape as the regular single barrel , just the size of a scuba tank!!!

Out here in California , the 4 year old Flor de Cana is the " best buy " (~11$ vs. ~15$ for the 5 year old ). I used to get the 4 year old for 4$ a bottle at the Tegucigalpa (Honduras' Capital ) airport , back when I used to work for a shrimp hatchery ( Honduran based ) in the Florida Keys . The really good stuff is " Centenario 21 " in the blue bottle with gold leaf lettering . That stuff is truely " nectare of the gods" .

Ah yes...the ole' Bundy....I got a bottle of Bundaberg Black VAT 70 ( from 1989 ) , in Fiji ; the label spouts on about " each individually numbered bottle of VAT 70-1989 marks a moment in time that can never be repeated....." THANK GOODNESS !!!!...I wish I had bought another bottle of Bounty...now thats a tasty rum ! Vegamite indeed....Ha Ha Ha

I'm partial to a splash of tonic .

Flora de Cana are avalilable in Florida and Cailifornia ( at least ) and are rather good . I used to work at a shrimp hatchery in the Florida Keys and we flew flights down to Honduras 2 or 3 times a week, we used to have the pilots pick up the 4 yr Flora de Cana for around $4 a litre ! I once got a bottle of Flora de Cana Centenario 21 in the blue bottle with gold leaf lettering ...that was some tasty stuff indeed !!

Just returned from Fiji ! I did'nt have high hopes of finding anything special rum-wise on this trip....but I have to say that I'm rather happy with a few of my discoveries. The main rum we where drinking in Fiji is called Bounty and is an overproof rum ( 58%/vol. ) and is actually quite tasty , something sort of like Mt. Gay. They (South Pacific Distilleries Ltd. ) also produce a Bounty Millenium ( also 58%/vol. ), which is said to be aged for a minium of 5 years in oak casks.It is very smooth and mellow , very nice indeed. My favorite rum from Fiji , however , is called Ratu's Plantation Rum ( also from South Pacific Distilleries ), it is bottled at 40 %/vol in a 750 ml bottle that is wrapped in a mat made from the pandanus plant . It is distilled in pot stills from local Fijian sugar cane and aged in small oak casks. This rum reminds me of Rhum Agricole from the French Carribean , maybe not quite as refined as a Balley's , but not as raw as say Arundel from Cane Garden Bay in the B.V.I. ( a place not to be missed if you are in the B.V.I. is the Callwood Family Distillery ). I also picked up a bottle of Austrialian rum , Bundaberg Black , which is a special single vat rum distilled in 1989 and bottled in 1999 ( aged 10 years ? ) While this is a rich deep rum , it has an anise-like under tone that does'nt quite do it for me. In closing I would like to salute the rum distilleries of Fiji and remind everyone to always sample the local stuff , you just might find something you like.