Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum

[Chris Amirault]

As indicated in this post, I've been a fan of Wray & Nephew overproof rum for a long while. Since discovering it about a decade ago, I had always felt it was a tropical grappa, even though many folks thought that was basically nuts. I tended to drink it rarely and in tiny amounts -- an ounce here or there -- at a time, which meant that one bottle lasted a very long while.

Well, I finished up a bottle a few months ago and bought a new one, and, man oh man, the new one sucks. What had been a fruity, potent front nose is now a garish, punitive burnt rubber tire assault; what had been a layered effect, with heat giving way to nuance, is now a safe tossed from a cliff onto your wily noggin.

It's a tragedy, I tell you, similar to Gaja cranking out Thunderbird or my foie gras order from D'Artagnan replaced with Frito-Lay chili cheese dip in a can. What the hell happened here? Have Wray and his nephew been abducted by aliens with horrible palates? Or did I score one or two bottles of mislabeled wonder and have now, finally, tasted the true dreck?

[chickenlover]

Maybe a bad bottle? I am not aware of any change in ownership or formula. (Wray and Nephew is distilled by the Appleton group.) I have a bottle that I purchased about 18 months ago and it seems consistent with the bottles I've had in the past. I think you're crazy for drinking this stuff straight though.

[eje]

What had been a fruity, potent front nose is now a garish, punitive burnt rubber tire assault; what had been a layered effect, with heat giving way to nuance, is now a safe tossed from a cliff onto your wily noggin.

I can't say your new bottle sounds entirely outside of my experience with the brand.

It is unaged industrial rum after all. I don't think it is even really blended, is it? Maybe they rest it for a day or two in stainless tanks before putting it in bottles.

Frankly, when I've tried it I seem to get a hangover before I get drunk.

It's got a certain rough charm, but it's more like a boxing match than a purring cat.

I don't know, you might want to let it sit around for a while...Sometimes the nose on rums seems to mellow a bit after a month or two of being open. Either that or I just get used to the funk.

edit - Oh, funny to look at the picture in the food blog! The rum still had a metal closure. You have had that around the house for a while. I think it has had a plastic top for at least 5 years.

Edited December 14, 2007 by eje (log)

[Chris Amirault]

So perhaps I'm inadvertently bottle-aging W&N rum -- and surely the only person in the world who tries to drink the stuff neat on occasion. I should be able to deal with the ridicule, I suppose, if I'm an iconoclast, right?

[bostonapothecary]

So perhaps I'm inadvertently bottle-aging W&N rum -- and surely the only person in the world who tries to drink the stuff neat on occasion. I should be able to deal with the ridicule, I suppose, if I'm an iconoclast, right?

←

i drink it straight every now and then to the horror of my coworkers... delicious only on the right occasions...

[eje]

So perhaps I'm inadvertently bottle-aging W&N rum -- and surely the only person in the world who tries to drink the stuff neat on occasion. I should be able to deal with the ridicule, I suppose, if I'm an iconoclast, right?

←

You and the vast majority of Jamaican drinkers.

Apparently it accounts for 90% of the rum sold in Jamaica*.

Personally, I was kind of surprised Jamaican Rum wasn't called for in the Duppy Cocktail. Would make a lot more sense than Scotch.

*Source, Appleton website.

[bostonapothecary]

So perhaps I'm inadvertently bottle-aging W&N rum -- and surely the only person in the world who tries to drink the stuff neat on occasion. I should be able to deal with the ridicule, I suppose, if I'm an iconoclast, right?

←

You and the vast majority of Jamaican drinkers.

Apparently it accounts for 90% of the rum sold in Jamaica*.

Personally, I was kind of surprised Jamaican Rum wasn't called for in the Duppy Cocktail. Would make a lot more sense than Scotch.

*Source, Appleton website.

←

so with 90% of jamaica behind it the recipe is not likely to change...

i knew the "duppy" by the name the "sunset gun" which i read on a blog and thoroughly enjoyed... i'd use a rum like appleton vx if i didn't use a whiskey...

'tis the season for that kind of a drink...

[Lilija]

Part of the reason it sells so big in Jamaica is because they use it for EVERYTHING. Cold medicine, hand sanitizer, spirits for making their home remedies, aphrodisiac, breakfast drink, teething babies, etc. They sell it on the shelves of little mom & pop shops, right along with all the other basic household staples.

Also, typically, they don't mix it. If you order a rum & Coke outside of a tourist area, then you get a little cup of W&N and a cup of Coke. Good stuff

[bostonapothecary]

thats a culture i'd do well in...

[eje]

Little industry news for you Wray & Nephew fans:

Brown-Forman Sales and Marketing Agreements with Wray & Nephew and Distell to End

Brown-Forman Corporation announced today that its U.S. agreement with Wray & Nephew Group Limited of Jamaica and its agreement with Distell Group Limited of South Africa will be ending.  The decisions are unrelated and conclude six-year marketing relationships between Brown-Forman and the two separate companies.

In the U.S. agreement with Wray & Nephew, Brown-Forman has marketed and sold Appleton, Wray & Nephew, and Coruba rums since October, 2001.  Brown-Forman and Wray & Nephew have grown the total range of rums in the U.S. from annual sales of 96,500 nine-liter cases in 2001 to approximately 180,000 cases in 2007.  The strategic marketing focus on the premium Appleton Estate range yielded growth from under 20,000 cases in 2001 to a current annual total of over 50,000 nine-liter cases.

Brown-Forman will represent Wray & Nephew brands through April, 2008 or until Wray & Nephew reaches agreement with a new importing partner.

[bostonapothecary]

i had asked the local brown-forman ambassador if he had any wray & nephews promotional material like shakers, bar mats, napkin & straw holders, etc...

all they apparently make as promo are extremely cool calenders...

the scene on the calender...

a concrete bar on a jamaican street corner

two roughnecks playing dominos while sipping over proof rum out of plastic cups...

and then three of the most pornographic looking barely dressed women posing and following along wth the game...

its even autographed by the models...! passion, tamara, shauna...

what a brand image...! if i every get any of my liqueurs to market i'm copying their branding strategy... i'm gonna call my wormwood vermouth "krunk juice" and take it right to the club...

overproof rum is still the most under stocked and under utilized cocktail tool... i love a spoonful floated on a drink for its aromatic funk or a single ounce to power a drink showcasing close to non-alcoholic mixers with intensity... (i miss my kola nut tonic... its still being reformulated because its dyes where banned in the U.S.)

[Chris Amirault]

Sadly, drinking it out of plastic cups surrounded by scantily clad women in a tropical paradise is not an available option for solving my problem. However, when making a float for a Test Pilot recently, I noticed that the rubber nose was gone and the floral notes were there, so I think I'll break out the plastic cups and dream a little dream later this weekend.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I know this rum is very good when you run screaming out of the Caribbean on to the beach in the middle nowhere with a barracuda bite on your leg and a local dumps it on your wound straight ..then to stop you from blowing his eardrum out ..gives a shot out of the bottle ...and said this is "all you need lady"

yup I have great memories of W & N

Edited January 20, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Got a new bottle today, and the rubber nose is gone. Back to happy here.

[Hassouni]

I'm drinking some now, nearly neat (poured over an ice cube which has half melted). It's still rough around the edges, but the smell, my GOD. Sweet, delicious, funky molasses front and center, which carries into the finish when drinking

ETA: anyone ever made a mojito with one of these?

Edited April 17, 2012 by Hassouni (log)

[EvergreenDan]

Wow. Old thread. If you haven't read post #13, scroll up now. Best post of, well, 2008.

[lesliec]

I dunno, it's hard to beat post 12. Imagine dropping this, completely out of context, into a conversation:

... when making a float for a Test Pilot recently, I noticed that the rubber nose was gone and the floral notes were there ....

eGullet will make me go bankrupt yet. I'd read several things about W&N here, so of course last weekend we had to buy some. First drink last night - wow! (White Witch - rum, Cointreau, crème de cacao, lime)

[Rafa]

Oh wow. Post #13 deserves all the love.

[Hassouni]

this might just be my desert island rum....

[Adam George]

My workmate and I are having fun slipping "Wray" into everything we say and make.

"Tomorrow I'm going to push DaiquiWrays"

[Rafa]

Wray & Nephew Cosmos. Wray & Nephew Lemon Drops. $500 dollar Champagne with a float of Wray & Nephew Overproof.

[EvergreenDan]

W&N Martini? (Rum shaken and strained between to tins, served in a conical glass filled to being convex, garnished with a lime twist, jerk seasoning rim.)

Edited April 25, 2013 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Rafa]

I'd drink that.

[bostonapothecary]

Wray & Nephew Cosmos. Wray & Nephew Lemon Drops. $500 dollar Champagne with a float of Wray & Nephew Overproof.

About seven years ago I worked at a place with a cheese cake factory across the street. Somehow the girls started coming over for cocktails between their shifts. Despite being clad in white these women were wild. Anyhow, I slowly got them all addicted to Wray & Nephews cocktails to the horror of everyone else I worked with. The other bartender would refuse to make the drink or he'd use plain white rum. And the girls would complain.

"tropical cocktail"

1.5 oz. wray & nephews

.5 oz. goslings "old rum"

.75 oz. grenadine

.75 oz. tart unsugared passion fruit juice

dash angostura bitters

[mkayahara]

What is the Gosling's "old rum"? I'll have to use frozen passion fruit puree for this, but it sounds damn tasty... in a fruity way.