Rum from Fiji

[westsail]

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.

[Ed Hamilton]

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about some of these rums. As far as I know they are made from fresh sugar cane juice like the rums in the French Caribbean and not from molasses as is Bundaberg. Do you recall if the labels claimed that these rums were 'rhum agricole'?