worst rum

[Bill Poster]

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely.

Great for lighting barbeques though

[adegiulio]

Pub Club. They make the worst of everything, Vodka, gin, tequila...

[Ed Hamilton]

Fajou from Guadeloupe sticks in my mind as one of the worst. But one of the biggest disappointments was Captain Morgan's Private Stock. Great packaging, great name, but I've tasted better cough syrup.

A few years ago I did an article about the worst rums for a Caribbean magazine. I'll see if I can find it.

[Jason Perlow]

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely.

Great for lighting barbeques though

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Its very high proof and I use it as a mixer.

[baconburner]

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely.

Great for lighting barbeques though

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The Province of Newfoundland in Canada used to import a lot of rum from the Carribean in the good old wooden kegs. After the rum was sold or rebottled the locals soaked the barrels with a lttle water inside and produced a product that was so wonderful they called it "Screach".

A local distiller here in Vancouver B.C. closed down and "my ex friend" bought some barrels to make planters. Before he did so he soaked them in the proscribed manner. That was 14 years ago and it still sits in the very, very back of my bar.

Cheers

Poorsh

[gethin]

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely.

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For a spiced rum, i think Sailor Jerry's is pretty drinkable . I wouldn't want to drink a lot of it, or very often but i do buy the odd one in a pub towards the end of a night. Must try it as a hot buttered rum sometime.

The packaging is great , both the original (rather gay) bottle with a plastic sailors hat and the current tattoed lady design.

The worst rum in the world has to be any French supermarket rum. The French just do not get rum at all.

Gethin

Edited October 2, 2005 by gethin (log)

[Ed Hamilton]

mine has to be Sailor jerry's. A shame because the packaging was lovely.

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The worst rum in the world has to be any French supermarket rum. The French just do not get rum at all.

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Even in the French islands, the supermarket rums can be a bit dodgey at best. While there is a lot of discussion that rhum agricole can make a good drink, it shouldn't be overlooked that the French also make an almost equal amount of rum from molasses, called "rhum traditionnel." Just as I've yet to find a rum made from fresh sugar cane juice on an English-speaking island that is even close to the worst of the sugar cane juice rums on the French islands, the French seem to have become very proficient at making bad rum from molasses.

There are a number of reasons for this disparity, fermentation and distillation are only part of the story. Some things just can't be translated.

[dsoneil]

The Province of Newfoundland in Canada used to import a lot of rum from the Carribean in the good old wooden kegs. After the rum was sold or rebottled the locals soaked the barrels with a lttle water inside and produced a product that was so wonderful they called it "Screach".

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Actaully, the product from the water soaked barrels was/is called "Swish". The products called Screech is imported rum from Jamaica, which is aged for three years in the Newfoundland climate. It's actually not as bad as the name implies. Swish on the other hand...

[Kristian]

Worst rum that I have tasted is prolly Captain Morgan, the basic cheap stuff. That was the first rum I tasted straight and it is a wonder that I ever continued to tasting other rums. But, then again, I've always been an insistent b*****d.

Other than that, my worst experience must have been the very early patches of NO Rum. I hear that they improved since...

But now, given the destruction in NO with Katrina, I'm not sure if they are still producing it or not...

[elixirofthetropics]

My worst rum experience happened this week. Capt Morgan's Private Stock. My curiosity got the best of me; so, I tried it. It tastes like I'm drinking straight Vanilla Extract with a hint of oak. Coke makes it a lot better, but Ginger Ale makes it taste like Green Bean pot-liquor. Maybe I won't follow my curiosity next time.

[Alchemist]

Any flavored rum. Mango, Pinapple and orange, made by a respectable rum company recently are the atrocities that come to mind.

[Ned Christiansen]

I spent six weeks in Romania in 1996. I was curious of course, about local rum and was repeatedly warned away from it. I finally bought some, don't remember the name but it came in a bottle remeniscent of a Karo Syrup or molasses bottle. It was, indeed, bloody awful, no rum flavor at all, more like.... how shall I desribe it..... rot gut. When drinking was called for, I drank mostly Kalashnikov or Rasputin vodka.

A couple of my faves are Venezuelan, Santa Teresa has one that's called 1765 or something like that, it's very tasty to me. Pampero is also a big name in rum there and I like it with "Maltin", a soda beverage made from-- as I understand it-- brewery left overs.

[LunaSea]

Some godawful stuff a friend of mine brought back from Jamaica in a coke bottle! It'd probably make a good cockroach spray though! Some of the run-of-the-mill Bacardi rums are pretty poor, in my humble opinion. And Jamaican Sea Wynde rum burns when it goes down, but probably due to its high alcohol content (46%) than anything.

Ned, you're thinking of Santa Teresa 1796.

[Soren Nielsen]

And Jamaican Sea Wynde rum burns when it goes down, but probably due to its high alcohol content (46%) than anything.

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Sea Wynde, blended by whisky guru Jim Murray, has received quite a bit of hype but is also near the top of my list of bad rums. It is designed to mimic the taste of the original British Navy Rum, a job it probably does well but I guess the original wasn't that good in the first place - apart from the obvious historical and symbolic value.

The Sea Wynde 2nd edition is a tad sweeter and lighter in color.

[LunaSea]

Is it just me or does Pusser's rum suck too?

[VoodooDog]

Is it just me or does Pusser's rum suck too?

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Sucks is a bit harsh. However good is a bit generous as well.

[Rebecca263]

I feel like such a schmo.

I have absolutely no taste or scruples when it comes to rum.

Rum is my favorite alcoholic drink.

OK, here's the level of my ignorance. My 2 favorite drinks are: dark rum with raw sugar and lime cut into it, OR dark rum with raw sugar and milk cut into it. Disgusting, I know. I LOVE both drinks! Just had a milk rum for lunch, ha!

I just don't like white rums at all, and I don't get the appeal.

I need a knowledgable guy to show me the whole white rum thing.

White rum, WHY????????

I even prefer Castillo Gold (that cheap Puerto Rican rum) over white rum.

[Foodie Craze]

Is it just me or does Pusser's rum suck too?

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But wasn't Pusser's originally intended to mix with water to make Grog? 150 proof for shipboard use, originally invented by British Navy Admiral Vernon -- actually the person Mt. Vernon was named after. (They called him Old Grosgrain, because of his "grosgrain" cloth coat, which was shortened to "Old Grog")

I vaguely remember a very drunken day in London's suburbs -- Shepherd's Bush, where one of those explosions went off recently -- leaving a pub and going to the home of a new-found friend where we drank too much of that stuff.

The worst rum, though, is the one you drink way too much of, when you're drinking not to have a good time but to avoid the rain on a tiny island smack in the middle of a seven mile bridge down in the keys. Pigeon Key. Bad weather makes bad rum.

[Foodie Craze]

Fajou from Guadeloupe sticks in my mind as one of the worst. But one of the biggest disappointments was Captain Morgan's Private Stock. Great packaging, great name, but I've tasted better cough syrup.

A few years ago I did an article about the worst rums for a Caribbean magazine. I'll see if I can find it.

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Wait - wait. I completely forgot Brazilian rum. If you consider cachaca (pinga, aguardente de cana, etc.) a rum ... after all it is made with sugar cane, although doesn't have that same brown sugar savor of rum. But neither does Sailor Jerry I'll bet. Anyway, it happens a lot in Brazil.

You're in Sao Paulo or Rio or Belem at someone's home, and they bring out a bottle of clear stuff, no label or cork. And they say, you have to try this, it's really good.

One whiff -- it smells industrial, like solvent, like paint thinner. And it gives you a high beyond alcohol. Has anyone tried pisco? A bit like that. The worst of them are unlabeled, but so are some of the best! Pitu is pretty bad. Sao Francisco is one of the best, has a mellow light brown color.

They generally mash it in a mortar with lime and sugar to make Caipirinhas.

Some Foodie Craze Libations trivia:

The three classes of "Caipirinhas:"

Lime mixed with Cachaca - caipirinha

Lime mixed with Vodka - caipirovska

and with good rum - caipirissima.

By the way the Portuguese word "Caipirinha" means "little country girl." A caipira is a a person from the country -- more or less translates to 'redneck'

[LunaSea]

Foodie Craze, I've sat on Pigeon Key and got stupid drunk on a number of occasions back when the old bridges were still operational. I mean, what else is there to do there? Have you ever been to Woody's Bar on Islamorada and listened to that rude blues band, Big Dick & The Extenders? What fun!

[KOK]

I feel like such a schmo.

I have absolutely no taste or scruples when it comes to rum.

Rum is my favorite alcoholic drink.

OK, here's the level of my ignorance. My 2 favorite drinks are: dark rum with raw sugar and lime cut into it, OR dark rum with raw sugar and milk cut into it. Disgusting, I know. I LOVE both drinks! Just had a milk rum for lunch, ha!

I just don't like white rums at all, and I don't get the appeal.

I need a knowledgable guy to show me the whole white rum thing.

White rum, WHY????????

I even prefer  Castillo Gold (that cheap Puerto Rican rum) over white rum.

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Unlike Officer Krupke you are not a schmo. You like what you like and there's nothing wrong with that (and yes, LunaSea, I don't like Pusser's at all, and I even bought a bottle of it to go along with the Pusser's painkiller mix I also bought ) In the movie version of 'Guys and Dolls' Sky and Sarah have milk rums down in Cuba.

And while Castillo Gold may not win any awards, for less than $7 a bottle it is a great bargain and far from horrible.

As the man said, drink what you like and like what you drink.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Rebecca263]

Unlike Officer Krupke you are not a schmo.  .

Kevin

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Gee, Officer Krupke, I thought he was a SQUARE! Trust me, no one would ever find anything square about my personage, there's nothing but curves all around....

Today with lunch I had some Mount Gay with raw sugar and a slice of lime. I don't know which Mount Gay, but I remembered liking it before and when I was asked if I'd like a glass, well, how could I refuse? The only alternative was a pina colada, not my favorite thing. what's the consensus amongst you rum experts about Mount Gay? I LIKED it!

[KOK]

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Gee, Officer Krupke, I thought he was a SQUARE! Trust me, no one would ever find anything square about my personage, there's nothing but curves all around....

Today with lunch I had some Mount Gay with raw sugar and a slice of lime. I don't know which Mount Gay, but I remembered liking it before and when I was asked if I'd like a glass, well, how could I refuse? The only alternative was a pina colada, not my favorite thing. what's the consensus amongst you rum experts about Mount Gay? I LIKED it!

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Curves? Ehhhhhhhhhhxcellent . You are right, a Square and a slob, but not a schmo.

Many years ago I went to Barbados and was told Cockspur and Mount Gay were like the Coke and Pepsi of Barbados rum and that Cockspur wasn't exported. While both were very good, I brought home Cockspur as Mount Gay was available here. Now it seems Cockspur comes to the the U.S. in barrels and is bottled here. Both are still good rums to me.

K

[Foodie Craze]

Foodie Craze, I've sat on Pigeon Key and got stupid drunk on a number of occasions back when the old bridges were still operational. I mean, what else is there to do there? Have you ever been to Woody's Bar on Islamorada and listened to that rude blues band, Big Dick & The Extenders? What fun!

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My experience was an organized pre-event to a sci-fi convention back in the day when I was writing bad horror stories. Upon arriving we were all issued a bottle of cheap rum -- brandname charitably lost to the mists of time. Rained the whole time. Some guy there was a cardshark and cleaned out everyone. We smoked Dutch cigars called "Seurdieck" and called them ... well you can guess what we called them. The little event was called the Moon Con and rechristened the Gloom Con. If you were there, you remember. If you weren't, be glad.

[LunaSea]

There are lots of rums that are perfectly fine for mixed drinks, but when it comes to sipping them straight, or with a couple of ice cubes, that's when most of them drop off the radar screen for me. I quit making mixed drinks many years ago after refining my tastes and going on a quest to learn more about sipping rums. Therefore, I would classify Mount Gay as a mixed-drink rum.

My wife recently returned from Jamaica with a bottle of 21 y/o Appleton which, for my tastes anyway, was disappointing. I'll save it for my friends who are mixers.

Now, where's that bottle of Pyrat Cask 23?