Sugar Cane Brandy

[Toby]

I have a recipe that calls for sugar cane brandy or dark rum. What exactly is sugar cane brandy (difference in distillation process from rum??), do you know the names of any producers and is it obtainable in NY area?

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

Industrial rum is made from the fermentation of molasses, a by-product of the production of sugar from cane. Agricultural rum is made from fermented sugar cane juice.

Like Mount Gay Sugar Cane Rum in the thread below.

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

Did I mention I've been to Elvis' birthplace?

How far from Canada are you? NYC or state?

[Toby]

To Tupelo? Did you go to the house itself? How come? What was it like?

New York City.

So, I'm still not clear -- what you're saying is that what this recipe was calling sugar cane brandy is agricultural rum, aka sugar cane rum? Then what is Barbancourt? How'd you like the Barbancourt? I was buying the older stuff until the price rose rather steeply.

[Kristian]

Sugar Cane Brandy is Sugar Cane Rum and vice versa.

A quote from the site of Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd.:

Not to be confused with generic "brandy", the product is entirely rum. The name is a legacy from times when the product contained such a high proportion of double distillate that its organoleptic characteristics were much like those of brandy. In some markets, such as the USA, because of legal restrictions, the name "Sugar Cane Rum" is used in place of the original name "Sugar Cane Brandy".

Visit the page for an image of a rum bottle label, where the word rum is in small print and brandy in large... Interesting!

As is this following site:History lesson

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

Thanks for clarifying Kristian, I thought so, but wasn't sure.

Yes, I went to the house, it's not much. I did it because I was in Tupelo.

If you get bored in Tupelo, you can go see Elvis' birthplace. If you get bored again, you can go see Elvis' birthplace...not much to do in Tupelo.

[Toby]

Thanks to both of you for the answer. I've been trying to get the answer for a while -- amazing how uniformed people in liquor stores can be.

There is, in Tupelo, a recreation center for young people founded and funded by Elvis, with, I think, a swimming pool, for further recreation. Do they let you in the house? You know, it's been totally gentrified. It did not look like that when the Presleys actually lived there -- they were evicted from it, although this may be more Elvis info than anyone wants to know. Are the fairgrounds where E first performed (age 10) still there?

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

I didn't try to go in, and sorry, don't know the answers to your questions. I've only been there twice.

It's 180 miles up the Natchez Trace Parkway, a beautiful, but slow drive from me.

[Ed Hamilton]

Mount Gay is the only distillery in the Eastern Caribbean that bottles a sugar cane brandy. And like a previous response it is the same liquid as their sugar cane rum but it is sold in different markets. Good stuff and should be great in cooking, much different from Refined Eclipse.