tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81494433538938913262024-03-26T09:09:20.278+00:00The Rum NerdRum, geekery and musingsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-8860585377954990742017-07-15T17:31:00.002+01:002017-07-15T17:31:29.333+01:00Saigon Rum - the Tattoo Fixers guest of rumsThere's some decisions you know you'll regret in the moment but you figure "bugger it, how bad can it be?". It's this self same instinct that led to the Ginsters pasty empire and keeps Tattoo Fixers supplied with idiots.<br />
<br />
In a fit of wild optimism I picked up a bottle of this for 100,000 Dong in Ho Chi Minh City and that's about £3, I <i>knew</i> it was going to be bad but there's something about international travel that suppresses your rational, logical brain (see the number of Magaluf genital tattoos in the aforementioned Tattoo Fixers).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Premium quality...errr</td></tr>
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But, in the long tradition of weird bottles of spirit that you buy on holiday I decided to give it a go. So, what does £3 get you?<br />
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On the nose there's a weird, not entirely unpleasant medicinal note, like a drowsy cough medicine with some over-ripe banana.<br />
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Flavour-wise is where things get strange, it's a thin, TCP like flavour, the bananas keep floating around the edge of the palate.<br />
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Its undeniably harsh on the way down, with a definite burn and odd tingle. A lingering aftertaste of something unpleasant, a morning after mouth of many mixed drinks. The burn is quite something given this is only 33% ABV.<br />
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It's certainly not as bad as, say, <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/05/stroh-40-i-drank-it-so-you-dont-have-to.html">Stroh</a>, but it's pretty bloody awful. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISC rum from@joblogsrum</td></tr>
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Apparently this is "Blended and bottled under he strict control of Slaur Sardet, France." Slaur Sardet are a French company who make a large range of <a href="http://www.slaur.com/en/product-397-Baita.html">rums</a>. Funnily this one doesn't show up on their product page. Interestingly there is also an "ISC Rum" floating around Vietnam with a very similar design of bottle and of French origin as spotted by the excellent @<a href="https://twitter.com/JoBlogsRum">joblogsrum</a>.<br />
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Bottom line is, it's cheap, not very good and not especially interesting but sometimes you have to take a punt.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-60130115744601368442016-12-31T14:54:00.000+00:002016-12-31T14:54:54.676+00:00SeaWolf Scottish RumBoilermaker Drinks is a Scottish company, founded by the Edinburgh cocktail impresarios behind <a href="http://bramblebar.co.uk/">Bramble</a>, Lucky Liquor Company & The Last Word along with one of the co-founders of <a href="http://www.vinowines.co.uk/">Vino Wines</a>. Seeing the gin market saturated and with only <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/06/DarkMatterSpicedRum.html">one other Scottish rum</a> on the market they took the bold choice of producing a Scottish white rum. <br />
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This is a tricky proposition, unlike a spiced rum a white rum has to be drinkable on its own terms, work in a range of cocktails and be relatively affordable.<br />
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Working with Ogilvy Spirits in Angus, the producers of a very drinkable potato vodka they've come up with SeaWolf. Taking its name from the Native American term for killer whales, pods of which are seen along Britain's coast they've produced a beautiful bottle which avoids the usual cliches of palm trees, white beaches and pirates (the beaches of Angus being a bit more likely to induce hypothermia).<br />
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Given the North of Scotland lacks the tropical climate that makes the ageing process so fast for Caribbean rums Boilermaker have produced an unaged 100% pot still rum.<br />
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Counteracting the lack of ageing a mixture of rum and champagne yeasts have been used in a 4 week, low temperature fermentation to produce a flavoursome wash. Coupling that with a pot still makes a spirit that's rich and deep in flavour.<br />
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On the nose the rum has a funky, banana-y note with some light toffee. The lack of ageing gives it a certain agricole/cachaca note that's subtle but interesting.<br />
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There's a creamy mouthfeel with a general fruitiness and a peppery spice, on the finish there's some burn coupled with a dry spiciness. For an unaged rum this slips down very easily, the 41% ABV gives it a more substantial body than other white rums.<br />
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The test of a white rum is the <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/06/the-daiquiri.html">daiquiri </a> , a simple cocktail that highlights the rum base. For me my favoured recipe is a classic <a href="https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2365/daiquiri-no1-on-the-rocks-diffords-1032-formula">Difford's 10:3:2 </a> on the rocks. The SeaWolf has enough funk to stand up to the lime, leaving a spiciness that balances out with the sweetness to make a very, very drinkable cocktail.<br />
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At £29.99 for a 50cl bottle that's part of a limited run of 300 bottles it represents good value and an interesting first step in a planned portfolio of spirits that I look forward to sampling.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.810968 -3.5109904999999961 56.095535999999996 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-51749374014914687262016-09-24T13:19:00.001+01:002016-09-24T13:19:33.469+01:00Rum Olympics - Round two round upA quick post to round up the second leg of the Rum Olympics, a lot of interesting ones here although sadly missed out on one selection as they'd proved too popular! Bet they were awful ones anyway..<br />
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So here's the final 16 and my candidates for what I think they are, some of those are more guesswork than others...the winners will be revealed at Kilderkin on Sunday 25th September from 3pm, so come along and find out.<br />
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<b>Rum Twenty One</b></div>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Light and woody with some caramel, really inviting <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>Quite light and subtle, sweet but not overly so, dangerously sippable <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Smooth, long and a little dry <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b>Captain Bligh (St Vincent) (18)</b></div>
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<b>Rum Twenty Two</b></div>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Quite powerful with a bit of a sea air thing going on <b>(7)</b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>Very dry and tingly before a sweetness comes though like hitting the middle of a sherbet lemon <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Long and dry <b>(6)</b><br />
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Quite stuck on this one, so I'll guess <b>Ryoma (Japan) (19)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Rum Twenty Three</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Strong but not much else there <b>(5)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Woody and warm with a nice pepperiness <b>(8)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Smooth and warm, quite long <b>(8)</b><br />
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The pepperiness makes me think this is an <b>Angostura (Trinidad & Tobago) (21)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Four</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Very rich toffee notes with some coffee <b>(7)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>A bit harsh but covered by the sweetness <b>(5)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Long and burnt tasting <b>(4)</b><br />
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Struggling to identify this, I'll go with <b>Old Monk (India) (16)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Five</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Quite dry but not much else to say about it <b>(4)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>A tingly vegetal thing, like licking a nettle <b>(4)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Long and quite savoury <b>(4)</b><br />
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Really unsure what to make of this, it's weirdly savoury. At a guess <b>Barbancourt (Haiti) (12)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Six</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Oranges, lots of oranges <b>(5)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Yes, it's oranges <b>(4)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Long and orangey <b>(4)</b><br />
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We've already had Pyrat so I'm stuck on what the hell this is. <b>Strange Holiday Rum (Spain)(13)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Seven</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Cloves ginger and cinnamon, very Christmasey <b>(6)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b> Christmas spices and sweetness <b>(6) </b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Little bitey and hot<b> (4)</b><br />
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This is definitely <b>Dark Matter (Scotland) (16) - </b>as an aside it made a nice mix with rum twenty six<br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Eight</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Really nothing here, barely able to tell it's actually rum <b>(3)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Wood notes and that's about it <b>(3)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>A little peppery<b> (3)</b><br />
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Another hard to place, perhaps <b>Cruzan (St Croix) (9)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Twenty Nine</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Quite sharp and harsh<b> (4)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Thin, watery no real body to it<b>(4)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Rough and hot <b>(2)</b><br />
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This was accurately summed up to me as "Just a wee bit shit" so it's likely <b>Bundaberg (Australia) (10)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty</b><br />
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<b>Aroma - </b>Quite rich but subtle, smooth<b>(6) </b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Warm, with stewed bananas and a bit smokey <b>(8)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Long, warm and smokey <b>(7)</b><br />
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Really liked this one, I think it's <b>Goslings Old Rum (Bermuda) (21)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty One</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Not a lot to it, alcohol and balsa wood <b>(4)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Starts quite well but soon it's all TCP<b> (5)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Short, hot and stingy <b>(4)</b><br />
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Blergh, not very good at all, my candidate is <b>Ron Prohibidio (Mexico) (13)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty Two</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Grassy notes and a strange chemical overtone, like sniffing paint on a lawnmower <b>(3)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Chemical and dry aspirin<b> (3)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Lingering and weird<b> (3)</b><br />
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Really not enjoyable, I think it's <b>Berry Bros Fiji (Fiji) (9)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty Three</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Quite punchy with toffee and leathery tobacco<b> (8)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Sweet, woody and toffee<b> (8)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>A little short but pleasant <b>(8)</b><br />
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As we've not had it yet <b>Ron Zacapa (Guatelmala) (24)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty Four</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Quite light, almost perfumed and rather delicate<b> (8)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Light and subtle sweetness, a little let down after the nose<b> (6)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Perfectly pleasant but unmemorable<b> (6)</b><br />
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Possibly something like <b>La Hechicera (Colombia) (20)</b><br />
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<b>Rum Thirty Five</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Aroma - </b>Bland, inoffensive<b> (5)</b><br />
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<b>Taste - </b>Very very dry with some sweetness underneath that<b> (5)</b><br />
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<b>Finish - </b>Lingering and a bit plasticy<b> (5)</b><br />
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Not great, not terrible, not easy to guess what the hell it is. My somewhat arbitrary guess is <b>Fair (Belize) (15)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Rum Thirty Six</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Like someone had liquidized a Highland Toffee bar <b>4</b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>As above, it's just toffee and nothing else <b>4</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Sweet and lingering with a real harshness coming through <b>3</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Sickly sweet and not very enjoyable, i think it's <b>Don Papa (Phillipines) (12)</b></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-22831812470181164342016-08-28T10:36:00.000+01:002016-08-28T11:06:55.485+01:00Rum Olympics - rounds 4 & 5The closing stages of the first round of the Rum Olympics brought together some disparate spirits, some were Usain Bolt, others were more Paula Radcliffe in Athens.<br />
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Read about other rounds:<br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-round-one.html">Round 1</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-rounds-two-and-three.html">Rounds 2 & 3</a><br />
<h2>
Kilderkin</h2>
<h3>
Rum thirteen</h3>
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<b>Aroma </b>- Ooft, this one is a bit harsh on the nose, a weird mixture of windolene and petrol <b>(2)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>A burnt edge with rubbery, ashy notes like eating a burnt rubber band <b>(2)</b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Oddly chemical tasting and lingering <b>(1)</b></div>
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Bad, just bad. I'm 50/50 on what this is and I'm going with <b>Mehkong (Thailand) (5)</b></div>
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<h3>
<b>Rum fourteen</b></h3>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Lots and lots of toffee with some coffee coming through and a sort of toffee popcorn feel to it. <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>As expected from the nose this is sweet, but not overbearing with some alcohol burn that helps offset the sweetness <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Surprisingly clean for everything that's gone before, slips down fairly easily <b>(6)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Enjoyed this one, sweet but not too sweet and very easy drinking. I think this is <b>Ron Millonario (Peru) (18)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum fifteen</b></h3>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Bland, there really isn't anything coming off this at all, I could tell you it's alcohol and that's about it <b>(1)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>The problem with such a bland nose is that there's no warning of the taste. This is bitter, harsh, like walking into a school changing room and being enveloped in a cloud of Lynx Africa <b>(1)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Lingering and bitter <b>(1)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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This glass didn't need washed afterwards, it needed exorcised, this is competing with Stroh for the bottom spot so far, stuck for what this might be <b>No idea (the depths of hell) (3)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum sixteen</b></h3>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Some light butterscotch, not too much going on but pleasant enough <b>(4)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b> A bit of funk and some punchiness with sweetness coming in later <b>(4)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Quite dry, not too long, not too short <b>(4)</b></div>
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Inoffensive, but equally not that exciting, this would be a good bottle to have on the table and drink away while doing something else. I think it's <b>Chairman's Reserve (St Lucia) (12)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<h2>
<b><a name='more'></a></b></h2>
<h2>
<b>The Windsor Buffet</b></h2>
<h3>
<b style="text-align: center;"> Rum seventeen</b></h3>
<div>
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9xfWRAIIV7c/V8KqkHrRtsI/AAAAAAABH5E/5JsmAPD8X4UROKehzpFgq_dyzJd4Mm1pgCKgB/s1600/IMG-20160825-WA0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9xfWRAIIV7c/V8KqkHrRtsI/AAAAAAABH5E/5JsmAPD8X4UROKehzpFgq_dyzJd4Mm1pgCKgB/s200/IMG-20160825-WA0001.jpg" width="200" /></a><b>Aroma - </b>Interesting, orange peel and nougat, aniseed and paint stripper <b>(5)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>Orange, lots of orange like a molten Terry's Chocolate Orange <b>(4)</b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Dry, long and very, very orangey <b>(3)</b></div>
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Seriously sweet, this is practically a liqueur to taste it so this is <b>Pyrat (Anguilla) (12)</b></div>
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<h3>
<b>Rum eighteen</b></h3>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Lots of cut grass and funky notes, definitely challenging <b>(5) </b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Taste - </b>Punchy, a little think with a definite alcohol bite and a long vegetal note <b>(5)</b></div>
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<b>Finish - </b>Short, hot and a bit dry <b>(4)</b></div>
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Definitely a challenging rum, but the Laphroaig drinker in me likes that sometimes. My suspect is <b>Smith & Cross (Jamaica) (14)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum nineteen</b></h3>
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<b>Aroma - </b>Not much if anything here, a little sweetness and alcohol that tells you it's a rum but not much else <b>(4)</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>A bit of bite here, some woody notes which are quite pleasant but otherwise meh <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Non-existent, it's just gone <b>(3)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
A boring white rum, can't be too harsh as white rums are made for mixing but this is meh. I'm making a guess at <b>Brugal Blanco (Dominican Republic (11)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum twenty</b></h3>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Some vegetal notes and a big alcohol hit, a little sweetness <b>(5) </b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Sweet and bitter with a kind of grainy flavour to it that's hard to describe <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Long, warm and woody with a bit of harshness <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Not sure about this one, it's a bit allover the shop but enjoyably so. The aroma makes me think it's an agricole but it doesn't taste as funky as you'd expect from an agricole. Arbitrarily I'll say <b>Pere Labat (Guadeloupe) (13)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.8109675 -3.5109904999999961 56.0955365 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-39742065902078396032016-08-09T11:26:00.001+01:002016-08-28T11:07:22.678+01:00Rum Olympics - Rounds two and threeA double session on Sunday saw a marathon between <a href="http://www.lapetitemortedinburgh.co.uk/">La Petite Mort</a> and<a href="http://www.bennetsbaredinburgh.co.uk/"> Bennets Bar</a> taking in rounds 2 & 3 of the Rum Olympics. A group of us, fulled by an excellent brunch started with the selection at La Petite Mort.<br />
<br />
Read about other rounds:<br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-round-one.html">Round 1</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-rounds-4-5.html">Rounds 4 & 5</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
La Petite Mort </h2>
<br />
<h3>
Rum five</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G923sdTjvw0/V6mlRYfCDqI/AAAAAAABHIk/k_96DtakEZsEaeXeOXe1G18dmM6Vl3bWACKgB/s1600/IMG_20160807_150226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G923sdTjvw0/V6mlRYfCDqI/AAAAAAABHIk/k_96DtakEZsEaeXeOXe1G18dmM6Vl3bWACKgB/s200/IMG_20160807_150226.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Petite Mort selection</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Some alcohol burn, with woody notes but overall quite subtle <b>(7)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Some light toffee notes and a bit of bite and a definitely drying <b>(6)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Quite smooth, long and dry <b>(5)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
Quite enjoyable and complex, I think it's a <b>Ron Abuelo (Panama) (18)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum six</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Really very little here, some grassy notes but mainly just alcohol <b>(2)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Lot of burn with some citrus <b>(2)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Harsh and quite a lot of burn <b>(1)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
Not great, I think it's a cachaca so I'll go with <b>Abelha Cachaca (Brazil) (5)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum seven</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>This is what despair smells like <b>(1)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Weird, industrial, burnt rubber<b>(1)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Long, genuinely unpleasant <b>(1)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
This has to be Stroh, which is by a distance the worst rum <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/05/stroh-40-i-drank-it-so-you-dont-have-to.html">I've ever tasted</a>. <b>Stroh (Austria) (3).</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum eight</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Quite light but sweet, plenty of butterscotch <b>(7)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Quite sweet but not overpowering, pretty well balanced <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Long, sweet but with a little burnt edge to it <b>(7)</b></div>
<div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b></div>
<div>
Enjoyable and very sippable, my candidate is <b>Plantation Barbados 5yo (Barbados) (22)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<br />
<h2>
Bennets Bar</h2>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nqi11Dv9NU4/V6mlRTblVJI/AAAAAAABHIk/bPyxcFpAkOY76F_WPJANUSCE7k5qRdaiQCKgB/s1600/IMG-20160807-WA0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nqi11Dv9NU4/V6mlRTblVJI/AAAAAAABHIk/bPyxcFpAkOY76F_WPJANUSCE7k5qRdaiQCKgB/s200/IMG-20160807-WA0002.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bennets rums</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Rum nine </h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Really not much here, some alcohol notes and maybe some coconut <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>A bit of aniseed and coconut <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Nothing really, it's just gone <b>(2)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
An underwhelming low ABV white rum, I say <b>Bacardi (Puerto Rico) (10)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b>Rum ten</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Dark toffee notes and some alcohol warmth <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Sweet toffee with a hot edge to it, a kind of hot buttered toast flavour to it <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Long, warm and very smooth, no burn worth mentioning <b>(7)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Really stuck for what this is so I'll say it's a <b>Flor de Cana (Nicaragua) (23)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum eleven</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>the burnt sugar on top of a creme brulee <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Punchy, aggressive in a good way and praline notes <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Long, very long with nutty warmth <b>(8)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
I'm fairly sure this is <b>Pussers (Navy) (24)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum twelve</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>A little funky and sweet, a bit confusing <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Toffee, sweetness, almost cloying but not quite <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>A lingering sweetness <b>(4)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
A bit one note this, it's sweet, very sweet but that's about it. Crying out for some citrus to cut through it. I'm saying <b>Diplomatico Blanco Reserva (Venezuela) (12)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Some very, very sippable rums in these two selections. Yes rum 7 is awful, but that serves the purpose of showing that every other rum you will ever taste is better than this. Watch this space for rounds 4 and 5 in the weeks to come</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-38832889555616228192016-08-05T12:03:00.000+01:002016-08-28T11:08:35.715+01:00Rum Olympics - Round one<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zKPmeiAeXyM/V6RFnOrbXRI/AAAAAAABHEY/Pk_QGBGrGZIJklUZte4-Vyqa9l_ihNzigCKgB/s1600/IMG_20160804_192230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zKPmeiAeXyM/V6RFnOrbXRI/AAAAAAABHEY/Pk_QGBGrGZIJklUZte4-Vyqa9l_ihNzigCKgB/s200/IMG_20160804_192230.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mystery bottles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As the <a href="http://www.edfringe.com/">Fringe</a> gets into gear here in Edinburgh and the city is invaded by one man shows, Mongolian throat singers and people are slowly drowned under piles of flyers what better excuse to sample 40 rums across the city and decide which is best?<a href="http://kilderkingroup.tumblr.com/post/148459262306/edinburgh-rum-club-presents-the-rum-olympics"> </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://kilderkingroup.tumblr.com/post/148459262306/edinburgh-rum-club-presents-the-rum-olympics">The Rum Olympics</a> at the various outposts of the Kilderkin Group is a blind tasting of 40 rums between now and 25th September with each bar serving 4 mystery rums in blind bottles as you can see to the right. I assume the second batch of 20 would go on at the start of September.<br />
<br />
Now, at £10 for a 4 drink flight that's a pretty good value for 4 rums, but equally I think we can reasonably assume there's not going to be any <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/01/diplomatico-single-vintage-2000.html">Diplomatico Single Vintage</a> in one of these bottles.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3tzBwFZEDPI/V6RFnAivS4I/AAAAAAABHEY/A8Rfb7fGb0oZd_04HwylOlFT8_fMXG2rgCKgB/s1600/IMG_20160804_192242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3tzBwFZEDPI/V6RFnAivS4I/AAAAAAABHEY/A8Rfb7fGb0oZd_04HwylOlFT8_fMXG2rgCKgB/s200/IMG_20160804_192242.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mystery measures</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With each rum being scored from 1-10 for aroma, taste and finish it's certainly going to be interesting what comes out on top come the end of September.<br />
<br />
<br />
On to the first 4 rums themselves that I had at the Blue Blazer last night, as I've no idea what any of them are and the bar staff were giving nothing away I'm trying to guess what these are but may well be horribly wrong on a lot of them.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Rum one</b></h3>
<b>Aroma - </b>Grassy, hamster cages and hot melted butter with a bit of harsh alcohol. Definitely an agricole. <b>(2)</b><br />
<br />
<b>Taste - </b>A bit underwhelming, some burn and rawness but not much else.<b> (2)</b><br />
<br />
<b>Finish - </b> Grassy and scratchy. <b>(1)</b><br />
<br />
It's definitely agricole, I'm going with <b>La Mauny Blanc (Martinique) (5/30)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<h3>
<b>Rum two</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Toffee, toffee and more toffee, it warms up and smells like a caramac bar <b>(3)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Immensely sweet with bitter burnt edges and a really weird mouthfeel <b>(1)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>Burnt, little harsh. This might go well over ice cream. (1)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Really not sure what the hell this is, I'll guess at <b>Don Papa (Phillipines) (5/30) </b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum three</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Really getting nothing here, there's some strawy/grassy notes but not much else <b>(2)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Not much here at all, it's fine, inoffensive but nothing to really grab a hold of your taste buds <b>(2)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>There really isn't a finish, it's just gone<b> (2)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's light, inoffensive so probably Spanish so I'll go with <b>Ron Cubay Anejo (Cuba) (6/30). </b>If Coldplay could be embodied as a rum it'd be this.</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<h3>
<b>Rum four</b></h3>
<div>
<b>Aroma - </b>Coffee notes along with the usual caramel, a little aggressive <b>(6)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Taste - </b>Bitter edges to an overall sweet profile, little dry <b>(6)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Finish - </b>A little burn on the way down and a bit dry <b>(6)</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Definitely more oomph to this one, so I think it's an <b>El Dorado 5 year old (Guyana) (18/30)</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Overall it's entirely possible I'm being harsh in my scoring of the rums that disappointed me so I'll keep an eye on this throughout the events, these were interesting rums that I'm looking forward to finding out what they actually are.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you're in Edinburgh for the festival I'd recommend giving this a go, it's a lot of fun.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'll post updates as I go through the rest of the rums<br />
<br />
Read about other rounds:<br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-rounds-two-and-three.html">Rounds 2 & 3</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/08/rum-olympics-rounds-4-5.html">Rounds 4 & 5</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-8331884052222783772016-07-11T18:08:00.002+01:002016-07-11T18:08:56.179+01:00Flying Dutchman white rum - an unexpected winner<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dutch rum? It sounds like something you’d nick out of your parent’s booze cabinet when you were 16 to sneak down the park because you knew no-one would ever drink it. But step back from that and consider this is a triple copper pot distilled white rum, aged 12 months in heavily charred virgin American oak? That definitely sounds more like something in my wheel house.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FsQYTHWCsVY/VrugvB77jFI/AAAAAAABA9c/5sdHakq37iUOadZsiYEVVU28D7W57X9fwCKgB/s1600/IMG_20160210_201132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FsQYTHWCsVY/VrugvB77jFI/AAAAAAABA9c/5sdHakq37iUOadZsiYEVVU28D7W57X9fwCKgB/s320/IMG_20160210_201132.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dutch rum, actually really good</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Netherlands haven’t much of a rum culture, their former colonial empire being based in the Asia as they could actually navigate unlike that Columbus guy meant that they weren’t as involved in the repugnant triangular trade that brought rum to the heart of the Anglo-Saxon world. In modern times however the Dutch have expanded their spirits offering from the standard Genever to premium vodkas and now a selection of rums.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An often overlooked, but yet key, part of any spirit is the yeast and the fermentation from that. Yes, soaring burnished copper stills and coopers charring casks before they’re rolled into a dark, secretive warehouse are all very sexy, but where’s the love for this humble microorganism?</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-72846401-932f-aec5-40b0-ebbfa0dd2368"><span style="font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is huge variation in yeasts, with distillers (mostly) jealously guarding which strain they use. Yeast doesn't just produce ethanol, there's other alcoholic compounds produced as well as other reactions going on during fermentation, producing acids, congeners and esters (the <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/02/23-things-only-smith-cross-rum-drinker.html">compounds</a> that give Jamaican rum its glorious funky flavour). Generally fermentation is like good barbecue, low and slow produces the most flavour. Now from what I've been able to glean online Zuidam have a two week fermentation of the wine that goes to make Flying Dutchman, this is a very long process and should produce something packed with flavour. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Unusually for a white rum this is pot distilled, and is distilled three times in small hand-made copper pot stills. Pot stills are inefficient compared to column stills but they do, again, produce a more full-bodied, flavoursome spirit. Once distilled this is aged in heavily charred virgin American oak barrels for at least twelve months at 60% ABV, then comes the filtration to bring this back to a white rum, which inevitably strips out some of the flavour that those poor wee yeast cells have spent so long creating.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As you might expect from all this carry on the liquid itself is quite special, it's fruity and floral on the nose with much more depth than a white rum has any right to have. Flavour wise there's a lot of subtle citrus-y notes going on along with summer fruits, praline and a deliciously creamy mouthfeel from that magnificently inefficient pot still. There's a little bit of a bite on the way down to remind you this is a very young rum but it's remarkably subtle for something this age. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">While it's very pleasant on its own the test of any white rum is how it mixes, and using this in a <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/06/the-daiquiri.html">Daiquiri </a>(I favour Difford's <a href="http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/611/daiquiri-no1-natural-diffords-1032-recipe">10:3:2 recipe</a> makes for a very pleasant drink, the rum has enough body to stand up to the lime and enough flavour to not be wiped out by the combination of sugar and citrus. At £26 a bottle this is definitely one worth adding to your white rum line up.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-36326893431789218202016-01-23T10:51:00.001+00:002016-01-23T10:51:19.473+00:00Bonus Post - Rum Sixty Six Cocktails<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-d9c51140-6972-8f0b-01aa-64c3d0ae5a19" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While researching <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/01/new-year-new-rum-rum-sixty-six.html" target="_blank">Monday's post</a> about the excellent Rum Sixty Six, I came across a number of suggested cocktail recipes on their <a href="http://www.rumsixtysix.com/cocktails-drinks/holetown-daiquiri" target="_blank">website</a>. Now, in the interests of science I decided to try a few of them that were achievable without too much extra investment in ingredients and lined up with my own taste in cocktails. </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Midnight Rum</span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rum, bitters, sugar n apple</td></tr>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A variant on the classic old-fashioned this swaps out the standard Angostura bitters for the vivid red of Peychaud’s, which are more classically associated with the glorious Sazerac and adds in a dash of apple juice.</span>
<br /><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I was intrigued, if a little skeptical about the apple juice. The recipe is simple:</span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">60 ml Rum Sixty Six</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">15ml apple juice</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10ml sugar syrup</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lots of ice and stirring</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As it’s January and a distance to payday I made my own syrup and there’s no reason you shouldn’t do the same, just add 2 parts sugar to 1 part water and heat gently until it’s dissolved then leave aside to cool.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For experimental purposes I made two syrups, one with caster sugar and one with Demerara and tried the recipe with both. The two cocktails were both delicious but markedly different. Demerara syrup made the drink heavier with a more burnt edge to it and really highlighted the rum while the standard syrup made for a fresher, lighter drink. The Demerara variant was more of a winter’s evening drink for in front of an open fire with a good book or an obscure subtitled French cop show while the white sugar was more of a summery, barbecue drink</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Holetown Daiquiri</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just four ingredients</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This uses Falernum, a Bajan rum-based liqueur containing almond, cloves and lime. Now, as a daiquiri fan I like a strong, sour hit of citrus as typified by the delicious <a href="http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2365/daiquiri-no1-on-the-rocks-diffords-1032-formula" target="_blank">Difford's number 1</a> so this using lemon instead of lime made me curious. Another simple recipe here:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">50ml Rum Sixty Six</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">20ml lemon juice</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10ml sugar syrup</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">10ml Falernum</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Add ice, shake and strain</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While this doesn't have the upfront hit of citrus that I usually look for in my daiquiris it is very well-balanced and the Falernum adds a nice spiciness that contrasts with the sweetness to make for a drink that slips down very easily indeed. I’ll add the cautionary note that the Demerara syrup mentioned above </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.66px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> didn't work with this at all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Quite often the suggested serves for a spirit are either uninteresting or so complex you'd never bother making them, these cocktails, and the others suggested are straightforward, only needing one "special" ingredient in addition to the rum itself. I can safely say both of these will be </span><br />
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</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-5860732998896985422016-01-18T17:49:00.000+00:002016-01-23T10:55:42.670+00:00New Year, new rum - Rum Sixty-Six<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uy6G60v-cjQ/Vp0jvXn9xsI/AAAAAAABACM/3ty3eLWgNII/s1600/IMG_20160114_001435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uy6G60v-cjQ/Vp0jvXn9xsI/AAAAAAABACM/3ty3eLWgNII/s320/IMG_20160114_001435.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a fan of Bajan rums and those from the Foursquare Distillery especially I was delighted to come across this wee beauty on a wander round the ever-reliable <a href="http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/" target="_blank">Royal Mile Whiskies</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over time I've come to appreciate good packaging and this bottle definitely catches the eye.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Foursquare is the site of the first Bajan sugar plantation, dating from 1636 with the Seale family who now run it tracing their own rum family tree back to 1820 so there is some serious history going into this bottle. Richard Seale, the current Master Distiller of Foursquare, has been very <a href="http://thefloatingrumshack.com/content/index.php/168-talking-rum-and-sugar-with-richard-seale" target="_blank">forthright lately</a> around the use of added sugar in rum production arguing for greater transparency and a lot less </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">added sugar, indeed Bajan (as well as Jamaican) law prohibits the addition of sugar, viewing it as an </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">adulterant. So, with that in mind I reasonably assumed that this would be a good drop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This rum was apparently originally only made for members of the Seale family who had returned to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">England, hence the “Family Reserve” tag-line with the name “Rum Sixty Six” deriving from the fact </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that it was on 30th November 1966 that Barbados became independent from the UK. The rum is a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">blend of Coffey and pot still distillates which are blended then aged, rather than the typical approach </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of other distillers of aging then blending. When you think about it doing it this way shows serious </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">confidence in the product as once it’s blended that’s that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You see the term small-batch bandied around a lot without anyone really defining what the hell it </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">means, it often seems to be one of those generic “feel-good” phrases that are stuck on packaging in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">order to justify a few extra quid on the price (see also: artisanal, hand-crafted ). In this case, however, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Foursquare state each batch is around 112 small American white oak barrels they purchase from </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“A </i><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">famous distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee” </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">which we can reasonably conclude is Jack Daniels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Various sources put a Jack Daniels barrel at around the 200 litre mark, which makes each batch </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">around 22,400 litres. This sounds a lot but consider this, the angels’ share is 6% per year in the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tropical climate of Barbados which means after the 12 years are up you’re left with 47% of the liquid </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">you started with.Interestingly the rum is aged at 65% ABV rather than the typical 70-75% that other rums use, as such this helps minimise the angels’ share and increases the wood exposure, helping maximise the wood’s effect on the rum itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After 8 years the barrels are sampled with the best being let down to near the bottling ABV of 40% </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and then re-casked for the remaining four years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, we’ve established there’s a lot of work and heritage going into each bottle, but is it actually any good?</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The short answer is yes, very.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This has a rich, treacley, raisin scent to it, with vanilla coming through as the glass warms. A sip and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this rum does its utmost to coat every millimetre of your mouth with a pleasingly oily, viscous </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">mouthfeel while the flavour profile develops from an initial lightly burnt toast with golden syrup </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">note followed by treacle, raisins, vanilla and brown sugar. It’s a fascinating balance of bitter and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">sweet that showcases the brash, punchy distillates of the pot while still being balanced by the more nuanced Coffey still. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the way down this is smooth and warming with a long, slightly spiced, vanilla finish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At £35 this is a very enjoyable sipper, and one I can highly recommend for anyone looking for something with a bit more subtlety than some other rums, certainly I can see whisky drinkers finding </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this a good gateway rum. Like other Foursquare rums this drinks like a more expensive rum than it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coming soon - a look at some of the <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2016/01/bonus-post-rum-sixty-six-cocktails.html" target="_blank">cocktails </a>recommended by the Rum SixtySix website</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-29252639218500059352015-12-30T17:10:00.000+00:002015-12-30T17:10:19.060+00:00Book review – Classic Cocktails and Cuban Cocktails<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i>Note – I won these
books in an online draw courtesy of the ever-excellent <a href="http://thefloatingrumshack.com/content/" target="_blank">Floating Rum Shack</a></i><i> and <a href="http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/" target="_blank">Sterling Epicure publishers.</a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Two books dropped though my letterbox just before Christmas
and while quite different in their styles both are written by people who truly
care about a good cocktail and have a quite staggering array of experience to
call on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gGWiMdGFRzE/VoQN-4fhLOI/AAAAAAAA_Tk/2iVh6viHIUI/s1600/IMG_20151228_122102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gGWiMdGFRzE/VoQN-4fhLOI/AAAAAAAA_Tk/2iVh6viHIUI/s320/IMG_20151228_122102.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u>Classic cocktails
by Salvatore Calabrese<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
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This is a pleasingly hefty new edition of Calabrese’s 1997
tome, a veteran of various legendary London venues such as the Lanesborough
Hotel and Dukes Hotel Calabrese is clearly passionate about his drinks. <o:p></o:p></div>
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An engaged and clearly passionate writer Calabrese
takes his time discussing the history of the cocktail, glassware, ice-handling
and even famous bartenders and drinkers of the past before diving into a
chapter devoted to the Martini. The book is gorgeously illustrated with
photography so the cocktails juxtaposed with old and rare bottles of the
spirits concerned, drawing the reader into the notion that these are drinks
that have been around for decades and we drinkers are another part of that
history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are another 200+ cocktails detailed within the book,
all being at the more refined end of the spectrum, as you’d expect from the
title, with little titbits about their history here and there. At the end is a sections of “Calabrese
Classics”, drinks he has created over the years for family members, celebrities
and special occasions including the wonderful Breakfast Martini.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I only have one small quibble with the book, while Calabrese
is clearly a very enthusiastic and passionate man the exclamation point is
deployed much too often for my tastes and it did begin to grate a little after
a while. That is, admittedly, a very minor point and a question of personal
taste more than anything else.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Currently at <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Cocktails-Salvatore-Calabrese/dp/140278628X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451494958&sr=8-1&keywords=classic+cocktails" target="_blank">£14.94 on Amazon </a>this is an interesting read,
with some delicious sounding cocktails I look forward to trying out myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u>Cuban Cocktails by
Ravi DeRossi, Jane Danger & Alla Lapushchik<o:p></o:p></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reflecting a generational difference to Calabrese this is a
more rrelaxed, informal feeling book.
The writers have cocktail CV’s including some of the legendary US venues
such as Death & Co, PDT and Cienfuegos, the Cuban rum bar that inspired
this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, there’s one rather obvious problem with a book on Cuban
cocktails from the US, they can’t actually use any Cuban ingredients thanks to
that pesky embargo (naughty, naughty communists). This being said once you
accept that it’s an enjoyable book to dip into with some delicious sounding
recipes that are more Caribbean-inspired than strictly Cuban in a lot of cases
e.g a mint julep with Barbancourt rum from Haiti it’s very enjoyable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The
book shows some serious knowledge and it’s worn lightly with a
conversational writing style that’s relaxed and friendly with a section
covering the history of Cuba before an introductory section covering the
essential techniques, ingredients and so on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The recipes themselves are divided into four sections
covering colonial times, citrus drinks such as the daiquiri, Tiki drinks and
modern interpretations. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The photography mixes street scenes from Cuba with shots of
the cocktails themselves, both are evocative and enticing, making me
simultaneously crave a Daiquiri and to start pricing flights to Havana.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
At <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cuban-Cocktails-Classic-Modern-Drinks/dp/1454917504/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451494983&sr=8-1&keywords=cuban+cocktails" target="_blank">£17.99 on Amazon </a>this is a well-presented and gorgeously
photographed book, albeit it feels more like a book to leaf through on an idle
Sunday afternoon than one I’d pick up and start trying to make the drinks
mentioned, delicious though they do sound. <o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-38773876948732108242015-11-05T17:05:00.000+00:002015-11-05T17:05:04.228+00:00Caribana Sol - an insulin chaser please barman!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ez--VqJAmII/VjuIU5ixAbI/AAAAAAAA9L0/8tG53fPFLCM/s1600/IMG_20151104_065717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ez--VqJAmII/VjuIU5ixAbI/AAAAAAAA9L0/8tG53fPFLCM/s200/IMG_20151104_065717.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Spiced rum has a bad reputation and, while there are <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/06/DarkMatterSpicedRum.html" target="_blank">some </a>decent ones out there its reputation as a drink for the young and the skint is pretty accurate, largely it's low grade spirit whacked full of sugar, vanilla, maybe some cinnamon and has a vague nautical theme on the bottle.<br />
<br />
Picked up by a friend coming through Miami duty free as a bit of a joke (I hope) for the princely sum of $14, it’s fair to say I held little hope for this bottle and yet it somehow still managed to limbo under that very low bar.<br />
<br />
At 35% ABV this doesn't strictly qualify as rum, but given it doesn't qualify as drinkable we can let that minor quibble slide.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The bottle insists it was established in 1893 but I can find almost nothing out about this rum online other than the makers website which, after invoking the usual hackneyed and cliché ridden imagery of pirates and carnivals, tells the reader it's made with "<i>Barbados virgin rum with spices and natural flavours". </i>I'm taking that to mean it was aged as long as it took the distillate to come to room temperature.<br />
<br />
Once you pop it open there’s the obligatory cheap vanilla smell and such an overwhelming cloying caramel sweetness that you’re left wondering if there’s such a thing as nasal diabetes.<br />
<br />
Tasting is just more of the same, vanilla and so much sugar you can almost feel your molars<br />
dissolving with every sip, the finish is a lingering vanilla that will be familiar to anyone who's had a 99p cupcake from a petrol station.<br />
<br />
Coke does improve things a little, offsetting the worst of the sweetness but it’s still pretty terrible.<br />
<br />
Not every rum can be, or needs to be, a premium sipper, there’s a place for volume brands in the<br />
marketplace and I've mentioned elsewhere how impressed I am by <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/05/captain-morgans-white.html" target="_blank">Captain Morgan’s white rum</a> but<br />
this just comes off as a lazy, cynical drink, created on a spreadsheet somewhere with the cheapest<br />
ingredients that could be found and a general “eh, it’ll do” attitude.<br />
<br />
Good rum doesn't have to be expensive, you can pick up some cracking bottles of rum for under £20<br />
in most supermarkets these days, so, if you find yourself in Duty Free looking at a remarkably cheap bottle you know nothing about, do yourself a favour and spend the extra and get something genuinely good. Unless you know someone with a masochistic taste for reviewing ropey rums that is..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-46694451559009347492015-09-02T19:03:00.000+01:002015-09-02T19:03:58.449+01:00Bardinet Rhum Negrita - How bad can it be?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I've mentioned in other reviews here I am a sucker for good packaging, so when I saw this little beauty peeking out of the shelves of a French <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">supermarché you can imagine, I had to have it and the price point of a princely €3.49 doesn't hurt either.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PfZxOBQBfKE/VeczKZLLetI/AAAAAAAA7Ms/-AQrnqjujZQ/s1600/IMG_20150902_180516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PfZxOBQBfKE/VeczKZLLetI/AAAAAAAA7Ms/-AQrnqjujZQ/s200/IMG_20150902_180516.jpg" width="147" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Johnny Ive eat your heart out</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joking aside I was curious to see what on earth you get for that little money, would it be an abomination like <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCQQFjAAahUKEwiqk4_L8djHAhUE0xQKHbsqBEo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rumnerd.com%2F2013%2F05%2Fstroh-40-i-drank-it-so-you-dont-have-to.html" target="_blank">Stroh</a> or a French bargain like the <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/05/plantation-barbados-range.html" target="_blank">Plantation range</a>? </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">From what I can see the Bardinet company has been around since 1875 and are a bit of a French spirits behemoth with a facility that ages 30,000 </span><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">hectolitres</span><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"> at any one time while storing another 60,000. To put that in perspective that's nearly 4.3 MILLION bottles of spirit sitting and maturing so, I figure, they must know what they're doing.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Information about the rhum itself is not easy to find, it's a rhum agricole being made from cane juice as opposed to molasses in traditional rum production (which the French term rhum industriel). The bottle itself only states <i>"Iles Francaises du Rhum appellation d'origine" </i>which just means it's from the French Rhum islands. Others online have suggested it's a blend of rhums from Martinique, Guadeloupe and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Réunion which certainly fits.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Once it hits the glass you get an initial huge hit of oaky vanilla that's quite overpowering but fades away quite </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">quickly</span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"> leaving not much behind to be honest, really inhaling deeply there's some fruit and the typical grassy agricole funky smell but you have to hunt for it.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Once you take a sip there's a lot of oak and a peppery spicy dryness that's not unpleasant but fades off very quickly leaving a slightly medicinal taste which I found oddly enjoyable in a Laphroaig kind of way.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">There's a definite burn on the way down but nothing too harsh. Now this is clearly not intended to be a sipping rum and, much like Stroh a lot of the material online is around cooking with it but using it in a rum and coke worked pretty well with the pepperiness holding up well to the coke sweetness.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16.1200008392334px;">Overall for €3.49 you really have nothing to lose with this, it's a serviceable rhum, not a great example of the agricole form by any stretch of the imagination but for sticking in a rum and coke while on your holidays it does the job.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16.1200008392334px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.8109675 -3.5109904999999961 56.0955365 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-58080002397921482922015-07-28T21:37:00.000+01:002015-07-28T21:42:01.111+01:00Rum Blender - bespoke rumThe idea of blending rum conjurs images of dark, humid warehouses, barrels racked up as the angel's share escapes over the years while flavours mature and secrets passed down from blender to blender over the years. Much as I like that idea I live in Edinburgh so without a lottery win I'll not be in one of those warehouses any time soon.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F4rSbCSdqsY/VbfY2D2-fmI/AAAAAAAA5_k/dtjV7DbbhHo/s1600/IMG_20150728_170801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F4rSbCSdqsY/VbfY2D2-fmI/AAAAAAAA5_k/dtjV7DbbhHo/s320/IMG_20150728_170801.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical tourist, full of booze</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Taking a deceptively simple concept and making it easy for your average drinker to make their own unique rum from the comfort of their couch (or on their smartphone while having a wee skive from work - sorry boss) <a href="https://www.rumblender.nl/index.php" target="_blank">rumblender </a>are a fascinating new entry into the rum world.<br />
<br />
A company run by two of my fellow countrymen who already have a whisky blending <a href="https://www.whiskyblender.com/" target="_blank">website </a>and who have now expanded into the world of rum.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
As this is a bit different to a standard rum write up I'll separate this into two sections: blending & buying the rum and the actual booze itself.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Blending & buying the rum - how hard can it be?</h3>
<div>
The website endeared itself to me immediately by just asking if I was old enough to be looking at it, rather than asking for my date of birth, which country I'm from and what I had for lunch. We're all adults and it's good to be treated as one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once you're in you're presented with a virtual empty bottle exactly like the one you'll receive and a choice of 7 different distillates you blend to fill it, 10ml at a time. Each has simple tasting notes ranging from the white rum named Buttered Strumpet to the smokier, heavier Smoke and a Pancake, the age and provenance of the distillates themselves are kept secret, understandably though there are apparently 218,618,933 different possible combinations!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, given this is the Internet you're obviously not able to taste it beforehand so there are six pre-chosen blends you can choose from and then tweak if you're not feeling brave enough to start from scratch. I went with the <a href="https://www.rumblender.nl/index.php?code=RB42170" target="_blank">Heavy Stuff </a>option as my previous attempts at rum creation <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/05/diy-spiced-rum.html" target="_blank">did not end well</a>.<br />
<br />
After a wee bit of tweaking I finalised my <a href="https://www.rumblender.nl/b.php?code=RB46524" target="_blank">blend</a>. I love big, bold flavours and thought upping the smoky proportion would work nicely, as I modified things the price of the bottle changed with it and I could always see what I was going to be paying.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once I had finalised the blend it was time to name my rum, as a life-long fan of Hunter S Thompson I always loved the line uttered during Raoul Duke and Dr Gonzo's hallucinatory drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to cover the Mint 400</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BF9wNXa3yDo/VbfaCsy1U-I/AAAAAAAA5_w/pGEz-tdRuWE/s1600/EdXImw5b0gqn9e0hFypBTJO1o1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BF9wNXa3yDo/VbfaCsy1U-I/AAAAAAAA5_w/pGEz-tdRuWE/s320/EdXImw5b0gqn9e0hFypBTJO1o1_400.jpg" width="213" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"We can't stop here, this is bat country!"</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</blockquote>
<div>
After that it was a simple matter of paying and sitting back and waiting. One touch I very much like is that all blends are stored on-line and you can share it with anyone who might like to order it or tweak it and make it their own.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, to what is the first, and almost certainly the last, mention of logistics on this website. Anyone who orders goods on-line knows the vagaries of courier companies, just search for Yodel and see the apoplectic rage induced by them if you don't believe me. With rumblender their courier sent me emails and texts when the order was dispatched which let me re-direct to a shop near work so I could pick it up rather than have to trek to an industrial estate in the backside of nowhere and told me once it had been delivered. It may be a small thing but it makes a huge difference to the customer experience.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also worthy of note is that I ordered my bottle on a Thursday afternoon and was picking it up by Tuesday lunchtime, a very fast turnaround indeed, I have to say the customer experience is absolutely flawless.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
The rum itself</h3>
<div>
On to the actual booze itself, which came in a beautiful, understated presentation box that was a little extra at checkout but I'm a sucker for good packaging. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1t8C7GZuOG0/VbfY0og4UmI/AAAAAAAA5_g/r8ifQy_fKJk/s1600/IMG_20150728_135107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1t8C7GZuOG0/VbfY0og4UmI/AAAAAAAA5_g/r8ifQy_fKJk/s320/IMG_20150728_135107.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simple, elegant packaging</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
On opening you have a wee certificate of blending and the decanter itself, it's a lovely shape, nice and solid and feels very premium in the hand. <br />
<br />
A small thing perhaps, and indefinable, but this bottle has a very satisfying cork-sound.<br />
<br />
Now, to the liquid itself, it's bottled at 40% ABV, personally I find an extra 2-3% can really make a difference but I understand why companies prefer to keep it to 40%.<br />
<br />
This is a somewhat odd review, given I'm the eejit/genius responsible for this rum so I'll try to be as objective as possible.<br />
<br />
Pouring a glass and giving it a swirl there are good, thick legs to it suggesting a good amount of pot-still rum. On the nose it's full and rich, with some Jamaican/Agricole style funk coming through along with the promised smokiness. Taking a sip you get a pleasing dryness with woody, leathery notes blending with light hints of vanilla and dark chocolate before the smokiness comes through strong but not overpowering.<br />
<br />
On the way down it's smooth and you're left with a refreshing dryness and an almost meaty flavour. Overall I'm very happy with this, at a guess I'd say there's maybe Jamaican and Trinidadian rums in the mix here for the funky, earthy notes and the light but dry notes but whatever it is I sure as hell enjoyed it. Personally I loved the big,bold flavours from the "Smoke & a pancake" but a little does go a long way so tread lightly if adding it to your own blend.<br />
<br />
Overall this was a fast,easy and enjoyable experience that let me create my own unique rum, something I've always wanted to do but have never had the mechanism to do so before. Yes there is the risk that you won't like what you create but there is that risk with any bottle you buy and at least with this you can pour someone a glass of a rum that is uniquely and unmistakeably your own.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-72482057171272610782015-06-27T10:10:00.004+01:002015-06-27T10:10:49.994+01:00Jefferson's Extra Fine Dark Rum - A Northern oddity<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zfx_an3fSH0/VYxcEdzsSPI/AAAAAAAA4ng/SvrNwFiIpR4/s1600/IMG_20150625_203937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zfx_an3fSH0/VYxcEdzsSPI/AAAAAAAA4ng/SvrNwFiIpR4/s320/IMG_20150625_203937.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caribbean rum..from Whitehaven?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For a drink so intimately associated with the tropical climes of the Caribbean rum has a long history in the UK.<br />
<br />
From the centuries of tradition behind London's <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/02/23-things-only-smith-cross-rum-drinker.html" target="_blank">Smith & Cross </a>to the upstart<a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2015/06/DarkMatterSpicedRum.html" target="_blank"> Dark Matter</a> in Banchory the booze reaches across the centuries.<br />
<br />
Wandering the rum selection at <a href="http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/" target="_blank">Royal Mile Whiskies</a> I came across this interesting looking bottle, at £27 it didn't really scream "buy me" but one of the staff recommended it so I figured why not?<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehaven" target="_blank">Whitehaven</a> in Cumbria is a historic trading port, merchants imported tobacco from their holdings in Virginia until the American War of Independence saw them pushed out and into the Caribbean where sugar and its byproduct rum started to be traded back to the mother country. The Jefferson's, distantly related to US founding father Thomas Jefferson started shipping rum in 1785 from their Yeaman estate in Antigua, hence the name of this rum. Over the years the Jeffersons expanded their booze empire and were the suppliers of fine wines & spirits to White Star Lines, owners of the ill fated RMS Titanic.<br />
<br />
I've been able to find very, very little information about this rum, the bottle describes it as<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"an impressive marriage of two classic rum styles aged in oak casks to impart a complex balance of flavours"</blockquote>
which is nice, but doesn't say what those two styles are or how long it's been aged! From what I can glean the spirit is imported from the Caribbean then blended and aged in a bonded warehouse in Liverpool.<br />
<br />
Once you pour a glass of this and give it a swirl you see the long, long legs and get a pungent, slightly grassy hit of toffee & nuts. This is clearly heavy on the pot still distillate and has some similarities to <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rumnerd.com%2F2015%2F02%2F23-things-only-smith-cross-rum-drinker.html&ei=UY6NVbT4G8it7Ab29Kz4BA&usg=AFQjCNEC90OG7G8HMhOR1ftppYHY9c33TA&sig2=YuRnm1kRl8tXWEOD0Adt1A&bvm=bv.96782255,d.ZGU" target="_blank">Smith & Cross </a> on the nose but is a tamer 40% ABV.<br />
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A sip gives you an initial light toffee and nutty, banana-y notes follow with dark chocolate and slightly burnt treacle edge to things, the mouthfeel is thick and chewy, you can feel it coating your mouth but then it gets a little thin as you swallow it, likely due to the young age and/or some column still making its way into the blend. Most likely it's a bit of both, column distillate is relatively expensive so a cheaper column distilled rum can help keep costs down while also adding lightness to the rum.<br />
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It's certainly warm on the way down but stops short of being harsh and there's a lingering after-taste of stewed bananas.<br />
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It works perfectly pleasantly with coke but trying it in a <a href="http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/1983/treacle-no1" target="_blank">treacle </a>is really impressive, there's a real depth of flavour that makes for a particularly good cocktail.<br />
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All in all this is a good buy for the price and something a bit different.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.8109675 -3.5109904999999961 56.0955365 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-54891772442876939552015-06-02T18:40:00.001+01:002015-06-02T18:40:48.203+01:00Dark Matter Spiced Rum - science for the win!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spiced rum, the creator of myriad student hangovers, a drink that somehow takes the word "spiced" to mean "a ton of synthetic vanilla". With a few, <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/06/chairmans-reserve-spiced-what-spiced.html" target="_blank">very few</a>, honourable exceptions I'm not a fan of the breed. Into this market, dominated as it is by the nautical themed behemoths that are Captain Morgan's Spiced and Kraken comes <a href="http://www.darkmatterdistillers.com/" target="_blank">Dark Matter</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Founded by brothers Jim and John Ewen this new micro-distillery based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchory" target="_blank">Banchory </a>in North-East Scotland is about as far as you can get from the "yo-ho-ho" "but why is the rum gone?" marketing that predominates in the rum world both in approach and geography.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Taking a scientific approach to the rum making process the brothers spent two years experimenting with different yeast strains and indeed isolated a local wild strain of yeast in an effort to perfect their product. After changes to the tax laws made micro-distilleries more economically viable they spotted that while new gin distilleries are popping up everywhere there was no-one else distilling their own rum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Working with a custom still that is designed to give lots of lovely copper contact to the liquid the brothers have started their portfolio with this spiced rum at £35 for a 70cl bottle at 40% ABV. Made using the highest purity molasses available in a custom built distillery this is obviously going for a more discerning drinker, the type of consumer that has helped fuel the craft beer and micro-distilling explosion in recent years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firstly I have to say I love the bottle design, it's simple, it's clean and it's distinctive bearing the statement:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Our curiosity drives us while science inspires us. Combining knowledge and imagination we obsessively pursue flavour through systematic study, observation and experiment."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now many a lovely bottle has been let down by a poor liquid but opening a bottle of Dark Matter you're immediately hit by, well, spice. Ginger and cloves mixed with stewed fruits give an immediate warmth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That ginger comes to the fore on the first sip followed by pepper and a soft chilli and the fruit mellows everything out to create a very well balanced drink. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's a very pleasant lingering aftertaste and this goes down very, very smoothly for a rum that must be very young indeed given their first distillation was only in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/374829705926432/photos/pcb.811567272252671/811558985586833/?type=1&theater" target="_blank">April</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the depth and complexity of flavour comes from borrowing a technique from the bourbon world. As the molasses is fermented some of the liquid that is left in the still after distillation is added back to increase the complexity of flavours produced, bourbon fans will recognise this as "sour mashing".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a very, very impressive rum indeed, a spiced rum that is truly spicy, that can be sipped easily. Innovation and craft like this should be applauded. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a rum aged in the Aberdeenshire climate will turn out like I'm very keen to find out and also look forward to the white rum that is in the pipeline.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is an excellent purchase that I truly did not expect to enjoy as much as I did. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-39453887018028239752015-05-18T12:22:00.000+01:002015-05-18T12:22:01.095+01:00Captain Morgan's WhiteIt’s strange to think of a £45bn company like Diageo as an underdog but with the global spirits and<br />
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beer behemoth taking on Bacardi in the white rum market then Diageo really is the Rocky to the<br />
Puerto Rican Ivan Drago, pretty intimidating on its own but dwarfed by the opposition. <br />
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Captain Morgan boasted the 2nd highest sales figures for rum in 2013 selling 10.3m cases but this is dwarfed by Bacardi’s 19.1m. As the spirits market becomes ever more competitive both companies seem to be taking aim at the other's areas of strength, Bacardi have expanded their range to offer more premium sipping rums with the Facundo range while the Captain Morgan’s range has seen some interesting innovations lately from the frankly awful sounding Tattoo, the flavoured parrot bay and the actually rather good private stock.<br />
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The folks at Diageo look to be trying to either pull in new rum drinkers from the vodka sector or have something for your standard Captain Morgan’s drinker to move onto as their tastes mature.<br />
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Now as you'll have been hard-pressed to have avoided the recent ad campaign's for Captain Morgan's with the mandatory images of swashbuckling, busty wenches and so on it's interesting to remember that Captain Morgan was an actual historical figure, albeit one where history has definitely been written by the victors (and polished by the Diageo marketing department).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry Morgan:<br />adventurer, sailor, kind of a dick</td></tr>
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Henry Morgan certainly lived a long and varied life rising from his Welsh roots to be, variously, a privateer, a pirate, an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Governor of Jamaica and amassed a fortune of around £10m in today’s money from raiding Spanish interests from Cuba to Panama.<br />
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A privateer is basically a licensed pirate, carrying a Letter of Marque from a government which typically detailed where they could operate and against which nation’s shipping, pirates on the other hand went wherever and raided whoever they felt would be most profitable. From a victim’s point of view any difference would be fairly academic when armed men are swarming your boat and stealing anything that isn’t nailed down. Certainly Morgan had a reputation for using torture to extract information and, had be been captured by the Spanish probably would have been swiftly executed.<br />
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<span style="text-align: right;">For a fascinating read about the golden age of piracy that discusses Captain Henry Morgan, Blackbeard et al I cannot recommend Colin Woodard’s “T</span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Republic-Pirates-Surprising-Caribbean/dp/015603462X" style="text-align: right;" target="_blank">he Republic of Pirates” </a><span style="text-align: right;"> highly enough.</span><br />
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White rums live and die on how they are as a mixer, with very few exceptions they're not sippable nor are they designed to be and Captain Morgan's White is no different in this respect. Taking a sip neat is a little harsh, with a soft sweetness and a tiny bit of vanilla and funk on the back end, this is apparently aged for a year in barrels to take a bit of the edge off it which, while it has certainly softened it you're under no illusions this is aged for any significant length of time.<br />
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Where I was very impressed though is in a daiquiri (more on this glorious cocktail <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/06/the-daiquiri.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Using a 10:3:2 ratio of rum/lime/sugar from the ever excellent <a href="http://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2365/daiquiri-no1-on-the-rocks-diffords-1032-formula" target="_blank">Difford's Guide</a> the slight funkiness of the rum is cut through nicely with the lime and the absence of the coconut aftertaste that, for me, dominates Bacardi superior makes for a very refreshing cocktail, at 40% it holds up well enough to the sugar and lime to give a bit of bite.<br />
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It will be interesting to see how this expression fares, the spiced is already ubiquitous and other white rums such as Havana Club are also nipping at Bacardi's heels. Price-wise I would expect this to be on a par with Bacardi at the £18 a bottle mark or so<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.8109675 -3.5109904999999961 56.0955365 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-389769900529349202015-04-21T18:12:00.000+01:002015-04-21T18:13:06.701+01:00Rum World Cup - Last Rum Standing<div dir="ltr">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">It's hard work sometimes</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2015 saw 40 hardy competitors drawn from across the globe compete in the inaugural Edinburgh Rum World cup organised by the fine people at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kilderkin/132469620181170?fref=ts" target="_blank">Kilderkin</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A supreme athletic endeavour over three months saw each rum blind tasted and scored for aroma, taste and finish in an alcoholic version of Battle Royale (but with rum instead of Japanese teenagers).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kilderkin, Bennets, Skean Dhu, the Blue Blazer and the Windsor Buffet each served two flights of four rums a piece at the very friendly price of £8 a flight</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To keep things reasonably fair the organisers tried to keep the rums to an average of 8 years old, a tricky endeavour given the loose age statements on certain rums.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Given the titanic amounts of rum consumed over the period the top 7 rums were re-tasted and re-scored on Easter Sunday before the final identity of the winners (and losers) were revealed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The top 7 rums were revealed to be (position prior to re-tasting in brackets)....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1 - Pampero Aniversario - Venezuela (1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 - Captain Bligh XO - St Vincent (4)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 - Ron Milonario Solera 15 - Peru (3)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">2 - Ron Zacapa 23 - Guatemala (2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">5 - English Harbour 5yo - Antigua (6)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">6 - Chairman's Reserve - Forgotten Casks - St Lucia (5)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">7 - Appleton Estate 8yo - Jamaica (7)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The big surprise was Captain Bligh which for a rum that retails at £28 a bottle beat some illustrious names to claim joint second place and Old Monk of India hitting 10th place while a personal favouite like Pusser's Blue Label only managed 19th place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While it's a tricky thing to compare these spirits, given some are more aimed at the sipping market and others at mixing (or drain cleaning in the case of Stroh) it was a lot of fun and an interesting experiment in just how much your perception of a spirit is influenced by packaging, price etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other nations and their positions were:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">8 - Angostura 1919 - Trinidad & Tobago </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">9 - Bacardi 8yo - Puerto Rico </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">10 - La Mauny XO - Martinique </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">10 - Old Monk - India </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">12 - Gosling Black Seal - Bermuda </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">12 - Fair 5yo - Belize </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">14 - Mount Gay XO - Barbados</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">14 - Barbancourt 5 Star - Haiti </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">16 - Abuelo 7yo - Panama </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">17 - Flor de Cana 7yo - Nicaragua </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">17 - Cruzan Single Barrel - St Croiz </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">19 - Pusser's Blue Label - British Virgin Islands </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">20 - Cubay Anejo - Cuba </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">21 - Mekhong - Thailand </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">22 - Cadenhead's Green Label - Brazil </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">23 - Papagayo White - Paraguay </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">24 - La Hechicera - Colombia </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">25 - El Dorado 8yo - Guyana </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">25 - Seven Fathoms - Cayman </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">27 - Alchemist - Guadeloup </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">28 - Pyrat XO - Anguilla </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">29 - Don Papa - Phillipines </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">30 - Berry Bros & Rudd - Grenada </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">31 - Flamboyant - Mauritius </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">32 - Cadenhead's Straight from cask in store - Scotland </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">33 - Montanya Oro - USA </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">34 - Ryoma 7yo - Japan </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">35 - Ron Prohibido Solera 12 - Mexico </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">36 - Bundaberg - Australia </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">37 - Brugal Extra Viejo - Dominican Republic </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">38 - Jefferson's 1785 Dark Rum - England </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">38 - Berry Bros & Rudd - Fiji</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">40 - Stroh - Austria </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you do ever find yourself in Edinburgh and in need of some rummy goodness I really can't recommend any of the bars that participated in this highly enough. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1United Kingdom55.378051 -3.4359729999999912.188224499999997 -86.05316049999999 90 79.18121450000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-42091510329723830052015-02-25T18:10:00.000+00:002015-02-25T18:11:11.528+00:0023 things only a Smith & Cross rum drinker will get!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Apparently BuzzFeed listicles replete with gifs are mandatory now, so here's mine</div>
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1 - Smith & Cross is tasty</span></h2>
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2 - Jack Sparrow likes rum</span></h2>
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Right, now that's out of the way. After a break I'm back to drinking with Smith & Cross Navy Strength, a room dividing high ester Jamaican rum.</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester" target="_blank">Esters </a>are hugely aromatic compounds created when alcohols react with acids, for an insanely in-depth article on esters and distilling science I cannot recommend this <a href="http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spirits-blog/2014/2/5/rum-super-geekdom.html" target="_blank">article </a>highly enough.<br />
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Jamaican rums have a characteristic funk to them, this is from pot-still high ester rums, but nowadays most Jamaican rums such as <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/06/appleton-vx-bargain-mixer.html" target="_blank">Appleton Estate</a> are largely column distilled with an amount of pot still added for flavour because, well, you have to be able to sell your rum and high ester rum is..challenging.<br />
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To this scene Smith & Cross bring this navy strength beast, with a heritage in the rum business dating back to 1788 when they had a sugar refinery in London's docklands it's reasonable to assume that these guys know their stuff. </div>
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During colonial times Jamaican rum was all pot distilled, with different classifications according to how "ester-y" it is. Wedderburns rums are at the top of the charts with 200+ parts per million while Plummer runs around 150ppm. Now, for comparison, Bruichaddich's Octomore comes in at 169ppm of phenols and that is a monster. </div>
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The Wedderburn rums are made using dunder, the gunge (super technical term) left at the bottom of a still that has been fermented in special pits which boosts the ester and butyric acid content. Wild Jamaican yeasts are used in the brewing process in contrast to the lab cultivated varieties other distillers use.</div>
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Once distilled the heavy Wedderburn rum is aged for six months while the lighter Plummer gets 18 months to 3 years, both in white oak barrels, before they're blended in broadly 50/50 proportion.</div>
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So, enough waffle, what's the liquid actually like?</h3>
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While the bottle is nothing special to look at (<i>and features an infuriatingly shiny label - photo nerd</i>) the booze itself has an appealing mahogany glow to it.<br />
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Once you've poured a glass and let it warm up a little the waves of molasses and pineapple hit you with vanilla and tobacco in the background, it's quite an aggressive, pungent aroma which can catch you unawares.<br />
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At 57% (navy strength for reasons I go into <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/07/black-tot-day-lambs-navy-rum.html" target="_blank">here</a>) you get a big alcohol hit when you take a first sip then the raw, grassy funky notes really come in strong and the pineapple notes come through. This is a young, rough rum and it does show but, for me, that's part of it's charm. It's a chewy, buttery mouthfeel.<br />
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On the way down, yes, it's a little harsh and the finish is long, and fruity.<br />
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Oddly adding water makes this even funkier, while it eases the alcohol burn and harshness it, for me, doesn't really work that well. However, something this heavy cries out for citrus and it works very, very well in a <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/06/the-daiquiri.html" target="_blank">daiquiri </a></div>
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Overall, I enjoy this as a sipping rum despite it not being designed as one, as Speciality Brands state on their <a href="http://www.specialitybrands.com/brands/smith-cross-rum" target="_blank">website</a>:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="color: #666666;">Make no mistake, this is not a sipping rum by contemporary standards"</span></span></blockquote>
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It's aggressive, rough around the edges and punchy but that works for me for some reason. Definitely not one for everyone but it's a classic style that is part of the rum spectrum. <br />
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At around £30 a bottle it's definitely worth a punt<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-3988738860714948592014-07-21T18:00:00.000+01:002014-07-22T21:52:26.125+01:00Daiquiri documentaryAn interesting watch from Vice on the many faces of the New Orleans daiquiri, from the refined classical to the trashy frozen version it's all here. Definitely worth a watch so settle back with a glass of something good<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FzwtMJ2QATs" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-91038285191863151322014-07-15T12:09:00.001+01:002014-12-18T07:12:22.994+00:00Abelha Cachaça - Saude!<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With the World Cup now over and Brazil dealing with its extended period of mourning it seems a good time to dip into the world of </span>Cachaça<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Cachaça is Brazil's national drink, with 1.9 <b>BILLION</b> litres produced annually and an estimated 10 litres drunk annually by each Brazilian. This is a staggering number and a range of upscale cachaças are finding their way to British bars including Diageo's Ypioca, Campari's Sagatiba and this little number, Abelha Organic Silver. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Cachaça differs from rum in a few subtle ways:</span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Firstly during the fermentation of the wash a starter of corn or rice bran can be used to kickstart the fermentation and add flavour where as rum is by law only made from sugarcane byproducts and yeast. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Secondly cachaça is distilled to a lower ABV, coming off the still at between 38% and 54% whereas a "normal" rum will be around 72%.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Like Scotch can only be from Scotland cachaça<span style="background-color: white;"> </span>can only be from Brazil</span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Abelha are a relatively recent entrant into the cachaça<span style="background-color: white;"> </span> market in the UK, taking a more artisinal, ethical approach than bigger producers. The sugar cane is grown organically by small local farmers in the <a href="http://binged.it/1jLmWjX" target="_blank">Chapada Diamantina National Park</a><u> </u></span><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">who are paid a fair price and taught organic farming techniques. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">As part of the organic harvesting process the cane fields are not burned before harvesting, this reduces water use and improves the biodiversity of the cane fields (for those interested a good article on this topic can be found <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/12/sugar-cane.html" target="_blank">here</a>). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abelha's copper pot still</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Within 24 hours of harvesting the cane has been washed, crushed and the cane juice is starting to ferment. Unlike larger producers Abelha use yeasts cultured from the natural yeasts found growing on the canes themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">After fermentation the wash (or Vinho) is distilled in a 400 litre copper pot still. As you can see from the photo a 400 litre still is tiny, so when Abelha say it's a small-batch </span>cachaça<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;"> you can know they mean it. Only the heart of each run is kept for sale.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Once distilled the silver </span>cachaça<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;"> is rested for 6 months in open stainless steel tanks, this lets the more volatile, less desirable compounds evaporate before being bottled at 39%.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Now, after all that, is the drink any good?</span></h4>
<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Taking a good nose you get honey, fermented fruit and a slight grassy freshness as you'd expect from a cane juice distillate.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Taking a swig you get more honey sweetness, the aforementioned grassyness and a lightly stewed fruit flavour, it feels thick and coats the mouth very pleasantly there is a little bit of burn as it goes down but this is a lot smoother than you'd expect for a 6 month old spirit. I'd go so far as to say you could happily sip this neat which was a very pleasant surprise.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Now, this being said I bought this for caipirinhas and this makes a superb one, the sweetness is cut by the lime while still having that slight honey note making a gloriously refreshing drink. If you're in the mood for a caipirinha they couldn't be simpler to make.</span><br />
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<ol>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Wash and slice half a lime, add to a heavy bottomed glass</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Add two teaspoons of caster sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Muddle, dissolving the sugar in the lime juice</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Add 50ml of cachaca</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Fill with ice (most recipes recommend crushed ice, but I don't have a crusher and prefer cubed)</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Enjoy!</span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">At £22 a bottle this is an absolute bargain, packed with flavour and produced with care and attention. I'll be picking up their gold, which is aged 3 years, in the near future. </span></div>
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Summary<br />
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<b>Colour - </b>Silver<br />
<b>ABV - </b>39%<br />
<b>Bottle </b>- 70cl<br />
<b>Price - </b>£22<br />
<b>Nose </b>- Honey, grass, fruit<br />
<b>Palate </b>- Light stewed fruit, honey, thick<br />
<b>Finish </b>- Long, slightly warm, very pleasant<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.2000007629395px;">With the summer sun it's definitely cocktail weather and the caipirinha is one of the classic summer cocktails but, like any classic, it's only as good as the ingredients. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-84501531076333513542014-06-05T10:53:00.000+01:002014-06-05T11:00:02.300+01:00Adding sugar to rum - more controversial than you may thinkA controversy kicked off last December after details surfaced on Facebook of how much sugar is added to rums. Alcohol sold in Sweden and Finland has to be tested by their regulators and, from that testing you can discover how much added sugar there is. You can skip ahead for the
<a href="#furtherreading">original articles</a> that prompted this post
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Given that we, as humans, have a natural sweet tooth it's not surprising that the most common recommendations for non-rum drinkers are Zacapa 23, Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva and El Dorado 12, all sweeter rums. From the lists <a href="http://www.refinedvices.com/forums/download/file.php?id=33&t=1&sid=e7a132a9a40f321e08374cb8cd08e81d" target="_blank">circulated </a>these three all have significant amounts of sugar added to them (up to 45 grams per litre).<br />
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Why this matters</h3>
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Sugar covers a multitude of sins, a man after my own heart has undertaken an <a href="http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?p=3825#3825" target="_blank">experiment </a>to see how adding sugar changes the flavour profile of a simple white rum (Havana Blanco). The conclusion was that small amounts smoothed the edges off and made it more drinkable while larger amounts gave an impression of longer ageing. </div>
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So you can see that you <i>could </i>, if you were of a nefarious mindset,<i> </i>take a low quality spirit and add sugar to pass it off as something more refined and charge accordingly. I'm <b>NOT </b>suggesting anyone is doing that but I can understand the concern.</div>
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From my point of view this is similar to the addition of caramel and chill-filtering of Whisky, does adding sugar make for a bad rum? No, obviously not, there are bad rums with no added sugar and good rums with it and vice versa. Rum is an expression of the quality of ingredients and the care taken to produce it, I am certainly on the fence as to adding sugar, I can see the value in disclosing it but I'll certainly still be drinking a glass of El Dorado 12 later.</div>
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<a name="furtherreading">Further Reading</a></h3>
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I'd recommend two articles from the floating rum shack, one from <a href="http://thefloatingrumshack.com/content/index.php/166-talking-rum-and-sugar-with-alexandre-gabriel" target="_blank">Alexandre Gabriel</a> of Plantation rums making the case that added sugar is not a big deal and one from <a href="http://thefloatingrumshack.com/content/index.php/168-talking-rum-and-sugar-with-richard-seale" target="_blank">Richard Seale</a> of Foursquare arguing that it is.</div>
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Both articles come from their own commercial positions. Gabriel is a cognac blender and as such the addition of sugar to spirit as part of the blending process is a natural step and a skill, he argues that, like salt, sugar is a natural flavour enhancer in small quantities. Seale, as a Barbadian rum producer is barred by law from adding sugar, distillers in Barbados, Jamaica and Martinique are forbidden from adding flavour enhancers. </div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-8528045232448690012014-06-02T18:00:00.000+01:002014-12-18T07:14:18.499+00:00The DaiquiriThe daiquiri, that simple mix of rum, lime juice and sugar is one of, if not the, classic rum drinks. David A Embury, in his classic title "the Fine Art of Mixing Drinks" classed it as one of his six basic drinks (along with the Jack Rose, Manhattan, Martini, Old-Fashioned and Sidecar).<br />
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For all that it's a simple drink it's simple to get wrong and, as Embury himself said:</div>
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<i>"So far as I can ascertain there are two main reasons why more daiquiris are not sold: The use of inferior rums and the use of improper proportions"</i></blockquote>
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To deal with the first point, the origin story of the Daiquiri has it being made with Bacardi Carta Blanca which is now sold as Bacardi Superior. I'm not a fan of Bacardi by and large but Superior does make a good daiquiri however, my personal favourite daiquiri rum is Plantation 3 star which has been distilled with the daiquiri in mind. Whatever your preference make it a good quality rum, I've tried using supermarket own label rums and it's a false economy.<br />
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Embury's recipe is a simple one, 1 part sugar syrup, 2 parts lime juice and 8 parts white label Cuban rum, shaken over ice, strained and served in a chilled glass. This recipe is simple, refreshing and has a lovely smoothness to it.<br />
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For me I prefer the variation taken from the excellent <a href="http://www.diffordsguide.com/index.html" target="_blank">Difford's Guide</a> (Note that a shot is 30ml/1 oz:):<br />
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Daiquiri Number 1 on the rocks</h4>
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<li>2.5 shots of rum</li>
<li>3/4 shot lime juice</li>
<li>1/2 shot sugar syrup</li>
<li>Shake with ice and strain into an ice filled old-fashioned glass</li>
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For me this has more of a citrus bite to it and I find it very refreshing. If either of these sounds too sharp then I'd suggest trying one of the variations <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8149443353893891326#cuba">below</a> , especially the number 2</div>
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History</h3>
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The broadly accepted history credits a US engineer Jennings Cox with creating the daiquiri. Following the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War" target="_blank">Spanish-American war</a> of 1898 he was sent by the Spanish-American Iron Company to manage mines in the Sierra Maestra region of Cuba . As you'd expect the conditions were harsh, yellow fever was endemic so the engineers were given good wages and a tobacco ration, however Cox also negotiated a monthly ration of the local white rum, Bacardi Carta Blanca. One of the mines Cox was responsible for was located in the village of <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/19%C2%B055'43.0%22N+75%C2%B038'25.0%22W/@19.9286111,-75.6402778,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0" target="_blank">Daiquiri</a>, East of Santiago De Cuba.</div>
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One theory has it that while Cox was entertaining guests he ran out of gin, which was the more socially acceptable drink and, being wary of serving neat rum to his guests added lime, sugar and crushed ice to take the edge off. </div>
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Another version suggests that a Cuban engineer named Pagliuchi was visiting Cox at his mine near the village of Daiquiri and, after a hard day's work made a drink with whatever was to hand, namely rum, lime and sugar served over ice.</div>
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Given that limes, rum and sugar are in abundant supply in Cuba the drink almost certainly existed in one form or another before Jennings Cox ever arrived in Cuba. Below you can see the recipe Cox wrote in his diary for the daiquiri</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennings Cox's original daiquiri recipe</td></tr>
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One thing to note is that Cox says to use lemons, however as limes are abundant on Cuba and are commonly <span style="font-family: inherit;">referred to as "<span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"> '</span><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">limón" it's probable he was referring to limes. The recipe as written is similar to that for <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2013/07/black-tot-day-lambs-navy-rum.html" target="_blank">Grog</a>, the drink used to serve the daily <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_ration" target="_blank">rum ration</a> to sailors of the Royal Navy, so adding lime and sugar to rum is hardly a great leap of logic.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">The daiquiri stayed as Cuban drink until 1909 when Admiral Lucius W Johnson, a medical officer in the US Navy enjoyed the drink and introduced it to the Army & Navy Club in Washington DC. From here the popularity of the drink grew and spread, aided by rum </span></span><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">being</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"> much more widely available following FDR's </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Neighbor_policy" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 13.199999809265137px;" target="_blank">Good Neighbour Policy</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"> which increased imports of Latin American goods and seen as more exotic and less as a drink of sailors and low-lives.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">Meanwhile, back in Cuba</span></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">At the legendary Havana bar El Floridita a Catalan immigrant </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">Constantino Ribalagua Vert</span><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"> developed and improved on the basic daiquiri recipe. Switching from crushed ice to shaved ice and using a blender he's the father of the frozen daiquiri.. During the 1930s and 40s Ernest Hemingway lived in Havana, writing masterpieces such as "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and drinking a prodigous amount of rum.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;">As a diabetic Hemingway avoided sweet drinks, while visiting El Floridita and sampling one of their frozen daiquiris responded </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 13.199999809265137px;"><i>"That's good but I prefer it without sugar and with double rum"</i></span></span></blockquote>
Thus was born the Hemingway Daiquiri (or Papa Doble) which for those of you with a stronger constitution is made up of:<br />
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<ul>
<li>3.5 shots of rum</li>
<li>1 shot lime juice</li>
<li>1 shot fresh grapefruit juice</li>
<li>3/4 shot maraschino liqueur </li>
<li>Shaken over ice</li>
</ul>
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Over time this evolved with the addition of a half shot of sugar syrup to allow for those without a palate made of cast iron.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="cuba"></a> Ribalagua created four variations on the basic daiquri at El Foridita, handily naming them numerically and they're listed below, all should be shaken over ice and strained before serving. </div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8149443353893891326#cuba">Daiquiri number 2</a>
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<ul>
<li>2 shots of rum</li>
<li>1/8 shot of Cointreau</li>
<li>1/2 shot of Orange Juice</li>
<li>1/2 shot of lime juice</li>
<li>1/4 shot of sugar</li>
</ul>
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Daiquiri number 3</h4>
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<ul>
<li>2 shots of rum</li>
<li>1/2 shot of lime juice</li>
<li>1/4 shot of sugar</li>
<li>1/4 shot of grapefruit juice</li>
<li>1/8 shot of Maraschino liqueur</li>
</ul>
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It's believed this was the drink that Hemingway ordered above</div>
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Daiquiri number 4<br /><ul style="font-weight: normal;">
<li>2 shots of rum</li>
<li>1/2 shot of lime juice</li>
<li>1/4 shot of sugar</li>
<li>1/8 shot of Maraschino liqueur</li>
</ul>
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Daiquiri number 5</h4>
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<ul>
<li>2 shots of rum</li>
<li>1/2 shot of lime juice</li>
<li>1/4 shot of sugar</li>
<li>1/4 shot of pomegranate syrup</li>
<li>1/8 shot of Maraschino liqueur</li>
</ul>
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So just remember when making yourself a daiquiri, use the best rum you can find, the freshest juices, get your proportions right and you'll soon be sipping on a classic cocktail with a storied history.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK55.953252 -3.188266999999996255.8109675 -3.5109904999999961 56.0955365 -2.8655434999999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-14848486433526904522014-06-02T13:41:00.000+01:002014-12-18T07:16:28.591+00:00DIY Spiced Rum - Update and new batches10 days ago I decided to embark on an experiment in rum, trying to <a href="http://www.rumnerd.com/2014/05/diy-spiced-rum.html" target="_blank">spice my own rum</a>, after some maturing it's time to have a look at how things have gone.<br />
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Batch one</h3>
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This consisted of passion fruit, lime zest, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon grass. I'd hoped that the sweetness of the passion fruit and vanilla would balance the sharpness of the limes and the woody spiciness of the cinnamon.</div>
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So far the lime has come through strong but started to fade out slowly, I still can't taste the vanilla or passion fruit but I'm prepared to be patient with this one, I still think there's potential here.</div>
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Batch two</h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now because I had rum left I decided to try another few batches, if batch one was going to be sweet I'd go for something more sharp with batch two. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Hunting about the internet I came across this <a href="http://www.vegetarianventures.com/2013/04/02/ginger-citrus-infused-rum/" target="_blank">recipe</a> and used:</span></span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">200ml Bacardi</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Zest of 1 lemon</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Zest of 1 lime</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Zest of 1 blood orange</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Flesh of 1 blood orange (no pith)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a peeled and diced thumb of ginger</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So far this has a nice bite to it from the citrus if a little harsh, I've added more ginger as that really wasn''t coming through particularly. I think there's an interesting cocktail to be made with the end product of this.</span></span></div>
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Batch three</h3>
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With some rum left over I decided to go with the flavours that I liked outside of rum and see what happened, so, for batch three it's</div>
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<ul>
<li>300ml Bacardi</li>
<li>12 mint leaves</li>
<li>1 vanilla pod and seeds</li>
<li>1/2 a trimmed pineapple, caramelised the outside of the fruit on a griddle pan to get that slightly burnt flavour</li>
</ul>
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Well, this is the big winner so far, the vanilla is subtle and along with the pineapple it's rounding out the edges of the rum with the mint adding a lovely freshness to it all. This could actually be drunk neat quite easily.</div>
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The question is how long I leave the spices/fruits to macerate, it looks like it'll have to be a thorough tasting schedule. The things I do for science...</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-32431061617281951772014-05-22T16:01:00.003+01:002014-12-18T07:17:35.868+00:00DIY Spiced Rum - An Experiment (batch one)<div style="text-align: right;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm definitely <b>not</b> a spiced rum fan, Sailor Jerry et al bore me, hitting you over the head with a nasty synthetic vanilla sweetness. So I figured how hard can it be? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the interests of science I decided to have a crack at making my own, I like sweetness but want some other flavours in there as well so I'll add in some other elements to (hopefully) balance it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So here's the ingredients :</span></div>
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</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">200ml white rum (<a href="http://www.bacardi.com/" target="_blank">Bacardi</a>)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-seKm8njV_Nc/U34QbBWyWKI/AAAAAAAAucA/3a2WIPrsdkA/s1600/IMG_20140522_150021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-seKm8njV_Nc/U34QbBWyWKI/AAAAAAAAucA/3a2WIPrsdkA/s1600/IMG_20140522_150021.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">zest of 1 lime</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">half a cinnamon stick </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">half a vanilla pod & seeds</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">seeds from 2 passion fruits </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 lemon grass stick</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="color: #222222;">I've no idea how this will work out but I think the lemongrass, lime and cinnamon will balance the sweetness of the vanilla and passion fruit but we shall see, I'm wary of the proportions but I'll leave it for 48 hours then taste and see what needs tweaking.</span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8149443353893891326.post-89058010766539584222014-05-21T17:28:00.002+01:002014-12-18T07:18:01.214+00:00Alnwick Rum - Northumbria's FinestRum is an exotic spirit, it conjures images of far-away lands, sunshine, Caribbean bacchanals, palm trees and the obligatory pirates, Hemingway getting blitzed on Daiquiris. Safe to say that Northumberland doesn't immediately spring to mind, but yet 4,000+ miles from Havana there is a growing rum business.<br />
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Alnwick rum has been around since before World War One, with the business changing ownership and stopping production a number of times over the years until in 2001, after a 20 year gap, the original recipes were rediscovered and production restarted.<br />
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So, after a relaunch here we are, the rum is a blend of Jamaican and Guyanese rums, blended on contract in Holland then bottled here in the UK. The website says they're aged up to three years in ex Bourbon & Whisky barrels. <br />
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Pouring a glass you can see a very dark spirit with a reddish tinge, from the look you expect a heavy, thick, aggressive trawler style rum, you take a sniff and it's lots of treacle, molasses & orange, heavy, full and punchy.<br />
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Now taking a neat sip you're thrown a bit, there is an initial warmth but nothing too amazing but then the flavour really develops into something a lot more subtle than you'd expect, a little bitter coffee and citrus behind the treacle & molasses hit. Bottling at 43% makes it a bit punchier than you'd expect, only 3% but it does make a significant difference. The finish is remarkably dry and lingering.<br />
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This being said this isn't a sipper, it's a mixer. Alnwick Rum works nicely with coke but I was most impressed with it in a Dark n' Stormy especially with Old Jamaica Ginger Beer the power of the ginger and the dryness of the rum work together beautifully for a drink that slips down very easily. Moving on to fancier cocktails a daiquiri is another winner, I found both of the following proportions to work very nicely:<br />
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<ol>
<li>50ml Rum</li>
<li>25ml lime juice (fresh)</li>
<li>15ml sugar syrup</li>
<li>Shake over ice, strain and serve</li>
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or, if you've a sweeter tooth try only 5ml of syrup and 5ml each of Cointreau & orange juice which takes the bite off the lime juice.</div>
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Overall for a rum aged under 3 years this is pretty tasty and something a bit different to add to the drinks cabinet</div>
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<b>Colour </b>- Mahogany</div>
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<b>ABV</b>- 43%</div>
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<b>Bottle </b>- 70cl</div>
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<b>Price </b>- £25</div>
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<b>Nose </b>- Molasses, treacle, coffee</div>
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<b>Palate </b>- Coffee, molasses, treacle, subtle but with bite</div>
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<b>Finish </b>- Dry and long</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0