The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

I'd like to start a thread about our experiences with different rums we stumble on.

Please post photos of the rums you discuss if you can. I believe it will make this thread easier to use and visuals always make finding things easier.

I'd like to start off with a new one for me.

Depaz Blue Cane Rhum from Martinique.



The rhum is made from Blue cane that is grown at the highest peak on Martinique. One theory is the high volcanic soil is what gives the Blue Cane its distinctive sweet flavor only found on Martinique and the only source of sweetner used by Depaz. Most other rums use Molassas as the sweetner.

It is hot to the tounge, but over some crused ice the flavors come out nicely. Hints of flower and butterscotch come through. It does not make a good mai tai. It makes it too sweet IMO.

$40 for a .750.

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

Excellent topic, Loki!

Zaya from Guatemala.

Aged 12 years in oak barriques. This is one of the "wood-iest" and "scotch-iest" rums I've had the pleasure to drink. There are very subtle hints of butterscotch and brown sugar. Since Zaya's not particularly sweet, it's fantastic in a Mai Tai, and it's excellent sipping rum on the rocks with a cigar. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a bat or a pirate on the bottle, so you can't find it in Ohio, but it's available in Kentucky.....(Cincinnati Moai, I'm looking in your direction).

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"He spits his chaw like venom"

Great thread... I'd like to pick up some more rums. Stuff to really make my drinks stand out. Here's what I have on hand (that I can recall from work)

Appleton Estate
Cruzan Estate Diamond
Cruzan Dark
Cruzan Light
Cruzan Coconut (don't laugh, it's a key ingredient to Lei Lani Volcano)
Meyer's Dark
El Dorado 12 Year Demrrara
Rhum Barbancourt 5 Star Haitian

Suggest some stuff that I'm missing... Martinique, Barbados, etc... Remember, I'm in Ohio where Vodka is king.

xoxo,
YTM

yes, good idea here! I would like it if you guys kinda ran down all the different Rums you know about. I have good stores to purchase from, but don't always know if it's worth the extra money to try a new rum. After my trip this weekend to the liquor store, I may be asking about some brands I've seen and wondered about.
Thanks

Next up is Rhum Barbancourt White.



The Barbancourt Rhums are all from Haiti. Non star, 3 star, 5 star and longer aged are available.

For this write up I will discuss my experience with the White rhum.

The first thing you notice is the aroma. Very different from any rum you know. It almost has an aged cheese smell, slightly fruity. IMO the smell kills it for me. The flavor will change a drink and make it overpowering to the unique taste of this rum. It drinks much better than it smells. Unfortunately, you cant taste without smelling so when you plunge your nose into the glass you get the aged fruity cheese smell. I rarely use it in any Tiki drink, but in a coke with lime it works. I will not buy another bottle once i'm finished with the one i have now, unless there is a great drink that uses it.

I believe the cost is around $20 for a .750 and it is easy to find in most liquor stores.

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

And here we have what is known as Bacardi.
This has a taste similar to lighter fluid.
It is said that when a toilet flushes at the distillery the flow to the bottling plant slows down.

You know we've often joked about the taste of Bacardi, and you, Ron-Tiki, have just nailed it!

Up next...El Dorado 5 Y/O Demerara



This is a staple of my bar. Made in Guyana, known for their sugar and rum production.

From their web site:"…Amber. Spirity, dried tropical fruit nose. A vibrant entry leads to a evolving palate of caramel, fruit, toasted coconut, and American notes fading into a vanilla tinted glow. Alcohol is present but supportive and provides a balancing bite on the finish. Remarkably developed and complex for a relatively young rum."

The 5 year old is not as smooth as the 12 or 15 but it only costs $17.99 and still gives your drink that distinctive Demerara flavor.

It does have an young flavor straight, but over a few ice cubes, and once the ice melt is added, the rum settles down and becomes more aromatic.

I often use it in my Mai Tai as a substitute to St. James when i dont have it on hand. I like the molassas flavor it adds to the mai tai.

The El Dorado rums are not easy to find and as far as i know the only Demerara rum to be found in South Florida.

You cant go wrong with any of the El Dorado products.

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

Rhum Barbencourt Reserve Speciale:

I've only tried one Barbencourt and it is this one, purchased while in Haiti Via the little yellow suitcase from the duty-free airport shop. It's an 8-yr-old rum with a lot of character indicative of the people of Haiti. It's been quite a while since I've tasted this, but I recall mixing several iterations of a recipe based around it -- it has a bold taste that commands a drink. Try it in your favorite Zombie recipe... keeping in mind you may need to adjust the ingredients accordingly. I had success blending it with Pyrat Superior Blanco.

The aroma, taste, and texture all made this an inspiring spirit. I went through my little yellow suitcase way to soon (5 bottles @ $6 each ). I've got a bottle on order from my local state store -- I expect to pay the mainland price of $15 (it's been a month and I haven't heard from them If anyone can find this stuff for me I'll reimburse you-- it's just not sold here in my po-dunk little town.)

Oh, and thanks for starting this thread Loki! I've got a lot to learn about this stuff!

Cruzan Estate Light Rum:

St Croix, aged 2 years. I knew it was something noting the slight amber color... and a steal at $11! It's good sipping or in any mixed drink. Blend it with some Myer's Dark!

Savage, I agree 100% with the Cruzan Estate 2 Y/O light. For a light rum it does have taste. I often use it as my light rum in every drink i make. The price is always right at $18 for a 1.75l.

The 2 Y/O is a blended rum from 2 and 3 year aged barrels and i think thats what makes it work so well, giving it a slight oak flavor that most light rums dont have.

visit their web site: www.cruzanrum.com

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

Cruzan Black Strap Rum



At $11 dollars you gotta get a bottle. Its easy to find and while you will not use it often it can come in handy. Search for our very own,Tiki Wahine's Black Strap Betty on the forum. It's a nice drink.

It's very dark in appearance. The aroma smells of pure vanilla extract with the slight astrigent smell of alcohol. It tastes of strong vanilla and is remarkably smooth for an $11 rum. Not to substituted for typical dark rums, but it will add an exotic flavor to a drink. I would really like to use it in more drinks.

Add a shot in your Sunday morning coffee to make a unique Irish Coffee to jump start your day.

Most tiki drinkers dont have nice words for it, however i sing it's praises and would love to hear of anyone using it in their drinks.

Edit:
I just played around with a drink using Black Strap and was so happy with the results had to add it here.

A variation of a Dark and Stormy.
1 oz. fresh lime
1 oz. Mount Gay Rum
1 oz. Black Strap
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup

Shake in until you cant hold it any longer from cold. Pour into an Old Fashioned and top off with Ginger Beer (bout 3 oz.). Enjoy!

It's not a pretty drink, but the joining of the molassas flavor and ginger beer really pull it off.

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum.



This is Cruzans top shelf rum. It's made from blended rums up to 12 Y/O and then oak casked for a second aging in a single barrel. Not quite a single barrel in true definition.

It is a wonderful rum to have in your collection. At $30 it is more of a splurge, but it does have a nifty wood topped cork that makes any bottle of rum cool. I use it in a mai tai sometimes to give it a smoothness and an added touch of vanilla flavor that compliments a demerara well. Try a mai tai using Cruzan Single barrel and El Dorado 15 Y/O for a great smooth drink that screams "I have lots of money to spend on girly tiki drinks." Joking aside it does make a great Mai Tai and is smooth enough to use as a sipper over chipped ice.

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.

Well, since this is what I am drinking tonight I might a well start with this one....



Angostura 1919.

Cool bottle. Nice aroma, clean smell with a lot of vanilla on the nose. It is a blended rum with the youngest age being 8 years. It is aged in oak which comes accross on the toungue and then opens up with lots of interesting little hints of stuff.... florals mostly and then a cross between molassas and caramel, or maybe both simultaneously. It finishes quite nicely with very little heat.

I would give this 3 1/2 stars out of 5 and it would make an interesting (and pretty) addition to your bar.

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

This is one of my favorite rums for mixing. I make my Mai-Tais with it and am very pleased. It sips well and makes a really good Derby Daquiri. It is very smooth and I think it tastes best when over ice with a tiny wedge of lime.

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

This thread is great.. I'd like to hear your opinions on Pussers (realistically priced versions) and 10 cane if you'd tried them- I'm a novice in such matters..

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You asked......



Pusser's has an interesting story behind it, and most of it is true once you strip away the obvious spin placed on it by the marketers. Thier story is here... http://pussers.com/rum/

This is considered a dark rum in spite of its medium golden color. The aroma is rather simple and straight forward and gives hints of the wood stills used. I should warn you before you get some in your mouth, this is considered an over-proof rum at 48% ABV so there is a surprising bit of heat to it if you take it straight. I prefer it over ice as it mellows it quickly without loosing too much of its character. The taste is very unlike most other rums, and I mean that in a good way. Pusser's prides themselves on not adding anything to the rum as far as coloring or flavoring agents, and it shows in the taste. It is a blended rum so you don't get any one single flavor specifically, rather several different flavors at once and all of them good. The major notes are the sweetness, lots of wood/oak, and something akin to a caramel flavor but not quite that comes from the molasses base of one or more of the blends. (how's that for a good but vague sounding description?)

I give this one 4 1/2 stars out of 5 because making a Painkiller without the Pusser's is just wrong. A must-have for your home bar and if you can find one of those decorative decanters like in the picture above, even better.

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

And then 10 Cane



http://www.10cane.com

This is a white rum, so my opinion is admittedly biased against it. But, I will try to give you an honest opinion... Anybody else who has tried this please chime in and let us know what you think....

What makes this Trinadad rum 'special' is the fact that it comes from the first press of the cane and not from one of the sugar production byproducts. This fact comes accross on the nose. Helztiki and I decided the best way to describe it was that it smelled like Green if a color could have an aroma. And, ironically, that is what it tastes like, green and fresh and immature and just plain hot on the tounge (Wahine 'Ina wont touch the stuff). It is a young rum produced in "French Pots, the finest in the world.." and has much better marketing that it does product. But, that is to be expected from a rum being produced by the same company that produces Henesey.

I give this rum 1 1/2 stars. If it were a better tasting rum I would possibly give it two stars.... But like I said, I am biased against white rums.

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Okay, don't laugh. I bought at bottle of this yesterday.
http://www.admiralnelsonsrum.com/index2.htm

The liquor store nearest me is very annoying in that all the higher proof bottles are stored behind the counter where you can neither read the label, nor the price and bottle size in most cases. You just have to guess about what's near the floor or try to peer over or under the counter.

I don't know why I bought this, probably because I'd never tried it before, and it seemed inexpensive yet a step up from brands like Mr. Boston or Ron Rico, but I don't know what made me think that. It came in a 1 liter bottle as opposed to only 750 ml, so I thought I'd be getting more. What I didn't see was that it is only 70 proof. It says on the front of the label that it is "Imported Rum" while on the back of the label in fine print it says "produced and bottled at Admiral Nelson's Rum Co., St. Louis, MO". So it's imported from St. Louis I guess. They don't say. They have made Admiral Nelson look strikingly similar to Captain Morgan. Did all British admirals look like pirates?

As far as the taste goes, it's not bad. It has sort of a vanilla flavor, I supposed that's the spice they're talking about. Somehow when I hear the word spice I think of things like cloves, allspice, and nutmeg, but none of the spiced rums I've ever tasted had any of those flavors. I think those would be good in rum though, maybe not.

It's made by Luxco, makers of these fine products:

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-Don

Does anybody mind if I cross post this into the Port? Or can this thread be moved to the Port? I would like to generate some discussion of the rums and we Fellows can use the conversation to learn more about our initiates...

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

See my post titled Rumquila. We're enjoying this one...it makes fruity mixes not so sweet.
TQ

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Seeking authentic Tiki, one mai tai at a time...

Which would you prefer? A new cross post, or a full move of the thread?

Objections to either?





Ahu

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Where, suddenly staining the blues, delirious 
and slow rhythms under the glowing red of day, 
stronger than alcohol, vaster than our lyrics, 
ferment the red bitters of love! 

I know heavens pierced by lightning, the waterspouts
and undertows and currents: I know night, 
Dawn rising like a nation of doves, 
and I've seen, sometimes, what men only dreamed they saw! 

None here, I think it's a good idea. The initiates need fresh content to read.

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When life hands you limes, just add RUM.

A full move of this thread to the Port would be groovy. If that requires more effort than your average Mai-Tai then don't do it, I will just cross the bits a little at a time.

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Never trust a bald barber, a skinny chef, and never ever do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Our local paper just printed a huge two page spread on rum...here are the links to article.

One of them features The Jetsetter Lounge's Mike Jones.

Here

Here

Here

Take their opinions with a grain of salt, but at least rum and tiki drinks are getting talked about.....

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Fuck yeah I'm gonna use the Fucking F word again. Fuckers.