Which Rum?

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DJE

DJE

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I'm out in Hong Kong again and an old friend has generously invited me for a weekend's racing. Obviously I didn't break anything too expensive or drink too much more than my share last time I was here. Or possibly he just wants someone to help with the anchor watch on Saturday night.
I know they drink rum on board and make cocktails with it so I want to take them a bottle by way of a thank you. The only one I've ever really enjoyed is Mountgay from Barbados but I know the boat's been raced down to the Phillipines a couple of times and I suspect they got a taste for a local spirit down there. So what should I be looking out for. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find just about anything here if I look hard enough.
 
It all depends what you're going to mix it with. If you're making a Dark & Stormy it has to be Goslings. For rum 'n coke, a caribbean white rum. For grog or mixing with cocoa you need a dark British rum like Captain Morgan. For traditional or modern rum punch it has to be a Caribbean light type like Mountgay.

One of sour, two of sweet
three of strong, four of weak.

p.s. Bacardi is for kids & poseurs.
 
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Real Rum

Whatever you do don't take a "Dark Rum" like Lamb's Navy Rum. Foul stuff! I never knew what 'real' Rum tasted like until I went to the Caribbean and tasted the "local" produce. Nectar. But maybe a decent bottle of Scotch or similar would be a better idea as one of the locals in the Dominican Republic told me a 2litre bottle of Coke or Pepsi is more expensive than a bottle of local rum. Nearest I have tasted to the local Rum is Cockspur which is about £10 to £12 a bottle.
 
St James Rhum Agricole

My tipple of choice - hard to find in the UK, dirt cheap in France (DOMTOM subsidies).

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History of the stuff

Saint James Rum Royal Ambre Eleve Sous Bois with 700 ml. and 45 % Vol. A brown rum from Martinique.

N°1 Worldwide Agricole Rum Brand

Authenticity and quality from La Martinique Island

A long history since 1765

A highly awarded quality

4 Silver Best in Class medals at London international contest 2008

Rhum Saint James - The Story:

Rhum Saint James, from the French Caribbean Island of Martinique, are the only sippingrums dating back to 1765.

When the French King, Louis XIV, banned the sale of rum in France, an enterprising priest moved to Martinique and founded Plantations Saint James, where he produced and sold his rum to the settlers in New England. Rhum Saint James was consumed from Williamsburg to Boston, and became the most popular West Indian rum in the American colonies before the American Revolution, it has been enjoyed by rum connoisseurs ever since.

Rhum Saint James rums are fermented from pure sugar cane juice, in a continuous single distillation process, similar to Armagnac, and then aged in limousin and American bourbon cask for a number of years. Most commercial rums are made from molasses, which is aby-product of refining sugar cane into sugar

The quality of rums produced from pure sugar cane juice is so special, that the French government created the appellation “Rhum Agricole” exclusively for products made in the manner of Rhum Saint James.

Specialists consider Saint James Rum to be the finest in the world, passionately stating that “the flavour and aroma of cane is so strong that other rums taste like paint thinner after you've tried the stuff”. With the widest range of unique and specific agricole, exotic, aromatic and natural flavourings, and its exceptional old rums, Saint James is a renowned and highly awarded premium brand since its creation in 1765.

Rhum Saint James is still sold in its trademark square bottles, as it was in the XVIIth century, where they were designed as the most efficient shape for packaging and shipping from Martinique.

The widest range on the market with unique and specific references, including exceptional old rums.
Click to expand...
 
I like Cockspur too.

But if you want a really special rum as a pressie try to find a bottle of Barbancourt Estate Reserve

Each year a limited quantity is released and made available to connoisseurs. It was originally reserved for the Barbancourt family and their friends. It was offered for public sale for the first time in the middle of the 1960's. Today, the Estate Reserve and its incomparable flavor has become a veritable institution in the world of connoisseurs.

A sipping rum maybe with a little water. Just don't mix it with coke PLEASE.
 
If you can get it, Old Oak, Trinidad rum is delightful, its a golden rum with a spicy flavour. I did the Trinidad carnival (when I were a lad!) back in '74. Half a bottle of coke topped up with Old Oak was the 'refreshment' of choice.
 
Thanks very much all. Amazing what a quick response you can get to a question about drink. Hong Kong in August; I can't see anybody being too interested in cocoa!
 
Hello - I'm Peter - I'm a Mount Gay man

Having lived in Australia for 20 years, still can't believe how these colonials think Bundy is the bee's knees.

While doing the Red Sea last year, met up with a very dangerous cat called "Island Fling" who had sh*t load of Indian Rum from Cochin - in nice plastic bottles.

And actually it wasn't too bad.

And it got better as the night progresssshhhhed.
 
Sunsail Mount Gay Regatta

The first time I went to the Caribbean and saw the newspaper headline Sunsail Mount Gay Regatta I thought they were organising a ... well, you get the picture.
 
snowleopard has summed it up pretty well - although the suggestion of a cask rum (equivilent to a single malt) is also sound.

Mountgay have launched a new premium rum in the UK this week - 1703 rare cask - but it won't be available for a couple of weeks (Selfridges/F&N etc) and is £125 a pop.
It can be sourced cheaper elsewhere already including heavy postage!

http://www.r2m.it/shop/en/spirits/rum.asp

Peronally I would avoid St James for anything except rum baba - but taste is so personal!
 
DJE said:
I know they drink rum on board and make cocktails with it so I want to take them a bottle by way of a thank you.
Click to expand...

Do you recall what type they drank? Apparently the 'best rum' is in the eye (or taste) of the beholder. If they're drinkers of white rum, they may or may not appreciate a fine dark rum - they are very different imho. Contrary to a previous poster, I personally prefer to make coke palatable with dark rum. And while I enjoy dark rum on its own, I really can't stomach white rum unless it's in a cocktail.
 
duncan said:
snowleopard has summed it up pretty well - although the suggestion of a cask rum (equivilent to a single malt) is also sound.

Mountgay have launched a new premium rum in the UK this week - 1703 rare cask - but it won't be available for a couple of weeks (Selfridges/F&N etc) and is £125 a pop.
It can be sourced cheaper elsewhere already including heavy postage!

http://www.r2m.it/shop/en/spirits/rum.asp

Peronally I would avoid St James for anything except rum baba - but taste is so personal!
Click to expand...

Mount Gay Extra Old is pretty good stuff - you dont really have to go for that 1703.
Comparing Extra Old to Eclipse is a bit like comparing a single malt to a rough scotch.

Here is a place that flogs the stuff in Britain - but ooooh dear, it is rather dear!
http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=2081

A litre bottle of Extra Old here in Barbados (the home of Mount Gay) costs about GBP 13 duty free, and a 0.7 litre bottle in the supermarket (with duty) is about the same price.
 
HinewaisMan said:
Having lived in Australia for 20 years, still can't believe how these colonials think Bundy is the bee's knees.
Click to expand...

No great shakes and the price is pretty eye-watering. I thought the local stuff would be reasonably cheap in Dan Murphy's when I wanted to make Dark & Stormy but far from it and they didn't taste very good either.
 
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