Rum for dummies

[jeff]

Rum is one spirit with which I have never really experimented. I enjoy the occasional rum-based mixed drink while at the beach, but I have no real frame of reference for what a connoisseur would consider quality rum. I'm looking for suggestions on a bottle of "good rum"; not uber-expensive, limited edition or otherwise hard-to-find stuff, but simply a "classic" example of the style if you will.

Thanks!

[Vange]

A sipping rum?

Appleton Estate makes some good ones (VX) as does El Dorado (mab ethe 15 year) and a sweeter version of a good sipper is Ron Zacapa 15 or 23. Santa Teresa 1796 is a nice mix between sweet and bold. Those are pretty easy to find.

[jeff]

A sipping rum?

Appleton Estate makes some good ones (VX) as does El Dorado (mab ethe 15 year) and a sweeter version of a good sipper is Ron Zacapa 15 or 23. Santa Teresa 1796 is a nice mix between sweet and bold. Those are pretty easy to find.

Thanks. Yes, a sipping rum is what I'm looking for. And, not really knowing any better, I am assuming I would like one that is on the dryer side, based on my general preferences of other spirits.

[Vange]

If you want try a rum and a rhum agricole. They are 2 very different styles.

Rum

Rom Zacapa 15 or 23 - sweeter rum, good body

El Dorado 15 - not as sweet, good depth (price no option El Dorado 21 is great)

Santa Teresa 1796 - Definite a good rum in the middle between sweet and dry

Appleton Estate Extra - Another one in the middle of the spectrum. The AE VX makes a great rum and coke as well. (price no option the AE 21 is one of my absolute favorites)

Rhum Agricole

Clement Rhum VSOP - like a cognac, very dry (price no option Clement Rhum XO, WOW!)

[jeff]

So is the difference between the two styles simply the use of molasses vs free-run sugarcane juice? How prominent is the Rhum Agricole vs traditional rums?

[cowdery]

One of the better Appletons is a good place to start. They're readily available and reasonably priced.

It so happens that just yesterday I posted a short primer on rum on Chicago Examiner. That post is here.

[jeff]

Thanks Chuck, that was an interesting read :toast:

[Gillman]

I'm bringing Thomas Tew, a craft-distilled rum from Rhode Island, made from molasses, to the Gazebo. It has spicy, aromatic notes which surely recall the Revolution-era rums which predate even whiskey at least in a commercial sense.

Gary

[jeff]

I'm bringing Thomas Tew, a craft-distilled rum from Rhode Island, made from molasses, to the Gazebo. It has spicy, aromatic notes which surely recall the Revolution-era rums which predate even whiskey at least in a commercial sense.

Gary

Great! I look forward to trying it.

[sku]

Lately, I've been loving Diplomatico from Venezuela.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2008/07/diplomatic-rum.html

[ratcheer]

Jeff, If you can find it, don't neglect Mount Gay Sugar Cane Brandy, from Barbados. Pusser's Naval Rum is good, too.

Tim

[spun_cookie]

Jeff,

A good affordable sipping Rum woudl be the "Pyrate Pistol". THey come in 375mm bottles and is the refined brother of the XO.

Not as good as the $300 1623, but a mych better value for $10-35. They normall run $30 for a bottle, but I found a place closing it out for $10 and I got 3 of them.... I have seen them for $20 over the last few weeks in a couple of stores....

[Vange]

Jeff, If you can find it, don't neglect Mount Gay Sugar Cane Brandy, from Barbados. Pusser's Naval Rum is good, too.

Tim

Oh yeahm I forgot this one! Mount Gay makes an XO that is great and well priced too.

[Vange]

Did a quick search to grab a few prices for some of the rums mentioned in this thread. Prices have really gone up over the years.

Pyrat Pistol - $10 (375 ml) - LOTS of orange in the Pyrat. Ive had the XO and the cask 23. Heavy dose of orange too much for me.

Diplomatico 12 - $25

Rom Zacapa 15 - $25

Ron Zacapa 23 - $40

El Dorado - $27

El Dorado 15 - $35

El Dorado 21 -$75

Santa Teresa 1796 - $38

Appleton Estate VX - $20 (More a mixing rum than a sipper. My staple rum and diet coke choice)

Appleton Estate Extra - $34

Appleton Estate 21 - $140 (WOW this price jumped over the years!)

Mount Gay Extra Old - $36

La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux - $50 (great rhum agricole)

Neisson Rhum Agricole Reserve Speciale - $65 (another great rhum agricole)

Clement Rhum VSOP - $37

SPECIAL OCCASION

Clement XO - $135 (hard to find)

http://morrellwine.com/product_descr.php?pid=1102071&source=winesearcher&utm_source=winesearcher&utm_medium=winesearcherfeed&utm_campaign=winesearcherfeed

[Megawatt]

Some good ones I've tried are El Dorado 12, Flor de Cana 7, and Agnostura 12.

[rockporter]

For sipping, I would go with Pussers. Friends were in the Islands several years ago and bought a case (distributed to friends to get back to the states ) and have working it down ever since. The Pussers plant burned down but I believe it was re-built.

I would second the recommendation for Mount Gay Extra Old. Had this in Babados and it was a nice way to spend an evening.

[Vange]

El Dorado 15 on sale! $24! A steal!

http://www.shoppersvineyard.com/product_new.asp?pID=12813

[TBoner]

Hold the phone on the El Dorado 15. I have a bottle open and can't ever get myself to drink it. It has an overwhelming rubber note, beyond the usual funk of a well-aged rum and outside the range of flavors I'd expect in any product intended for consumption. Cutting 1:1 with FdC 7 yo helps a bit, but it's still not a favorite. Perhaps I just don't like the taste of extra-aged rum, but Montecristo 12 and Appleton 12 don't bother my taste buds at all.

Regards,

[swampguy]

Try Ron Anejo Pompero Amiversario, comes in a leather pouch. It is excellent. Nose is full of caramerl sweetness and the palate is of sugar cane. I paid 25.60 with tax here in Baton Rouge, LA. I grew up around sugar cane and this is remeniesent of the old style sugar cane. I highly recommend it be drunk in a brandy snifter.

[smokinjoe]

Try Ron Anejo Pompero Amiversario, comes in a leather pouch. It is excellent. Nose is full of caramerl sweetness and the palate is of sugar cane. I paid 25.60 with tax here in Baton Rouge, LA. I grew up around sugar cane and this is remeniesent of the old style sugar cane. I highly recommend it be drunk in a brandy snifter.

Swampy, the Ron Anejo Pompero Aniversario is my all-time favorite sipping rum. Cool little pouch, too. $25 is the going rate here, also. It's Venezuelan, right?

Although, I haven't had it in a while, as the remainder of my last bottle is buried deep in the back of the bunker, Prichard's also has a fine sipping rum.

[Gillman]

Tim, in my opinion, the rubber-like notes you notice are the pot still element in the rum. In ED 12 and 15, they are muted in comparison to, say, a rum like Angostura 1824, but still quite evident. Again IMO, a rum with attributes much like Angostura 1824 (made in Trinidad, not that far from Guyana where ED is made), is used to lend those big pot still notes to ED 12 and 15. I would characterise that pot still taste as orangey-like, but I know what you mean. I like the taste but I have also modified it by creating a rum vatting in which it is not obstrusive yet lends complexity. If you combine ED 12or 15 with dark, well-aged treacly rums (rich Demerara or other dark rums which have a dark molasses note or oaky taste), that element as I say diminshes. Yet, it is a classic aged rum taste (one of them) in the region in question and I do enjoy the flavor. It seems to go best with coffee after dinner. Indeed these ED rums also present a coffee-like note.

Gary