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Bmac
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I have been enjoying the Clement line of rhum agricole in a "critical" manner lately. After discovering the Barrel Select at Tales of the Cocktail, I picked up the 6 and 10 year. I have to adjust my expectations when sipping them, as it's so different from whiskey, and I should not taste for things that only whiskey can deliver. However, it's a nice change of pace, and has deepened my interest in the category.
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Grand opening last night of a neighbors rum bar.

They took a old shed in the back yard and converted it to a nice little watering hole to hang out at.

Brought over some Pyrat 1623 for him to taste and drank some of his ED 12yr. Fun night with the neighborhood crew.

Left the Pyrat for him to enjoy, and for me to have a nip when walking the dog.

B

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Went to a Lost Spirits tasting at a liquor store yesterday. The distiller gave a talk about the process and the chemistry and all that. We tasted the Navy Strength, Polynesian, and Cuban rums. No detailed notes, sorry, but I walked out with a bottle of the Navy Strength. The Cuban at 151 was indeed 151 and the distiller said the Polynesian was really more suited to cocktails which I enjoy drinking but don't make very often. The Navy Strength was very sippable and will stand up for itself in any cocktail. It was a fun afternoon and I'm happy supporting a kinda local guy doing interesting things.

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  • 4 weeks later...

On the recommendation of tanstaafl2 and others I picked up a bottle of 5 star Rhum Barbancourt earlier this summer. Didn't hit the spot for me but the sister in law has taken quite a liking to it. I'm thinking about getting her a bottle of it or the 15 year to thank her for helping me out on a few things lately.

Is the taste profile on the 15 close? Thoughts on that expression in general?

Thanks

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The 15 (going on memory here though I've had the 5 Star recently) I recall as being dryer, more Cognac like, so I would chose the younger one for rum cocktails. For gifts though I like to give the recipient something they wouldn't necessarily buy for themselves so the more expensive expression may be appropriate no matter how she puts it to use.

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For gifts though I like to give the recipient something they wouldn't necessarily buy for themselves so the more expensive expression may be appropriate no matter how she puts it to use.

For others, I completely agree, but shes the baby of the family so just in her early twenties, in school, poor, and still pretty new to alcohol. Besides some cheap sweet wine the 5 star is the first harder thing she's ever liked, so I want to have a idea about the 15yr similarity to it.

That said, she'd probably be wow'd be getting a bottle that comes in a box. :)

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Perhaps two bottles of good mixers then, Cruzan's Aged Dark and Black Strap Rums.

Two mixers might be nice to provide a bit more quantity over quality especially if her taste for rum might still be a bit subjective to a newbie drinker. But I have to think you can do better than Cruzan Aged Dark. The Blackstrap is somewhat iconic for certain drink styles I suppose so I can see that if necessary but I would suggest another option for a dark rum like the Flor de Canana 4yo gold and/or El Dorado 5 or 8 yo rums. Neither of these is particularly expensive although they are both a little more than the cheap Cruzan stuff.

Other than the Blackstrap and the Estate Single Barrel I am not much of a fan of Cruzan. Right down there perhaps a slight cut above Bacardi.

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He mentioned she was poor so that influenced my suggestions as I thought it better to introduce her to something she could afford.

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He mentioned she was poor so that influenced my suggestions as I thought it better to introduce her to something she could afford.

Fair enough but for a few bucks in rum you can take a significant step up in my opinion. Neither the ED or the FdC is likely over $20 if that much.

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What do you folks think of the Cruzan Single Barrel now that you've mentioned it? I see it around at Binny's for $30 and often consider buying it but have never pulled the trigger.

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What do you folks think of the Cruzan Single Barrel now that you've mentioned it? I see it around at Binny's for $30 and often consider buying it but have never pulled the trigger.
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Speaking of Cuban style, when my wife returned from England last week having struck out finding Yellow Spot at the duty-free stores, I wish I had told her to look for Havana Club as an alternate choice. I have never seen it or had it but would like to add it to my small rum collection.

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Speaking of Cuban style, when my wife returned from England last week having struck out finding Yellow Spot at the duty-free stores, I wish I had told her to look for Havana Club as an alternate choice. I have never seen it or had it but would like to add it to my small rum collection.

Having a couple of the Havana Clubs in hand (the typical travel retail basics, Anejo Blanco and Anejo Reserva) and having traveled to Cuba where I tried many others I would say that while it was pleasant enough there wasn't anything terribly unique about it (other than its rarity and "forbidden cachet" in the US of course).

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Have to agree about Havana Club, a bottle of which a friend gave me some years ago. Pleasant enough stuff, good mixer, worth trying if only to strike off the list.

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Agree with the others above on the HC. Not very much worth the effort, beyond the forbidden fruit appeal.

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Thanks for the info on HC. I guess the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it gave it extra appeal to me but now I don't feel as bad about forgetting to tell my wife to pick it up. Such a shame though that she went to two duty-free shops at Heathrow and came back empty-handed. Bummer!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Impulse buy of a Barbancourt 15 (wanted to try a rhum agricole) and an El Dorado 15 (liked the 12, so ... why not) - the pricing on these things makes it easy to impulse buy. Let's hope it stays that way! Will give the Barbancourt a try this weekend.

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Impulse buy of a Barbancourt 15 (wanted to try a rhum agricole) and an El Dorado 15 (liked the 12, so ... why not) - the pricing on these things makes it easy to impulse buy. Let's hope it stays that way! Will give the Barbancourt a try this weekend.

While I like the Barbancourt in general I am not sure I would call it a classic rhum agricole even though the company says they meet the requirements. Although the 15 is perhaps a little closer than the "five star" 8yo. Might be best to call it "Haitian style" rhum agricole (And I am circumspect at best about any claim coming out of a company based in Haiti...) . The "Martinique style" rhum agricoles (I am not a big fan of the DOC for Martinique rhum as it is a relatively recent and artificial construct likely designed to give those rhums some distinction as much for marketing and price inflation as it is to "protect" the integrity of the spirit category) tend to be a bit different to me although even those can be a bit different from one distillery to the next (which comes as no real surprise). But finding an affordable Martinique rhum agricole that is 15yo is all but impossible. Certainly nothing in the price range of the Barbancourt.

Before making a decision on rhum agricole you might want to try a Martinique rhum agricole too. Clement Grand Reserve 6 or 10yo perhaps. Harder to find but out there. 6 is around $50 and 10 is around $70 I should think.

Edited by tanstaafl2
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Thanks - my error - I thought the only difference was fermenting cane juice vs. molasses. Need to look into this more ...

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Thanks - my error - I thought the only difference was fermenting cane juice vs. molasses. Need to look into this more ...

That is certainly an important distinction. Like bourbon, there are a few other rules for Martinique rhum. Not sure if they also apply to Guadeloupe which also makes nice but usually also relatively expensive rhum agricole.

Other islands in the Caribbean make rum from cane juice as do some French Islands in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius comes to mind). Not sure they all follow all the Martinique rules to include Haiti. St. George in California even made one at one time. Not sure if they still do.

Some companies use a third option which is cane syrup which is kind of in between. Botran/Zacapa and Zaya are ones I can think of that use cane syrup and not fresh cane juice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

And now for something completely different, cachaça! Well, a little bit different anyway. This one is unusual in that it is aged for 9 years in American oak (does South American oak count???).

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I presume it was a toasted barrel and not charred. Rather low proof at 82 and no idea how large the barrel was but it produced 240 bottles which seems like a pretty large amount despite the low proof. After 9 years in Brazil it is a bit of a surprise anything is left in the barrel. Also absurdly expensive but what the hell. Don't see 9yo cachaça every day around here. Or ever...

Can't seem to find much about it out on the blogosphere beyond what is on the bottle.

Might have to give it a try with the turkey to see if I was a turkey for buying it on a whim.

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One of my favorites is Ron Centenario 25 year which I picked up at the duty free store in Costa Rica. Wish I would have gotten more than one bottle. It went way too fast. Better than anything that I have purchased in Michigan.

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Any feedback here on the new series of rums from Lost Spirits? I have the Navy coming but am curious about the others.

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