Cruzan "Single" Barrel Rum

[Sweetmeats]

I'm enjoying my third bottle of this tonight and for some reason I decided to look it up on the internet. I came across this and now I feel cheated.

"Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is crafted from a blend of aged rums (up to 12 years) with secondary aging in a single oak cask."

That's not "Single" Barrel is it? Bourbon doesn't do this...do they? It doesn't mention that anywhere on the bottle and I think it's pretty cheap that they divulge this on the internet.

Anyone have any suggestions for true single barrel rum?

[cowdery]

This is not really in response to Mark's post, but the mention of Cruzan reminded me of something folks here might find interesting. Cruzan's master distiller is Ron Call, a good ole Kentucky boy who learned his craft at Jim Beam.

[Frodo]

I hear you sweetmeats, but my thing is...does it taste good? Thats always the bottom line for me. Would it make any differance to you if they called it "small batch"?

[Sweetmeats]

It would still taste as good but the only reason I bought it was because it said "Single Barrel." I thought that seemed fairly unique in the world of Rum. I just don't like feeling mislead. Learning the truth will lead me to try other rums now as well.

[doubleblank]

FYI Mark.......barrel "consolidation" goes on in the bourbon industry too. That special, expensive single barrel bourbon/rye you just bought may be from a single barrel.....but its contents might have been "consolidated" from many barrels.

Randy

[Sweetmeats]

Do you know who does that? I've always assumed "Single Barrel" meant exactly that. The spirit has only been in a "single" barrel in its lifetime. I think it's disingenious if it's being rebarreled and then marketed as single barrel.

[Frodo]

I've always assumed "Single Barrel" meant exactly that. The spirit has only been in a "single" barrel in its lifetime. I think it's disingenious if it's being rebarreled and then marketed as single barrel.

Me too! I think that's the way of it in the scotch whisky industry. I'd love to hear from industry insiders on this topic for sure...

[cowdery]

I think Blanton's coined the term "single barrel," at least in part, to create a little confusion versus Scottish "single malt" whiskies. The fact that Blanton's was developed specifically for the Japanese market, where scotch is dominant, supports that suspicion, so here is another category, rum, putting its own twist on "single barrel." I agree that it seems disingenuous, but I'm tempted to cut them some slack, only because it's a different category. If someone in bourbon tried it I would scream bloody murder.

These terms that aren't regulated by law leave a lot of room for creativity on the part of marketers, whether it's Dewar's and their "double aging" or Jim Beam's recipe that came over on the Mayflower, or whatever they're claiming now.

[Vange]

Park Ave Liquors advertises a 30 year single cask Demerara rum bottled by Gordon and MacPhail in the latest Malt Advocate magazine. It's $140, but I assume definitely a single cask rum.

[sku]

This is not really in response to Mark's post, but the mention of Cruzan reminded me of something folks here might find interesting. Cruzan's master distiller is Ron Call, a good ole Kentucky boy who learned his craft at Jim Beam.

Ah, now it makes sense. I recently tried this Cruzan for the first time, and I swear I would have guessed it was bourbon if I'd had it blind. I didn't get any of the sugar-cane taste typial of rum until the finish. Wonder if this has to do with the aging process.