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Rums A Plenty
by AlcoholReviews.com Staff When you shop the shelves of America's liquor stores, you are likely to find only a few different brands of rum. This might give one the impression that not many brands of rum are made. Nothing could be further from truth. Like vodka, rum comes in a dizzying number of brands. And the differences between rums isn't just the label. |
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Take these four rums. Pour each into
a glass and you'll recognize that they are of different colors. Bacardi
8 is the lightest of the bunch, being dirty gold. Rhum Barbancourt
Reserve Speciale 8 Year is a shade darker than Bacardi 8. Appleton Extra is copper colored
while British Royal Navy Imperial Rum is nearly as dark as Coca-Cola.
And taste? Well, though all rum is
in some way derived from sugar cane (provided it hasn't be adulterated
with raw alcohol spirit). However, some rums are made from straight sugar
juice and others are distilled partly or wholly from sugar cane by products,
like molasses or cane sap. Obviously this, along with different cane,
different production techniques, and different aging, all leads to immensely
different results.
RUM REVIEWS
Bacardi 8
(40% alcohol) comes from Puerto Rico. Among sipping rums, it is a good
place for a rum novice to begin. It's very mild, barely
sweet, dry, and goes down without any heat. (Rating ***3/4) Rhum Barbancourt Reserve Speciale
8 Year (43%) is made in Haiti, aged 8 years in barrel, and has received
high ratings from experts like F. Paul Pacult. No argument here- Rhum
Barbancourt was the softest rum of the bunch, dishing a touch of caramel,
a touch of barrel, and honey. (Rating
****1/4) Appleton Extra (43%) We actually
snatched up this bottle in a duty free shop, though its readily available
in the U.S. Appleton Extra
comes from Jamaica and isn't a rum for the novice. It has big taste- loads
of caramel, yet it isn't sweet. It's actually a hint bitter, packing a
wood note that some might find off-putting and others will cherish. (Rating***3/4)
British Royal Navy Imperial Rum
(54.3%) is an extraordinarily rare and expensive rum. Originally commissioned
by the Queen of England a few centuries back for her sailors, British
Royal Navy Imperial rum is made in Jamaica. It is like no other rum we've
ever tasted. Don't let its cola
and orange peel nose fool you, this rum isn't for the meek-
it's a whopping 108.6 proof. Take a tiny sip and your mouth and nose are
flooded with flavor. It is incredibly intense, almost scotch like with
an earthy-peaty note. Unique, unforgetable and utterly impossible to rate.
For more information on this rare
rum or to purhcase some, surf over to the website of its American importers,
Great Spirits LLC.
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Copyright © 1997-Present Kevin R. Kosar |
