Capn Jimbo's Rum Project Forum

Welcome back. and I hope that your new life is as wonderful as you might dream. I also hope that in your your Chesapeake roams, that you learned what a REAL crabcake is. If you're back , I'll be here to grief you

... at sea, who cares?!?!??!?

Find a calm anchorage, hang the hammock and screw it all!

Jimbo, I hope all is going smoothly in this amazing transition. I can only wish the best for you and Sue. Please keep us apprised.

Stopped into a local small package store recently and encountered this junior representative of the Wray and Nephew megaconglomerate. I was very pleasantly surprised: it's straw blonde color demonstrated minimal aging, but unlike Westhall, there was classic rum hiding in there. Although it is very l...

I am probably, as usual, misinformed, but in my early days of rum exploration, I was told that the most important person in a rum distillery was the master blender. Given the undoubted variation among the used barrels, the sugar source and the vagaries of weather (temp/humidity), it seems that an ex...

Apart from a few volume producers <cough, cough -Monte Alban> most Mexcal is local craft distilled: dig the Maguey root ball (relative of blue agave); smoke it for weeks; mash it and let the pulp ferment; distill it in (often Jerry-rigged) pot stills. Wonderful fresh and clear, better aged for a whi...

My folks drank Old Dover BiB - a leaky canteen of which @ a Catholic retreat got me booted from the Boy Scouts one badge short of Eagle.

On the other hand, I'm loving some of the things EW is doing. Their single barrel is a cheapskates choice for bourbon - rich, smooth and, oh yeah, cheap at $25!

Regardless, sugar is THE way to fake an "elite" rum from mediocre leavings. Zacapa has no graces in my eye, Zaya, with as much, or more, sugar plus vanilla is actually a nice liqueur - just not a rum! I guess I'm going hard core - mostly sipping Smith & Cross diluted to 40% - wonderful...

I love my Glen Cairn glasses! Yes, they do contain some of the aroma in the lower bowl (excepting adding water to S &C), but as the glass is tilted toward the mouth, the aromas are released. A different experience - overhead scenting is muted.

Living in ATL, Richland is readily available At ~$50 and is a favorite at upscale bars. I'll taste again, but very much a "whiskey-style" rum with initial and finishing harshness that I didn't appreciate.

As I said, more to follow....

For the past few weeks, MGXO has been going for $29.99. A reasonably fair price for the not-as-good modern version. I went in today and almost fell down when I saw it priced @ $48.99!!!! Ugh - WTF would spend that much? Oh, yeah, the dopes who spend that for Richland pseudo-rum! Time to make the lon...

I LOVE this rum. What has gone unmentioned in the above reviews is the aromatic power that is released when water is added to dilute to drinking alcohol level. I pour it in a standard whiskey tasting glass, add about 1/4 water and the leather, dunder and, especially anise/licorice fills the room. Ju...

Welcome Jamie, I don't know where in S AZ you are, but there are 2 Total Wines in the Tuscon area. There (if they are allowed liquor sales), you can find all of the excellent FourSquare products - RL Seale's - an easy top 3 in the world, Doorly's XO -- good experimental aged rum, Doorly's 5 - best b...

ROFL - I remember the (gratefully) failed attempt by McD's to buy the corner property on the Zoocalo in Oaxaca - the locals went crazy - this ain't food! Now that Americans can travel to Cuba by simply saying "I have an allowable reason for travel" and return with up to $400 (I think) in a...

Scotch comes from a country about the size of Hispaniola, separated but by glens and brays. Rum comes from the Caribbean - dozens of islands with variously French, Spanish and British influences. One would expect far greater variation in rum, BUT it ain't so. I came to rum from years of sipping malt...