So who is JaRiMi and why is he being welcomed?
I am very honored to welcome dear JaRiMi, perhaps most well known as one of the premier posters over at Count Silvio's. Among his many competent, well researched and cited posts, he and I have engaged in a number of rousing discussions.
In all, he managed to argue his positions with great skill, and never, ever stooping to the kind of ad hominem attacks that are common among the sycophantic followers of Preacher Ed. He proves the notion that gentlemen can disagree with respect, and remain friends. And truth be told, we agree more than not.
One area of great agreement is the myth that rum is the "noble spirit", one of the "it's all good" mantras of our ministerial rum shill, the aforementioned Preacher Ed over at the Shillery of Rum. JaRiMi and I are in total accord that "real rum" - rum that is entirely the product of the arts of fermentation, distilling, aging and blending under the watchful tongue of a master - is a rare commodity.
Rare indeed.
Like me, JaRiMi has eloquently questioned the common use of unlabeled flavorings, additives and adulterants to achieve marketable taste profiles that can dump cheap young rums into profitably expensive "premium" bottles. It is this practice that belies the notion of "noble". The truth is that rum was and remains the beverage of rogues and rebels, pirates and Pyrat.
Faux rum.
Welcome JaRiMi. We will all be blessed by your cogent posts and look forward to them with great anticipation...
Welcome: JaRiMi, Ronmeister Supreme!
-
Capn Jimbo
- Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
- Posts: 3550
- Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
- Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
- Contact:
Welcome: JaRiMi, Ronmeister Supreme!
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Sat Feb 13, 2010 11:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
Hello Capn Jimbo and others,
Thanks for the nice welcome. I have enjoyed sipping fine rum ever since basically reaching the age of tasting it (that would make over 20 years in time) and I have tremendous amount of respect for the spirit, its history, its makers and their skill. Whisky / Whiskey is another spirit close to my heart, and folks who know me know that I am passionate about these subjects. I am also a bit of a collector - or as some friends say "He's got a drinking problem - he doesn't drink his liquors!!". Oh well...
I know recently some other rum aficionados misunderstood me quite completely when there was a public discussion on how rum is actually made vs. what the public is generally told about this. Oddly to me, after many years of active rum promotion work I was told I am a "rum hater" because of my critical viewpoints to some of the more secretive aspects of rum making. I didn't quite know what to say, especially when some of the comments came from people who are quite the icons of rum world. Personally I felt that the topic was worth a discussion and I feel strongly that keeping any such "hidden" facts from the public or attempting to silence any discussions about them actually seriously tarnishes the reputation of Rum - the spirit I very much love.
More and more people will find out true facts, and will most likely be disappointed that the story of rum making seems only too often to miss a few pages. Strangely enough the same pages are missing from the story of rum making, regardless who tells it! This is what I find also extremely strange, but can only deduct that the topic is so touchy that almost all individuals who have a vested business interest of any kind in the world of rum simply "do not wish to go there".
Well I am making my money from Telco and I love rum - so yes, I have taken some steps onto the very thin ice and started to discuss the forbidden topic of rum - what is the true source of flavour in some of the expensive premium aged rums, and why is this not admitted & published in the information these companies put out.
Amusingly enough, this is but just one of many topics about rum that I have written about over the years, but this one was the only one that landed me to burning hot lava - and I am still surprised about the agressively hostile reaction of some to this topic, and the lack of manners of some others.
In any case live & let live - as the Capn said more or less, two people should be able to disagree on something, or have a critical discussion, and still maintain respect for one another and treat each with respect. In many cases there is no wrong or right, but there are facts - and as I love rum, I really do try and find out as much as possible about it's history, making, quality, style etc. I believe that knowledge will make me understand the spirit better and also be in a better position to pass the knowledge & enthusiasm to others who show interest. I have given rum tastings & trainings irregularly for some ten-odd years and will continue to do so because I am inspired by others who wish to learn more about the spirit.
Rum is so much more than just a brown aged drink mixed with ice or used as an ingredient of a cocktail. As such I would hope to see it respected by all, including those who are in the business of rum. I guess we all have different ways of showing our love for rum - me I like to show it by collecting and tasting rum, educating people about it whilst trying to learn myself all about it, and by also discussing it - even critically sometimes. Honesty, openness, respect, integrity - that is Rum to me, how it should be. Call me a pompous purist if you will.
Not all people or things done in the name of rum are good things / people - thats just the way this world of ours is. Not everyone selling used cars want to tell you everything about the cars they sell - well, I am sorry to day the same goes for any other business which involves money - and rum is big business. I hope that more and more rum manufacturers, marketers, writers and sellers will take the openness-approach and start giving us all the facts about rum they know, not just the version missing a few pages. We the consumers deserve this - and most of all Rum deserves this.
I really would like to know which rum is 100% a product made from sugar cane, not one where the wonderful flavours I taste in the spirit come from spicing and macerating with fruits, honey, nuts, spices. Hey: Such products are absolutely ok in my books, as long as the maker publicly admits that his product is made in this way - not claiming otherwise, or hiding facts. I want to find out what I am actually drinking, and what makes it taste like it does. I also want to know how old is the rum I am drinking for real. That's just me maybe, I don't know.
I also think that a situation where "some do and some don't" must be an unfair competition situation. Imagine you do your utmost best to make a beautiful and flavourful rum, aging the spirit for 12 years and using expensive equipment & barrels etc. to get it to become a premium product. At the same time your neighbor is making his rum with cheaper equipment, aging it far less time, packing it with all kinds of flavourings and selling it for the same price as you are, stating it is the purest of rums - and some drinkers come to you afterwards, only to tell you "hey, your neighbor's rum has this wonderful taste of honey and nutmeg, how come you with all your fancy stuff cannot do the same?". I tell you, if it was me, I would be pissed.
Anyways lets hope we find many, many good rum topics to discuss here & there, and actually make a difference!
Thanks for the nice welcome. I have enjoyed sipping fine rum ever since basically reaching the age of tasting it (that would make over 20 years in time) and I have tremendous amount of respect for the spirit, its history, its makers and their skill. Whisky / Whiskey is another spirit close to my heart, and folks who know me know that I am passionate about these subjects. I am also a bit of a collector - or as some friends say "He's got a drinking problem - he doesn't drink his liquors!!". Oh well...
I know recently some other rum aficionados misunderstood me quite completely when there was a public discussion on how rum is actually made vs. what the public is generally told about this. Oddly to me, after many years of active rum promotion work I was told I am a "rum hater" because of my critical viewpoints to some of the more secretive aspects of rum making. I didn't quite know what to say, especially when some of the comments came from people who are quite the icons of rum world. Personally I felt that the topic was worth a discussion and I feel strongly that keeping any such "hidden" facts from the public or attempting to silence any discussions about them actually seriously tarnishes the reputation of Rum - the spirit I very much love.
More and more people will find out true facts, and will most likely be disappointed that the story of rum making seems only too often to miss a few pages. Strangely enough the same pages are missing from the story of rum making, regardless who tells it! This is what I find also extremely strange, but can only deduct that the topic is so touchy that almost all individuals who have a vested business interest of any kind in the world of rum simply "do not wish to go there".
Well I am making my money from Telco and I love rum - so yes, I have taken some steps onto the very thin ice and started to discuss the forbidden topic of rum - what is the true source of flavour in some of the expensive premium aged rums, and why is this not admitted & published in the information these companies put out.
Amusingly enough, this is but just one of many topics about rum that I have written about over the years, but this one was the only one that landed me to burning hot lava - and I am still surprised about the agressively hostile reaction of some to this topic, and the lack of manners of some others.
In any case live & let live - as the Capn said more or less, two people should be able to disagree on something, or have a critical discussion, and still maintain respect for one another and treat each with respect. In many cases there is no wrong or right, but there are facts - and as I love rum, I really do try and find out as much as possible about it's history, making, quality, style etc. I believe that knowledge will make me understand the spirit better and also be in a better position to pass the knowledge & enthusiasm to others who show interest. I have given rum tastings & trainings irregularly for some ten-odd years and will continue to do so because I am inspired by others who wish to learn more about the spirit.
Rum is so much more than just a brown aged drink mixed with ice or used as an ingredient of a cocktail. As such I would hope to see it respected by all, including those who are in the business of rum. I guess we all have different ways of showing our love for rum - me I like to show it by collecting and tasting rum, educating people about it whilst trying to learn myself all about it, and by also discussing it - even critically sometimes. Honesty, openness, respect, integrity - that is Rum to me, how it should be. Call me a pompous purist if you will.
Not all people or things done in the name of rum are good things / people - thats just the way this world of ours is. Not everyone selling used cars want to tell you everything about the cars they sell - well, I am sorry to day the same goes for any other business which involves money - and rum is big business. I hope that more and more rum manufacturers, marketers, writers and sellers will take the openness-approach and start giving us all the facts about rum they know, not just the version missing a few pages. We the consumers deserve this - and most of all Rum deserves this.
I really would like to know which rum is 100% a product made from sugar cane, not one where the wonderful flavours I taste in the spirit come from spicing and macerating with fruits, honey, nuts, spices. Hey: Such products are absolutely ok in my books, as long as the maker publicly admits that his product is made in this way - not claiming otherwise, or hiding facts. I want to find out what I am actually drinking, and what makes it taste like it does. I also want to know how old is the rum I am drinking for real. That's just me maybe, I don't know.
I also think that a situation where "some do and some don't" must be an unfair competition situation. Imagine you do your utmost best to make a beautiful and flavourful rum, aging the spirit for 12 years and using expensive equipment & barrels etc. to get it to become a premium product. At the same time your neighbor is making his rum with cheaper equipment, aging it far less time, packing it with all kinds of flavourings and selling it for the same price as you are, stating it is the purest of rums - and some drinkers come to you afterwards, only to tell you "hey, your neighbor's rum has this wonderful taste of honey and nutmeg, how come you with all your fancy stuff cannot do the same?". I tell you, if it was me, I would be pissed.
Anyways lets hope we find many, many good rum topics to discuss here & there, and actually make a difference!
Reading what happened between Mr. Burr and Mr. Hamilton, amazing..
I personally can vouch for the fact that Mr. Hamilton has very short (and selective) memory.
During our exchange of messages I reminded him (simply because he was rather eager to put me down as an unpleasant newbie to rums) that we used to discuss rums quite a few years ago already on a discussion forum. To this he answered by calling me a liar and said he has never discussed anything ever with me.
Well, as is, I am posting a link here, check it out..."Mika" was my nick in this old forum..Where the earliest discussions between myself and Mr. Hamilton are logged to the year of our Lord 2002 quite. Guess I wasn't lying after all..
And by the way, do look at the topic back then - and Mr. Hamilton's answer (quoted below).
Link to Topic
By the same reasoning, Mr. Hamilton could ban himself from posting there, if one reads his message from May of 2003. Actually he is much worse, because in an indirect way he suggests that there might even be poisonous substances in rums coming to USA..! Lo and behold.
Sorry for ranting on an old topic, but I do find this all just a tad amusing..
I personally can vouch for the fact that Mr. Hamilton has very short (and selective) memory.
During our exchange of messages I reminded him (simply because he was rather eager to put me down as an unpleasant newbie to rums) that we used to discuss rums quite a few years ago already on a discussion forum. To this he answered by calling me a liar and said he has never discussed anything ever with me.
Well, as is, I am posting a link here, check it out..."Mika" was my nick in this old forum..Where the earliest discussions between myself and Mr. Hamilton are logged to the year of our Lord 2002 quite. Guess I wasn't lying after all..
And by the way, do look at the topic back then - and Mr. Hamilton's answer (quoted below).
Link to Topic
Now, I was kicked out of his forum for A) being a "rum-hater", B) for asking the wrong questions, C) suggesting that apparently some rum distillers are hiding facts about how their rum gets their flavours and D) for not apologizing publicly more than profoundly to all and every single rum consumer and producer for ever suggesting they aren't very open about telling facts about their rums.Ed Hamilton:
"Sorry that I'm a little late getting to this topic which is very dear to my palate, I've been sailing and offline for a few weeks.
I can tell you that only a few rum distilleries will admit to adding flavoring to their rum. This is generally done during the blending process after the rum has aged in oak barrels. Sherry is one of the most common additives but natural fruit flavors are also added, among these raisin and coconut seem to be the most common but nut flavors are also added. In Venezuela raisins are commonly added to the rum during the last of the aging process to infuse flavor in the final blend.
Most rum distilleries that distill from molasses produce a nearly neutral spirit then dilute it before aging. Once aged flavors are added and then the blend is allowed to marry for a few days to a few weeks before bottling.
On the other hand in the French Caribbean where the rum is distilled to only about 72% alcohol by volume there are no added flavorings added to the rum, though caramel is commonly added to make the color more attractive.
Sherry and fruit flavorings take some of the harsh alcohol bite out of rum that has been highly distilled. Since very little rum is actually distilled in the US there is little control of the actual process though the BATF can and does periodically check the purity of distilled spirits to make sure there are no poisonous components in the bottled product.
Edward Hamilton"
By the same reasoning, Mr. Hamilton could ban himself from posting there, if one reads his message from May of 2003. Actually he is much worse, because in an indirect way he suggests that there might even be poisonous substances in rums coming to USA..! Lo and behold.
Sorry for ranting on an old topic, but I do find this all just a tad amusing..