Post #286741 by danimal on Mon, Feb 19, 2007 3:22 PM

  Hi all,
Actually, seventeen year old rums aren't that unusual. Unless I'm mistaken, Flor de Cana and Ron Botran both market rums in this age catagory. They're pretty good rums, too. Note that these are both spanish style rums from mainland Central America, so they're quite diferent from the Wray & Nephew rum made in the english style on Jamaica, mon.

  The reasons for the differences in these rums is due both to the style of rum and the georgaphy of the regions where they are aged. Spanish rums are typically lighter flavored, cleaner rums. Bacardi is a well known spanish type. British rums are heavier, full bodied rums with a more comples flavor profile. Geography comes into play in the aging process. As a spirti ages in wood barrels, part of the spirit evaporates. This "angel's share" is much more pronounced in higher temperatures, so a rum aged at sea level in the tropics will lose more to evaporation than a rum aged at altitude in a country like Guatamala.A rum aged in a cooler climate ages more slowly, and the flavor is more subtle. A rum aged for many years in the tropics tastes more "woody", because the barrel has more influence on the end product.

  Try Ron Botran's twenty three year old rum. It's a great rum. HiTime Wines in Costa Mesa carries it for something like $30. You can't go wrong with a price like that.

    Dan

Dan (at) onebarrelrum (dot) com