Post #775976 by Hurricane Hayward on Mon, May 15, 2017 10:32 PM

Without further ado ...

First off, congratulations to Quince_at_Dannys and LeftArmOfBuddha ... your blends made the top three. The results break down into four tiers: There are three in the top tier, four in the upper middle tier, five in the lower middle tier, and two in the bottom tier.

The top three are:

No. 1 — Equal parts Smith & Cross and El Dorado 12. Facing tough competition, this simple yet effective blend remains the preferred substitute.

No. 2 — 5 parts Appleton Reserve, 1 part Lemon Hart 151, 1 part Hamilton Black. Very close in flavor to Kohala Bay, just not as balanced as No. 1. This blend created by Quince_at_Dannys wisely combines the richness of Appleton Reserve with the funkiness of Hamilton Black, plus just the right amount of Lemon Hart to raise the proof and add heat.

No. 3 — 4 parts Coruba, 2 parts Hamilton Black, 1 part Plantation O.F.T.D. The difference between No. 2 and No. 3 is ever so slight. This is slightly funkier, but it doesn’t have the breadth of flavors of No. 2 or the sophistication of No. 1. This blend was the handiwork of LeftArmOfBuddha.

I swear, I did all the tastings completely blind. Even the final cocktail tastings. And the old standby continued to rise to the top. Maybe it was because it seemed so familiar, or maybe because it really is the next best thing to Kohala Bay. But kudos to everyone who took the time to make up their own blends. All of the rums in the middle tiers are great, they just fall short of the top 3.

Click here to see the full results and analysis:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/05/08/rums-of-the-mai-kai-legendary-lemon-hart-returns-to-the-promised-land/#kohala-bay-substitutes

I'll leave you with a big tease. I was recently thrilled to discover a rum from Jamaica (not available in the U.S.) that may not look exactly like Kohala Bay. But the taste is so close, you'd swear it was an aged version of the same rum ...

More to come ...