Post #788569 by Hurricane Hayward on Tue, Jul 17, 2018 9:27 PM

Mahalo Mike for your due diligence and determination! Sounds like we'll find lots of uses for Xaymaca, which is pronounced "zay-muck-uh" according to Cocktail Wonk. But I like your pronunciations better.
http://cocktailwonk.com/2018/05/xaymaca-deeply-deconstructed.html

It will be interesting to see if an age statement is included in the promotion of this rum. As the Wonk's blot post points out, there are various rums in this blend from two historic Jamaican distilleries (Clarendon and Long Pond). Three of the main four rums in the blend are aged 1 year in Jamaica and 1-2 years in Cognac barrels in France per the Plantation formula. One of the four is aged 8 years in Jamaica, then 1 in France.

There's also a mysterious fifth rum component from Long Pond that is reportedly aged 17 years, mostly in Jamaica. (It was distilled in 2000.) But, as Matt points out, rum No. 5 "is not necessarily a permanent part of the Xaymaca blend and may be replaced with another marque (or marques) at some point."

It hasn't appeared on the Plantation website yet, but with the negative attention lately on age statements, I would expect Plantation to just promote this as a young, blended, pure pot-stilled Jamaican rum and let the taste speak for itself. Now I really can't wait to try it!

On 2018-07-12 12:02, mikehooker wrote:

On 2018-06-24 17:18, Hurricane Hayward wrote:

I'm now excited about the new offering from Plantation:

http://cocktailwonk.com/2018/05/xaymaca-deeply-deconstructed.html

From what I've heard, it could be exactly what we're looking for.

I had the opportunity to sample Xaymaca the other night at Lei Low. Alexandre Gabriel was in town for Mai Tai Tuesday and Lei Low was making the classic Vic recipe with various Plantation expressions. To my delight, there was a partial bottle of Xaymaca on hand (the X is pronounced like a Z - if I recall correctly, it's phonetically Zai - Mah - Ka. Or maybe it was Zay - Mah - Ka). This wasn't part of the rum list for the Mai Tai's they were serving cuz there was so little available.

I received a small pour and my eyes lit up. THIS is what I've been waiting for. No, it's not going to be a 1:1 Kohala Bay sub (it doesn't have the proof or funk), but it's full bodied and flavorful. Bottled at 43%, it's extremely approachable (I immediately asked for a second pour cuz the first went down real quick). It doesn't have the burn of Smith & Cross cuz the lower ABV, but it also wasn't as bold and funky as Hamilton pot still. It's just a perfectly balanced rum. I'm curious (and forgot to ask) how long the rums in this blend were aged cuz it's shockingly mellow yet very flavorful.

My invalidated impression is that this is what rum USED to taste like decades ago, before column still became the norm and bold flavors were essentially eradicated. I don't imagine this has near the aging of the old J. Wray 17 or 15 year rums Vic used in the '40s to make his original Mai Tai, but perhaps this is more in the ballpark of the flavor profile of those rums than others on the market today. The home blends that everyone is doing now (and even products like Denizen) are mimicking the later iterations that Vic had to employ when the aged Jamaican rum supply ran out. The original Mai Tai relied solely on one spectacular rum. With this in mind, I pleaded for a 2 oz pour of Xaymaca in a Mai Tai, to which the Plantation rep in charge of the bottle obliged. It was FANTASTIC! Later in the night when the crowd had dispersed and the bottle remained with just a couple ounces left and no one there demonstrating any interest, I asked if they could do me another Mai Tai. So grateful they allowed it. Truly divine.

My takeaway. This is a delicious rum than can be sipped and will make an incredible mixer. I imagine a blend with Smith and Cross will produce a suitable Kohala Bay sub. I can't wait to get some bottles and start playing with it. It comes to Texas in September. Not sure about the rest of the country.