Bacardi Oakheart

I know it was previously announced outside of TC, but our waitress at lunch today talked about doing Bacardi promotions and their new Oakheart spiced rum. Supposedly just hitting the market now. Curious if anybody had tasted it and what you think.

Luki, since we just talked, I can tell you this in good spirit:

There are two major no-nos in the world of quality Tiki rumology: One is Bacardi, and the other one is spiced rum.

There might be some rare exceptions, but generally a committed mixologist avoids both.

Heh, thanks for the lesson.

I actually thought that Bacardi was a no-no but I saw some other posts about it.

Hey, at least I didn't ask if anybody had made a Mai Tai with it :wink:

The above said, one should always be open to surprises and give a new brand a chance, but pragmatically viewed, the chances that something noteworthy will come out of this combo are slim.

Spiced rum is spiced rum is spiced rum. and the only Bacardi product that I keep in my bar is Bacardi 8 (which is very good within it's style)

Bacardi 151 is an excellent fuel for my volcano bowl and also removes road tar from my car.

[ Edited by: Tonga Tiki 2011-09-03 03:01 ]

On 2011-09-02 15:23, bigbrotiki wrote:

There are two major no-nos in the world of quality Tiki rumology: One is Bacardi...

Doesn't the Mai Kai pretty much use Bacardi?

I work at a mega liquor store.
I always try to put the customers on to the Cruzan Light instead of the dreaded Bacardi when they're dead-set on a light rum.
That being said... we had a tasting yesterday of the Oakheart, and honestly, I was pleasantly surprised.
They're calling it a spiced rum, but it's really not. I didn't get a lot of spice on it at all. What I did get was a whallop of vanilla and some oak funk with a nice alcohol burn that will stand up nicely in cocktails.
Seriously, honestly, it's not that bad.
And actually, I would go as far as to say that, in its price range, it's really pretty good.
I'd go even farther and say that I'll probably be buying a bottle to add to the arsenal.

Well there you go! I added my second post because I wanted to make clear that I was not aiming to squelch any discussion of the stuff, merely to inform Luki about the general feelings here regarding spiced rum and Bacardi.

I don't know what the Mai Kai uses. Liquor companies can afford to give huge discounts to large restaurants who take them because they save so much money. I know that the Kanaloa, that amazing Tiki temple in London, was initially stocked with the appropriate variety of individual rums, and than a big company made them an offer they couldn't refuse, and now all the drinks are made with that line of rums. There have been umpteenth Tiki events that were and are sponsored by such brands as Sailor Jerry, Captain Morgan, and Red Rum. These companies have large P.R. budgets, and that money needs to get spent. Also, we all know that the company that makes Trader Vic's rums does not do justice to the name.

That is just the reality out there. We here can turn our noses up on that stuff, because we control what goes into our home bars and into our cocktails, but out there, it's a jungle, and if some company "sponsors" their brand at a Tiki place it still does not make it a better product.

Back to the subject in question, here is an introduction on Oakheart that does make it sound interesting:

"Co-developed by over 4,000 consumers and hundreds of bartenders, Bacardi OakHeart takes their traditional Bacardi Superior and blends it with Bacardi Gold, giving it the perfect mixability of Superior and the smooth finish of Gold. This gives it the perfect base for them to add their blend of spices which includes maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, vanilla and caramel before being filtered. The end product is “slightly peppery, with a noticeable rum-kick, BACARDÍ OAKHEART is a spirit with a vibrant amber hue and taste that is distinctly its own” and with a nice smokiness lent from the double charred barrels it was mellowed in.

Bacardi recommends making an Oak & Coke, which I’m sure you can figure out is a rum and Coke, and it looks like the two may be sold in the same packaging with a bottle of Bacardi OakHeart and a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. Rum and coke not your thing? It’s great over ice too.

Pricing is suggested at $12.99 and will release nationwide beginning in September."

The "smokiness" sounds appealing, but then they mess it all up with packaging it as "Oak and Coke". Some marketing genius must be very proud of that line, and that it caught shows you WHERE the market for this brand lies.

And last not least, the price is SCARY low, it seems like Bacardi is really pushing to break into the non-light rum market now that the interest in it is growing.

They want market share from Captain Morgan, nothing more, nothing less.

Bacardi's last foray into spiced rum was an utter failure so they have probably planned this carefully.

Update:
Oakheart does not appear to be doing much. It's been on the shelves for a week now and I haven't had to restock it even once. We've sold maybe a handful of bottles... like 3 or 4. That's pretty horrible for a brand new product with a big display and all that stuff.
I think that Captain folk are Captain folk... they know what they want and they get it. The same can be said for Jerry folk. I've been able to sway indecisive people towards the Cruzan 9 occasionally, but I can't get anyone to go for the Oakheart.
Not a good sign as we're heading into Fall. Bacardi probably should have released this towards the beginning of the summer. And, they probably should have come up with a better "cocktail" idea than "Oak and Coke".

On the plus side, since starting this job, I've turned a small army on to El Dorado 12 and have depleted our entire stock. Slowly building a minion of fine rum drinkers in the area...

wherebouts in Denver? i've got tons of in-laws in Aurora.

The really big one in Highlands Ranch.
I'd rather keep the name off of the post for search engine reasons.
I can be much more candid about stuff if I'm somewhat anonymous.

On 2011-09-02 14:47, Luki wrote:
I know it was previously announced outside of TC, but our waitress at lunch today talked about doing Bacardi promotions and their new Oakheart spiced rum. Supposedly just hitting the market now. Curious if anybody had tasted it and what you think.

Skip the Oakheart and go straight for the Bacardi 8 year. I recommend it and use it in many cocktails. Bacardi does generally make swill, but the 8 year is tasty with oak and nice spices, and makes great cocktails. I consider myself to be quite the snob, but my taste buds don't lie. I like it. I drink it. Others who've tried it neat and in cocktails over here love it. Thumbs up.

The other Tiki rumology "no-no's" I support 100% are Kilo Kai and Kraken spiced rums. Great stuff. IMO people who turn a blind nose to spiced rums and specific brands are missing out.... It's still rum and you might be very surprised from time to time!

[ Edited by: Kahuna Kevin 2011-09-17 15:26 ]

Have to agree with you Kevin. Bacardi 8 is a great rum. I've found a new bar and had a couple of shots of it with my friend who hadn't tried it before. When i was deciding what rum i wanted and chose the Bacradi 8, the bartender said, 'where have you been all my life?', and gave it to me on the house. He said that that is the rum that they personally(the bartenders) go through the most.

Also agree about the spiced rum. I've only tried a couple but have enjoyed them all. My workmate bought a bottle of Kraken back from the U.S. for me last year, and i thought it was great.

I picked up a .99 airplane bottle of it just to give it a try. UHG. It has a very acrid smell and has a horrible, bitter aftertaste. I enjoy some spiced rums and have has some rotten ones,and this may be the worst of them all. There was no smokiness, just an overwhelming hint of rancid vanilla (like a gas station car air freshener). I'd rank it better then Heaven Hill and worse then Castillo. AVOID.