Your opinion on some rums...

Aloha,

Lsst weekend the wife and I were up in Vancouver, BC and went into a few BC liquor stores. When we were there we noticed several rums neither one of us had tried before...I was hoping to ask the good folks at TC if they have had any of these, and, if so, what there opinion was on them. Photos....

A friend brought me Lamb's, I am not an expert but I really like it and I use of when the recipe calls for Navy strength rum.

The Lamb's overproof is essentially fire starter. I use it for burning garnishes only; it's really unpalatable as a mix.

The Royal Jamaican mixes quite well in a Mai Tai, and is complimented by using a nice second rum, but it is not typically my first go-to dark Jamaican (that would be Appleton Reserve for most cocktails). I personally don't like it in a Cuba Libre for some reason - however other people I know love it. Having said that, it's not terrible and it is a fairly versatile mixing rum for the price. It is made by the same company that makes Royal Jamaican Ginger Beer, I believe.

I'm ambivalent about Old Sam; it's not one I go out of my way for, but it isn't the worst rum available. I like the Ron Abuelo in a Cuba Libre with lots of lime and bitters.

I've never seen the Motu rum, but I will be on the look out for it now!

I love trying new rums I haven't seen before and discovering what they can do in various cocktail recipes. If you do as well, the only one I would truly advise against is the Lamb's.

I'd go for... The Lambs 151 & the Havana Club 7.

Lambs is a heavy Demerara style rum - I wouldn't think the 151 would be an especially good rum for mixing but I've always been curious about it (Lambs 80 is freely avalible here but the 151 isn't). Maybe one for eggnogs & etc

The Havana Club 7 would be a great mixer & occasional sipper - maybe the Ron Abuelo would be similar?

Ron Abuelo is pretty reliable, and I can't only imagine a demerara rum can't be bad - I've heard of Old Sam but haven't ever seen it in person.

The Abuelo and the Havana Club 7 are the only ones I have had. Solid Spanish style aged rums. I enjoy about 90% of the Demerara's I try so I'd like to try the Sam's.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2015-09-03 18:33 ]

I picked up a bottle of Motu in Vegas. Must be old stock, because in lieu of a label it just has a small raised section with "motu" written in plain font. It's got a hint of hogo to it, like a jamaican, but I can't really say its exactly like anything else out there.

On 2015-09-03 10:00, RVICTOR wrote:
Aloha,

Lsst weekend the wife and I were up in Vancouver, BC and went into a few BC liquor stores. When we were there we noticed several rums neither one of us had tried before...I was hoping to ask the good folks at TC if they have had any of these, and, if so, what there opinion was on them. Photos....

Motu Rum is made by the Raff Distillery on san Francisco's Treasure Island. It is made from Polynesian sugar came molasses that's aged in Limousine Oak casks. It's a nice rum, flavorful and smooth. I sell itat my store outside of Cincinnati for $19.99.

Nice-thanks everyone for taking the time to let me know what you know.

I thought I'd update this thread with a small piece of information. I started playing around with the Motu again after letting it sit on the shelf for a while and I've found that it works very well in a Luau Grog if you use a 50/50 combo of it and Demerara in place of the rums called for. Its got a nice fruity hogo to it like a jamaican that still pops pretty well when mixed, but drinking it neat you'll notice that it has a strong leather and butter component not unlike many gold puerto ricans, so it can stand in for either of them or for a combination of them like in an LG.