Massachusetts/Boston area rum exploration

Hey folks - I wasn't sure where to put this thread, so I figured the general area is as good as any.

I live in the Boston, MA area (Waltham, specifically), and I've had a rough time over the years finding a lot of higher end rums to add to my home bar. Even just finding a nice Demerara is tricky, and MA still has some very old school, backward laws about alcohol shipping, as far as I'm aware, so ordering online isn't an option. There are some great, large liquor stores around for sure (for instance, Total Wine in Framingham is massive, but their rum selection isn't super impressive), but I guess I just haven't found that shining tiki diamond in the New England rough.

Are there any local people who have any good tips/info on the best "packies" to find some nicer rum or the like? I'm all ears to anything in the greater New England area. Many thanks in advance!

I hear ya. I live in CA now, where you can get pretty much anything. But I lived in New England for a long time, and I remember the challenges of getting quality booze.

If you have a Total Wine nearby, you may want to ask them whether they can do an inter-store shipment, i.e., you make a request for something they carry elsewhere, and they ship it to their store for you to pick up. Here in CA, Total Wine has a HUGE selection of rum, including some must-haves like El Dorado 12 and 15 and Lemon Hart 151 at pretty sweet prices. I'm not sure if they'd do this, but if it's in their system, seems like it should be no big deal. Worth asking, anyway.

And, thanks for using the term "packy." Man, did that bring me back!

Ha, yeah. I'm from CA originally (Sacramento), so I know what I'm missing out on, especially when I go home for a visit and drool over the offerings. "Packie" is still a quaint local term to me, even though I've been here 12 years now. Gotta use the parlance when it's called for :)

Good idea about asking them to do special orders. I'd love to score a Lemon Hart, but I have never seen one in person here in New England. Worth a try, in any case.

One other thought ... if you know anyone in CT, state law there allows direct alcohol shipments, and I know of some stores that do it (though not all). My go-to is Hi-Time Wine (Google it and you'll find them) in Costa Mesa. They seem to carry pretty much everything under the sun (including LH151!), and they ship to CT.

I can help you with this! What rums are you looking for specifically? I know a lot of places out in pioneer valley (near amherst) and some around the south shore.

Spirit Haus in Amherst has all of the El Dorados, Clement, Smith & Cross, Plantation Stiggins Fancy and more, as well as stuff like St. Elizabeth's Allspice.

You have to go to Yankee Spirits. It's huge and they have a really decent rum selection. There's one in Sturbridge, Attleboro and Swansea. They have all of the Appletons, Brugals, Barbancourts, Clement, Rhum J.M., Mt. Gay and more. You can peruse their rum inventory on their website if you want. They have fees brothers falernum which I like best and is hard to find around here. Their prices are the best in the state as far as I know.

You can get Zaya and Pyrat at Liquors 44 in Amherst, and Coruba at Independent Liquors in Easton.

The only place in Massachusetts I've found that sells demerara is Spirit Haus.

It's all the way in Amherst, so about an hour and a half from you. But I'll be visiting my parents on the south shore a few times this summer, so if you can't make it out this way I could probably be convinced to pick up a bottle of El dorado for you.

Maybe we could meet up at Kowloon, been wanting to get there for ages.

Let me know if you are looking for a particular rum, I can probably point you in the right direction.

Awesome! Thanks very much - super nice of you.

I was able to find a Hamilton 151 here in Waltham, coincidentally, but I'd love to spread out and find a wider variety. Smith and Cross would be great, Zaya, Havana Club, whatever. Lemon Hart especially, but I know that's unlikely.

I've heard of Yankee Spirit - might be worth the trip.

I'm always down for a Kowloon trip. I usually get over there a couple of times a year at least.

If you don't mind a two hour drive, Table & Vine in Springfield has a great selection of stuff, including Lemon Hart. Pretty good prices, too. Another place I like, and much closer to Waltham, is Marty's in Newton. They used to have Lemon Hart way back when, but I haven't seen any there for a long time. Haven't been there for a while, though, so maybe it's back. (Don't bother using the search function on their website, they don't seem to have much of anything loaded into their online database.) Kappy's is also good. They have a bunch of locations. Never saw any Lemon Hart there, but they have a lot of other stuff. And there's always the New Hampshire state liquor stores. No Lemon Hart but a pretty good selection otherwise, and the prices tend to be better than anyplace else. (Best website search of the bunch, too. Everything's on there and it'll even tell you how many bottles of any given thing are at each store.)

https://www.tableandvine.com/
https://www.martysfinewine.com/
http://www.kappys.com/
http://www.liquorandwineoutlets.com/

Also a couple of other discussions on where to find rum here:

http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/huimalu/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=20411
http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/huimalu/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19102

[ Edited by: SumGuy 2017-07-07 16:10 ]

Great info - thanks! I know Kappy's well. There's one just up the road from Kowloon on Rte 1, even. I haven't shopped at one in quite awhile, though. NH stores can be good price-wise, but most of them aren't well stocked as far as diversity. I know some are much larger than others, though.

And Marty's is only about ten minutes from where I live! Definitely need to make a run there ASAP.

Thanks for the link to the Moai message boards, as well - I didn't know about that site.

[ Edited by: Carpeteria 2017-07-12 09:14 ]

You should go visit Privateer Distillery. Small batch. Unique

Thanks for the tip - I've had Privateer before, but didn't know the distillery was open for visitation.

SumGuy - thanks a ton for the heads up on Marty's. I visited for the first time today and was very pleasantly surprised by their selection. It's only a 12 minute drive from where I live, so the location is great, but they had a really good assortment of rum, and in fact, save for Lemon Hart, they had everything I was hoping to find on my list. I only picked up a couple of bottles for now (Zaya and Ron Matusalem), but I'll definitely make that my home store for the time being. Prices aren't the best for most average liquors, but the selection was fantastic - just what I was looking for!

Yeah, Marty's isn't really the cheapest place around, but they do have a great selection. Great selection on pretty much everything from bourbon to smoked beer, not just rum. And they have the bonus distinction of being just a mile and a half down the street from Blue Ribbon BBQ. Can't go wrong with a couple bottles of rum and a plate of burnt ends.

Too bad they never got more Lemon Hart in after it became available again, though. First bottle of Lemon Hart I ever bought, I bought there. The old yellow label, 80 proof stuff. Guess that leaves Table and Vine as the only place I know of that has it now.

As far as the NH stores, yeah, some have pretty good selections and some are just little holes in the wall that have a bunch of Bacardi and Captain Morgan and not much else. The best selection is usually at the one on Coliseum Ave in Nashua. It's not anything close to Marty's, but not bad. They have Matusalem ($30), Zaya ($45), and Smith & Cross ($30).

Thanks to all who replied to this thread. We're heading down to visit friends/family on the Cape next weekend and will leave a few days early to hit Lake George, The Kowloon, Tiki Rock and few others on the way there and back. Will also be doing the compulsory rum shopping to bring back supplies to rum-deprived Ontario, so will be hitting most, if not all the places listed.

Thanks again.

Glad you bumped this thread - I had meant to reply again to this with some news. I know someone above had mentioned Yankee Spirits, but I discovered recently that the newly opened Yankee Spirits in Norwood has an AMAZING rum selection (including Lemon Hart 151!) with pretty decent pricing as well. It's only been open a few months, but it's worth checking out. It's also one of the only spots locally I've seen that sells bottled falernum in person (Fee's). It's a great option that is closer to my area than going all the way out to Sturbridge.

[ Edited by: Carpeteria 2018-07-28 14:57 ]

Since this is bumped I'll add a few places that haven't been mentioned yet.

Gordon's Fine Wines, I've shopped the Main St. Waltham location.
Julio's Liquors in Westboro
Porter Square Wine & Spirits in Cambridge

For Kappy's I like the Medford location the best.

The Boston Shaker in Somerville. Not a package store but they sell 100+ varieties of bitters, shrub syrups, mixology tools, BJ Reynolds & Small Hand Foods syrups, pearl diver glasses, and all sorts of other cocktail related paraphernalia.

Gordon's in Waltham for sure - I live just up the street from there, and their rum selection is always surprisingly diverse and well-stocked.

I had a friend tell me about Boston Shaker in Somerville recently, and I'm looking forward to making the trip over there soon. The BG Reynolds selection alone is worth it.