I've just discovered a local bottle shop that stocks various rum's. I'm gonna trawl through my Grog Log and Intoxica so see what the recommendations are in there, but I'll appreciate it if any of you experts can have a look at the list below and advise me if there are any 'must haves' or if there are any 'leave well alone'.

Cockspur Five Star Barbados Rum
Doorley's Barbados Gold, 3 y.o.,R.L.Seale & Co., Barbados 35.7%
Doorley's XO Rum, Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish, R.L.Seale & Co.
Foursquare Spiced Rum, R.L.Seale and Co. 35%
Mountgay Eclipse Rum
Havana Club 3 y.o.
Havana Club 7 y.o.
Havana Club Anejo Reserva
Appleton Estate Special
Lemon Hart Imported Jamaican Rum
Mezan Barrique Premium Blend
Rhum Ambre, Rhum Agricole de la Martinique J.Bally 45%
Rhum Blanc, Rhum Agricole de la Martinique J.Bally 50%
Vintage 1988, Rhum Agricole de la Martinique J.Bally 45%
Vintage 1992, Rhum Agricole de la Martinique J.Bally 45%
CSR Pure Cane Spirit, Rothschilds
Mezan Premium Dark Rum 37.5%
Mezan Premium White Rum 37.5%
Mezan, 151 Overproof Rum 75.5%
N.O. Premium Rum, Celebration Distillery, New Orleans 43%
Pusser's British Navy Rum 54..5%

Cheers

Pusser's is one of my favorites for light rum use, mainly because of it's extra alcohol content.

Seems like they have quite a nice variety...I'm not an expert, but from what others have said, and from the Beachbum's books, I can note the following:

Cockspur Five Star Barbados Rum
Mountgay Eclipse Rum
Havana Club 3 y.o. (use this instead of light Puerto Riccan rum)
Havana Club 7 y.o.
Havana Club Anejo Reserva
Appleton Estate Special
Lemon Hart Imported Jamaican Rum
Rhum Ambre, Rhum Agricole de la Martinique J.Bally 45% (use this for a Mai Tai, the other ones might be even better, except for the light Martinique, maybe).
Pusser's British Navy Rum 54.5% (use this to make a "Painkiller")

If they have Havana Club, then they are well stocked. HC is "officially" not allowed into the US due to the Cuban trade issue. However, I picked up some on my last trip to Mexico--they don't have a trade beef with Cuba.

One more thing: Anybody out here a hardcore Cuban Rum expert? On my last trip to Mexico, I happened into a small, but well stocked liqour store. They had 3 different brands of Cuban rum: Havana Club (of course), one called Cubaney & another very rich and expensive one called "Ron Marques de Cuba" which translates in to Marques rum of Cuba" Anybody familiar with Cubaney & Marques?

Mmmmmmmm....Lemon Hart. I could replace all 7 pints of my blood with that. :)

You can pick up Havana Club in Canada too - it is one of the most common rums here. Every store will have it.

On 2003-11-04 12:05, kick_the_reverb wrote:
Havana Club 3 y.o. (use this instead of light Puerto Riccan rum)

The 3 y.o. is gold (a light gold color from aging, not the fake gold color that comes from caramel coloring like in Bacardi gold and Myers's) so one could use it instead of gold Puerto Rican.

The 3 y.o. is gold (a light gold color from aging, not the fake gold color that comes from caramel coloring like in Bacardi gold and Myers's) so one could use it instead of gold Puerto Rican.

Hmmm...it always seemed light to me. The 7 year and 21 year ones looked draker (gold like).
As I said, I'm no expert, so if you say it's gold I believe you. All I know it tasted good in cocktails... :wink:

Ran

I think it's the 2 year old Havana Club Anejo Blanco that could be substituted for light Puerto Rican rum. However the colour isn't totally clear as it has a "subtle sandy hue" (quote is from the back of the bottle).

Mriddle,
I recommend Metusalem rum. It's Cuban and very fine. Check it out:
http://www.bevmo.com/productinfo.asp?sku=00000026870&area=spirits&category=30050000&sid=03&catname=Rum

On 2003-11-07 10:45, Klas wrote:
I think it's the 2 year old Havana Club Anejo Blanco that could be substituted for light Puerto Rican rum. However the colour isn't totally clear as it has a "subtle sandy hue" (quote is from the back of the bottle).

Yes, that's it I think, I probably just got mixed up between the 2 year and the 3 year rums. The one I remember was indeed not totally clear, but not gold either. Anyway, I think in mild strength cocktails, the light rums are less easy to distinguish between. The stronger, less fruity the drink is, the more you can probably feel the difference.

Ran