There are a few newer “branded” rums in the market that I tasted at WSWA (Wine & Spirits Wholesaler Association) Convention in Las Vegas last year. I must admit I was drawn (no pun intended) as an ardent cigar smoker. I, personally, like the Montecristo product much more, as it has a more sophisticated taste profile. Both, are premium price points and more snifter rums than tiki-friendly rums.

http://www.cohibarum.com
The oddly named Data Commodities Group has the import rights for the Cohiba Rum product. The Cohiba White Rum is aged one year in oak barrels, then charcoal filtered to remove all traces of color. The line also features three-year-old Cohiba Gold, five-year-old Cohiba Black and a 151-proof version. Their top-of-the-line is a grand eight-year-old aptly named Cohiba Premium. The Cohiba rum company is affiliated with the Dominican cigars of the same name

http://www.montecristorum.com/
This rum is from Guatemala. The brand is imported by Sidebar Spirits out of Vegas, Tim Haughinberry, and the Frey Brothers, sampled rums in several countries before discovering the rum that would bear the Montecristo brand, a spirit hand-blended by master distillers from a centuries old Guatemalan recipe. Montecristo rum is crafted from a premium blend of continuous-distilled and pot-distilled rums.

Being a cigar smoker myself, I may have to give the Montecristo a try. I was a little hesitant because I have never been impressed with the cigar branded cognacs.

Rum Numb Davey: Can you tell us what a "more sophisticated taste profile" is on the Montecristo? I myself, being an occasional cigar smoker, saw the Cohiba brand rum back in 2003, but never did pick up a bottle.

It must have been fun doing a rum tasting there at the convention, but again, I'd be appreciative of a more detailed view of the "taste profile" you are referring to. It seems as if there are quite a number of branded rums out there in comparison to just a couple of years ago, and even though it wouldn't be a bad thing to have alot of rum, I'd like to be more frugal in which rums I really should purchase, and weed out the syrup-like stuff.

Reply for the one and only SugarCaddyDaddy:

What I mean in flavor is the length of complexity and finish in the rum. To me, fine aged rum should possess the similar warmth in the mouth that fine Cognac, Single Malt whisky, or a Bourbon sipping session provides. Not a hot mouth feel like cheap swill mixto Tequila of economy rum gives.

Avelino Lara created Cohiba as a branded cigar, in 1968. This cigar became the Rolls Royce of Cuban Cigars. Fidel presented boxes of these fine cigars to visiting diplomats, and they acquired mythic status. The tobacco used for these amazing cigars comes from the heart of the Vuelta Abajo, about 100 miles southwest of Havana. This region produces the richest tobacco in the world and is a “terrior” statement like Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Roquefort cheese is for wine and fine cheese. It cannot be replicated anywhere in the world.

A new Dominican company, Diaz y Cia created a “Cohiba” in l978. The Dominican Cohiba cigar, which was reformulated in the 1990s, is the only Cohiba cigar that can be purchased legally in the United States. They are the company that licensed the Cohiba rum, not the Cuban-run Cohiba brand of the El Laguito Firm.

The American consumer love affair with “Name Brands” sparked a rage for fake Cohibas of Mexican and other nefarious origins. Many a gullible frat boy or businessman got duped into spending $20.00 a stick on grossly inferior Te Amos with fake bands on them. I can attest to this illicit trade, as I was Nogales this last holiday weekend. I am a known and despised nemesis of the “cigar” mafia of fraudsters, as I call bullshit on their dodgy trade and advise caution to prospective buyers that I see being conned on the streets of Border town barrios. The shrewd buyers beware in Mexico, as these fake authorized merchants fake government stamps and packaging to entice their gringo marks. Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE Mexico, Mexican people, Mexican culture, and I grew up a stone’s throw from the Mexican border in New Mexico. My fiancé, Kim Silva, is a Chicana Paseno from Tejas so our future children will be mixed heritage. I just hate scam artists and evildoers everywhere. ¿Usted me entiende, Vato?

Check out this website to learn about fakes.
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Gallery/0,3390,,00.html

The Cohiba Rum is Dominican rum packaged by Brugal & Cía, and licensed by the Dominican Cohiba firm, and has frankly nothing to do with REAL Cohiba in Cuba. The Importer that I met (name unremembered) at WSWA in Vegas last year seemed to be a charlatan bent on that fake Cohiba pitch that the Mexican Tobacco merchants apply. The Cohiba rum by Brugal is fine rum, and a sound product, but rather than selling it on it’s merits it is being marketed as a legitimate Cohiba produced rum, which it is not. All name brands are not bad, and I am not the Ralph Nader of the liquor trade, but don’t fall for the hype. Speaking of name brand items, on my way back from Nogales, yesterday, I stopped at Kon Tiki in Tucson. I kept my NEW Kon Tiki mug from Tiki Farm. Now that is a swell quality Name Brand product worth every penny. ¡Reglas De la Granja De Tiki!

Say what? :) :) :)

A few months ago I bought a bottle of Montecristo as a "thank you" to my boss as I left my long-time job. I smoke maybe one cigar a year, so the cigar-rum connection didn't even occur to me until weeks later. Anyways, I didn't get a chance to taste the rum, but my ex-boss said it was great. At the time I bought it, it was on special for about $15 or $16. Now it's going for $40!

Rum Numb Davey! Flavor profiles... Now your talkin' my language! Thanks for the reviews on the rums. I'll be on the lookout for these. My man Ray, the best barman in Vegas* once made me a mojito using Montecristo rum and it was sensational! Good stuff, good stuff.

-Weird Unc

*For more info, visit this needing-of-a-bump thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7721&forum=10&15

[ Edited by: weirduncletiki 2005-09-09 17:21 ]

Yeah Weird Uncle Tiki.....Sidebar Spirits who imports and labels the Montecristo is based out of Vegas, and they're ex-Southern guys (which dominates about 85% of casino wine and liquor trade in Nevada, as YOU know)

They have Vegas pretty much covered and is their strongest market.

.

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2009-09-07 08:53 ]

On 2007-01-02 21:17, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
I hate to bring up a year and half old subject. BBUUUUUUTT, I decided to search TC for Montecristo rum. I found this thread. I also found Montecristo in the fancy carpeted grocery store in town.

I gotta say.........IT AIN'T THAT GOOD. I am not a pro alcoholic yet, no offense to any old pros out there, recovering or not. And I am not knowledgeable in the complexities of flavors lingerin' on the back of the tongue. I do know when an alcohol burns with little flavor though. This Monetecristo 12 year rum does just that.

Scotch is something I can let set in my mouth for hours and wonder where waters flowed fro and to to make such loveliness. Anyways...

I have to say "foul" when it come to Montecristo rum. I personally think it is an embarrassment to the fake Montecristo cigars manufactured in Mexico to be associated with a rum that has the name that they are using illegitimately.
I MAY NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE MONTE TASTES THE WAY IT DOES. Wish I did.

I am a cigar smoker. Legal red dot Montes, legal fake yellow black band Montes and the ones that may or may not be one or the other with out actually saying that they are legal or not legal and at the same time trying to make it difficult to understand if I am saying that they may or may not be legal or or illegal as I wouldn't actually know the differance. 15 minutes from the border and all. I WAS a cigar wholesaler and not a liquor wholesaler. Why, oh why not a liquor wholesaler!!!

I would be embarrassed to serve Monte rum to anyone in the cigar industry that smokes Monte cigars or sells them.

Yep. Raining on the Monte parade.

Mr NoNaMe-Go pick up a bottle of Zaya 12 year old (from Guatemala.) You can be proud to serve it to the snootiest of cigar friends! Enjoy!