your top 5 rums....

justa noob but here are mine!!

mountgay eclipse
mountgay dark
goslings gold
appleton estate extra
doorly's

what would you suggest to try next??

thanks!!

sw

Nothin' wrong with list posts! Love your choices, here's mine. Keep in mind, your rum choice may vary depending on what you plan to do with it (mixing or sipping). Here's my personal picks for EITHER mixing or sipping.

#1 Lemon Hart Demerara 151°
#1a Lemon Hart Demrara Rum--Any Lemon Hart rum is like a trip to another time, another place. When I drink this stuff, it's always summer, it's always a trip to the Mai Kai, it's always 1961... It just blows me away every time open a bottle. Get some--sip it, mix it, enjoy it. To me, it's tiki in a bottle.
#2 Mount Gay Extra Old
#3 Kaniche Rhum Martinique (very rare, only I and a few others have a supply)
#4 Rhum Barbancourt 8 star
#5 Angostura 1919

I'm also a big fan of Appleton White and Appleton Extra.

St. James Hors d'Age--also right up there in my book.

I often bemoan the many wonderful rums of bygone years that are no longer available to us, but truth be told we live in a great time with more great choices of GOOD QUALITY liquor than ever before. (Just avoid the trendy flavored stuff, seek out the well-crafted aged rums.) The internet makes it super easy to get all kinds of obscure rums.

Ron Zacapa Centenario 23-year-old. That covers the top 15 or 20 spaces on my list. :)

A close second could be the Pyrat Cask 23, but at that price I could buy 6 bottles of Zacapa so I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon. It was very, very nice though. Highly reommended if you have the cash to burn.

But some other very fine sipping rums:
Zaya
Pampero Anniversario
Ron Zacapa 15-year-old
Cruzan Single Barrel Estate
Pyrat Pistol
Pyrat XO
Montecristo 12-year old

Others I like a lot, but don't make it up into the top lists:
Doorly's XO
Kaniche Martinique
Prichard's Fine Rum
Ron Matusalem Gran Reserve
Appleton VX
Appleton Extra
Clement VSOP
Mount Gay Eclipse

For general mixing, I like the Appletons and the Mount Gay. For a notch up in general mixing the Kaniche and Prichard's would be excellent. The others are sipping rums, though some sip better than others.

For specific mixing (Mai Tai, ti' punch, caipirinha, mojito, etc) I have to say that I have yet to collect enough similar rums to try. But I'm trying. There are some standards, like St. James Hors D'Age for a Mai Tai, though I prefer the St. James Royal Ambre for it's complexity so I really need to do a Mai Tai comparison trying both. Lemon Hart demerrara is a standard for many tiki drinks, though I have to wonder how some of the El Dorado demerraras would compare. I've yet to find a good white with enough complexity to make a mojito kick butt, but I've only managed to try a few and the real Cubans are not among them. I'm currently trying to hunt down some good, unaged agricoles and cachacas - good cachacas are hard to find in my area, though moderate ones abound. White agricoles have been non-existent in my local searches - I'm looking at 2-4 hours of driving by the looks of it. One of these days...

For a wonderful, unaged agricole, try Neisson White. It is 100 proof, but very smooth with lots of character. The aroma is pure sugarcane, but then the taste is drier than you would expect (like way drier than Barbancourt White). Great stuff.

F. Paul Pacult gave it 5 stars.

It can be tough to find, though. Not sure where you live, but its in California.

As for the top 5, this is really tough. But I would have to say

1. Lemon Hart Demerara 151 or 80
2. Appleton Extra
3. Pampero Anniversario
4. Pussers (still using old Royal Navy wooden stills makes this COMPLEX)
5. Ron Matusalem Platino ...that's a link to my review

Two that I haven't had yet but might make it into my top 5 from what I've read are

Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Year
Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera

1 through 5 in no particular order:
1)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
2)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
3)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
4)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
5)El Dorado 15 year Demerara

:D
K.

So I take it no one has had Havana Club.

On 2007-04-10 08:42, DemeraraDrinker wrote:
For a wonderful, unaged agricole, try Neisson White. It is 100 proof, but very smooth with lots of character. The aroma is pure sugarcane, but then the taste is drier than you would expect (like way drier than Barbancourt White). Great stuff.

F. Paul Pacult gave it 5 stars.

It can be tough to find, though. Not sure where you live, but its in California.

Yep, this one is on my list to get. It might mean a 4-hour drive, one-way, to get it though. :(

By the way, Ed Hamilton is responsible for getting Neisson and La Favorite imported into the US, through Caribbean Spirits. The CS web site has a rum locator, and California is on the list places you can find it.

http://www.caribbean-spirits.com/rumlocator.htm

In no particular order my top five:

Appleton Estate
La Favorite Amber
St James Hors D'Age
Zaya
Ron Zacapa Centanario 15Y
Lemon hart Demerara 80

ok that's six, but I couldn't help squeezin one more in

I have never tried Havana Club unfortunately, but hear it's fantastic. Others I want to try are:

Tortuga 12Y
Jack Tar
Ron Macuro Anejo
Santa Teresa Selecto
Vizcaya VXOP
Ron Botran 12Y

By the way, Ed Hamilton is responsible for getting Neisson and La Favorite imported into the US, through Caribbean Spirits. The CS web site has a rum locator, and California is on the list places you can find it.

http://www.caribbean-spirits.com/rumlocator.htm

Yeah, I originally found it through him. Kudos to Mr. Hamilton. Caribbean Spirits is a great company. They sent me a sample of their Petite Cane Sugar Cane Syrup for free.

On 2007-04-10 10:52, tikiskip wrote:
So I take it no one has had Havana Club.

I've had the 3 year. It is quite good...here is what I thought of it:

Havana Club 3 Year

This is a pretty old bottle.

It just didn't make my top 5...almost but not quite. I bet there are some other people here who have had it.

For me it's:

1. Appleton Estates 21
2. Saint James Hors D'Age
3. Appleton Estates Extra
4. Goslings Gold Seal
5. Bacardi Select

Gentlehangman, how would you describe the Appleton 21? How would you describe it's smoothness, complexity, and oak/smoky/barrel taste?

I've got a line on a bottle and I'm wondering if it's worth it.

My top 5 sipping rums so far:
Santa Teresa 1792
Zacapa 23
Plantation 91 Barbados
Flor De Cana 7
Pampero Anniversary

Scottes: Gosh! I'm not an expert, but here goes:

Appleton Estates 21
Smoothness: Quite smooth to my palate definitely a sipping rum yet still lets you know it's there, but doesn't feel like a 'burn' to me.
Complexity: Quite complex but possessing a delicate nature as well. And while I'm not expert enough to identify the different flavors, no single one seems overpowering - it is vary harmonious.

Smokey barrel taste: It's not as oak-heavy as the Saint James Hors D'Age but is still there in the background which to me adds a certain 'character'.

I normally use Appleton Estates VX paired with the Saint James Hors D'Age to make My Mai Tais but I also have made a Mai Tai or two using just the Appleton Estate 21 - my reasoning being if a 17-year-old Wray and Nephew was used for TV's original . . . the 21 year old should produce the same results or even better. Not so! The VX and Hors D'Age tasted much better. I guess that Martinique blend of very old rums has that something 'extra' needed for the best Mai Tai combination. However, I've yet to try one made with the 21 and Hors D'Age cause I might fall down and not be able to get up!

On 2007-04-12 14:56, GentleHangman wrote:
Appleton Estates 21
Smoothness: Quite smooth to my palate definitely a sipping rum yet still lets you know it's there, but doesn't feel like a 'burn' to me.
Complexity: Quite complex but possessing a delicate nature as well. And while I'm not expert enough to identify the different flavors, no single one seems overpowering - it is vary harmonious.

Smokey barrel taste: It's not as oak-heavy as the Saint James Hors D'Age but is still there in the background which to me adds a certain 'character'.

Sounds perfect to me. I guess I'll be taking a drive this weekend!!

On 2007-04-10 10:44, kikekeki wrote:
1 through 5 in no particular order:
1)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
2)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
3)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
4)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
5)El Dorado 15 year Demerara

:D
K.

hey ho wmuch ya paying fer a jug??

sw

...However, I've yet to try one made with the 21 and Hors D'Age cause I might fall down and not be able to get up!

That's the idea, isn't it? :D

Give that a try (those two rums)...I bet it comes pretty close to Vic's Second Adjusted Formula. Just don't premix the Curacao and syrups...I have those broken out here: Mai Tai - Second Adjusted Forumula

On 2007-04-12 17:25, siMcOe wAbO wrote:

On 2007-04-10 10:44, kikekeki wrote:
1 through 5 in no particular order:
1)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
2)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
3)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
4)El Dorado 15 year Demerara
5)El Dorado 15 year Demerara

:D
K.

hey ho wmuch ya paying fer a jug??

sw

about $50.

and brush up on yer typing skills!!
:lol:
K.

it's 60bux up north here eh!!

saving up the toonies!!!

sw