Saying goodbye to an old friend...

It was a tough year, friends broke up, friends moved away, Tiki Bars closed....and now this:

Tonight I am enjoying the last drops of my last Dagger Rum. Some people might recall my excited post about discovering this extinct rum at the Mai Kai:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=13196&forum=10

It seemed that Kern had a source that was regularly supplying the Mai Kai mixologists with this fine liquid, and I was looking forward to replenishing my stash on the occasion of the Hukilau...only to find out it was no longer available when I got there.

Well, at least I had the joy of time travelling with each sip of this dark delight. I was in good company. Vinyl archaeologists here might be familiar with this classic LP cover:

Some say I am living in the past, but hey, who wouldn't with drinking pals like this!

Among the rums I sip, some work better with an ice cube in it. Not this guy, it needed to roll around my tongue unchilled, its flavor enveloping every taste bud to the max. How did such a decent drop ever end up in a plastic "lightweight pack with built-in pourer"?

Like Tiki bars until recently, this type of dark, rich rum had fallen out of favor and probably was viewed by the bottling company as old stock that only out-dated places like the Mai Kai would still use, out of habit.

For a moment there, I thought I could luxuriate in a case-full of that stuff, just like old Bob Mitchum surely did for featuring that bottle so visibly with his visage. By coincidence, I found a still from the same photo session... I love those Scopitone-style minimalist sets.

But rum is there to get drunk, and life is to be lived, and new discoveries await! Happy 2008!

(Or was that life is there to get drunk, and rum is to be lived...?)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-01-04 00:27 ]

Prost!

It's a Wray & Nephew product, isn't it? Certainly it has to be worth contacting Joy Spence to let her know that rum connoisseurs consider it to be a tragic loss. I never tried it myself, but it sounds great. Maybe we can build a case (so to speak) to have it revived.

Are you going to have it stuffed or will you bury it in the backyard?

:lol: Not quite... I skinned it, and will hang it on the wall once it is pressed and dried:

:)

Great thread. Made me thirsty.

I love the Mitchum calypso album.
Here is what a french singer made this year as a tribute to it (not the right bottle though) :

Ha! Iz he drinking ze red whine? Great job on the set. Hey, the woman is not the same, either!

You know, I actually kinda like the Mitchum LP.

How's the Lavil record, Nicolas?

I am very sorry for your loss!!!! I wish you all the best and wishes for a fast recovery.
This LP always helps me get through painful situations......Crying doesn't make you less of a man.DIG?

I haven't heard the Lavil one yet, but I doubt it's very good. I don't know.
It's calypso songs, but in french...
This singer usually makes creole songs...

This is when a replicator would come in handy. Great post...just ordered the CD. :)