Rum inventory!

OK.

Inspired by a long weekend of Hukilau-ishness (have I mentioned the Olympic levels of fun this was?) I decided to take a census of my rums, and I'm curious as re. what everyone has and what gets used the most.

Here's my list:

Bacardi Select
Bacardi 8 y.o.
Bacardi Reserve
Bacardi 151
Barceló Añejo
Brugal Añejo
Cruzan white
El Dorado 12
Flor de Caña 12
Myer's Dark
Sta. Teresa Gran Reserva Selecto
Tortuga Gold

My beloved and longsuffering wife has a simple policy with my bar and its inventory. She doesn't mind (to a point) how much I spend, so long as the total bottle count doesn't, y'know, EXPAND to take over the house. Basically, if I want to get a new bottle of Rum X, I first have to finish Rum Y. So I am always eager to pour the Bacardi stuff -- a very frequent "Christmas business gift" here -- for the not-TOO-close friends. :wink:

That said, I want to emphasize how much I enjoy the Bacardi 8 y.o. As a rule, Bacardi stuff isn't exactly the most flavorful stuff around, but the 8 y.o. stuff has really, really pleasantly surprised me. If I am making Tiki drinks for a large crowd, this is my go-to rum: flavorful, easy to find and very reasonably priced. For the majority of my "crowd cocktails" this and Cruzan white are the backbone.

The Bacardi 151 is there to allow me to do the switcheroo in cocktails calling for both 151 Demerara rum AND a light/gold Puerto Rican rum, by using it in conjunction w. the El Dorado 12. (Bacardi 151 + ED12 = LH151 + Bacardi Gold...more or less) When that goes, I may replace it with another 151 or maybe just get another bottle.

As I finish up the Bacardi Reserve I'll probably replace it with a Barbancourt 8 (the Barbancourt 15 is overkill for mixing)

The Bacardi Select (i.e. "black") is for mixing in (usually) equal parts Myer's Dark when a recipe calls for a generic dark rum. When that's gone I'll replace it with something else. Not sure which dark rum, but feel free to suggest.

The Barceló and Brugal are very nice, but I'll substitute them with something a bit different, just to experiment. I'm thinking of the very lovely Dos Maderas (had a terrific discussion with Beachbum and Martin Cate about this rum) and Doorly's, also a Bum favorite which has the unique advantage of reverse-sticker shock.

Thoughts?

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2011-06-13 07:00 ]

These are my "bottom" rums, the ones I always try to have on hand:

Lemon Hart 151 - thanks to Ed Hamilton and other fans, this is again widely available(stockpile!)Really no substitute for me.
El Dorado Demerara 80 proof - the best sub for Lemon Hart 80
Coruba Dark Jamaican - preferred to Myer's
Cruzan Aged Rum - sub for Puerto Rican Gold
Cruzan White - sub for PR White/Silver
Smith and Cross - hand's down favorite Jamaican rum, strong and funky. It's only downside is that it stomps all over delicate flavors in some cocktails

I try to steer clear of party rums like Barcardi, but would try the Bacardi 8 for a party situation.

I bet most here keep similar stock. I try to always have budget light, gold, dark, guyana, and martinique rums handy for mixing. usually these are:

Cruzan light
Brugal gold
either Cruzan black strap or Goslings black seal
El Dorado 5 y.o.
St. James Ambre

sometimes i'll trade out Cruzan or Brugal for something even cheaper for use in juice heavy tiki drinks, i find it makes little difference.

I also have Lemon Hart 151. but where it's not specifically called for (i.e., non-tiki drinks) i'll use Cruzan 151.

right now i also have Appleton Estate v/x (good in a maitai), Tanduay 15 y.o., Ron Pampero, Pusser's blue, and Ron de Barrilito three star. But, when these are gone may or may not stock them back up.

On 2011-06-13 10:15, Kill Devil wrote:
I try to steer clear of party rums like Bacardi, but would try the Bacardi 8 for a party situation.

The Bacardi 8 is a real surprise and if you are both discerning AND trying to pour for a large party it's a no-brainer. Next time you're out shopping, grab a mini or two.

Oh, and I've been dying to try Coruba...just can't find (or, better said, haven't found) it here.

On 2011-06-13 11:22, jokeiii wrote:

On 2011-06-13 10:15, Kill Devil wrote:
I try to steer clear of party rums like Bacardi, but would try the Bacardi 8 for a party situation.

The Bacardi 8 is a real surprise and if you are both discerning AND trying to pour for a large party it's a no-brainer. Next time you're out shopping, grab a mini or two.

Oh, and I've been dying to try Coruba...just can't find (or, better said, haven't found) it here.

Years ago the boys at LA's Tiki Ti recommended Coruba and I haven't looked back!

On 2011-06-13 11:36, Kill Devil wrote:
Years ago the boys at LA's Tiki Ti recommended Coruba and I haven't looked back!

After your previous post, I rummaged online like a fiend, and I found ONE liquor store in Miami that carries Corube, but it is wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay across town. Still, nice to know that when the current dark rums are gone, I'll be able to replace them with Coruba.

Mahalo!

I'd recommend that it never hurts to ask your local retailer to carry your favorites. I have to say that my local Binny's (chain here in Chicago area)has stocked LH151, Smith & Cross, Coruba, etc., based on me asking them. Now, some/most of these spirits may have already been a stock item somewhere in the chain but I'm surprised at how receptive the management has been to my opinions.

Current Collection:

Appleton Estate 12 Year Old
Appleton Estate V/X
Bacardi 151
Bacardi 8
Bacardi Anejo
Barbancourt 3 Star
Clement VSOP
Cruzan Aged
Cruzan Coconut
Flor de Cana Extra Dry 4 Year Old
Lemon Hart 151 (Thank you Ed!)
Mount Gay Special Reserve
Mount Gay Extra Old
Myers’s Original Dark
Wray & Nephew Overproof

Wish list:
Appleton Estate 21 Year Old
Clement XO

My go to drink is the Mai Tai, and my hands-down favorite is Trader Vic’s version from Beachbum Berry Remixed. In making this drink I use Appleton Estate 12 Year Old, Clement VSOP, Clement Creole Shrubb, and BG Reynolds Orgeat (formerly Trader Tiki’s). Someday soon, I want to get the two rums on my wish list above and give Rum Dood’s $300 Mai Tai a taste.

[ Edited by: DarthMalaguti 2011-06-15 09:24 ]

On 2011-06-13 12:24, DarthMalaguti wrote:
Current Collection:
[snip!]Lemon Hart 151 (Thank you Ed!)

Where in SW FL did you find the LH151?

The cheapest rums get used the most because, well, they're cheap. Cruzan brands often are the go-to rums since so many recipes call for Puerto Rican rums.

Appelton Estate V/X
Bacardi Select
Belize Travellers
Coruba Original Blend
Cruzan Black Strap
Cruzan Estate Light
Cruzan Estate Dark
Gosling's Black Seal
Havana Club Añejo Blanco
Havana Club Añejo Especial
Havana Club Añejo 7 Años
Kraken Spiced Rum
Lemon Hart Demerara
Lemon Hart Demerara 151
Malibu Coconut Rum
Myers’s Rum Original Dark
Pyrat XO Reserve
Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Navy Rum
Saint James Royal Amber
Sea Hag Spiced Rum [homemade]
10 Cane Rum
Trader Vic’s 151 Proof Rum
Ypioca Cachaça
Ypioca Cachaça Oura

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2011-06-13 14:46 ]

On 2011-06-13 13:12, jokeiii wrote:

On 2011-06-13 12:24, DarthMalaguti wrote:
Current Collection:
[snip!]Lemon Hart 151 (Thank you Ed!)

Where in SW FL did you find the LH151?

I’m a snowbird. I picked it up last month in northern Illinois.

Aw, rats.

I already go out to Naples to buy my Kobe beef, I was ready to add LH151 to that list!

Since a lot of the fine rums come in neato bottles, I started taking photos of them when I'd get em. Then I dropped the ball. But here's a pic with thumbnails some of our inventory as of the last time I updated the photos. A bunch of sipping rums, and also some minis at the bottom.

One of these days I was going to start a rum review blog, as if the world needed another one.

-Randy

Randy, that's a great looking photo! Is there a link to a high(er) res. version?

Mahalo and so on,

Sorry to be a downer but I had a feeling that this topic has been covered before.

On 2011-06-15 05:23, swizzle wrote:
Sorry to be a downer but I had a feeling that this topic has been covered before.

But not as well as this!

On 2011-06-15 03:58, jokeiii wrote:
Randy, that's a great looking photo! Is there a link to a high(er) res. version?

Thanks, those thumbnails are pulled from a little mouseover gallery I made last year as an experiment using css stylesheets. Dunno if it works in all browsers, but hovering on a thumbnail is supposed to show a larger image above.

Last night I had some of the XM Banks Royal 10yr - one of my favorite sipping Demeraras. A couple years ago there were rumors that the XM Banks line was going to be available in the states. That would be nice.

Maybe a moderator will merge the two threads. The other one has some good pics and discussion too.

-Randy

Works great! Thanks!

This reminds me -- for no good reason, not that I need one -- of a Cuban* rum someone brought me, called Varadero. It was sealed and labeled as a "white rum" but it was a ver-r-r-r-ry pale gold, sort of like a reposado tequila. It tasted pretty good in the simpler Caribbean sorts of cocktails (mojitos, daiquiris, etc.) and now, whenever something calls for "light rum" I use 3:1 white:aged (usually Cruzan and Bacardi 8) rums.

Now you know.

-J.

• For reasons well outside the scope of this post, I prefer to not purchase anything from Cuba. Not judging, just saying.

On 2011-06-15 12:30, jokeiii wrote:

• For reasons well outside the scope of this post, I prefer to not purchase anything from Cuba.

It may be a bit of blasphemy to international rum lovers, but personally I think any bar can do just fine WITHOUT Cuban rum.

I confess I was all giddy from the forbidden fruit factor when I got to try some Cuban rum, but overall I think it's overrated. With the biggest exception being Santiago de Cuba 20yr which I really liked, most seemed unexceptional, with as-good-or-better cousins available from the Dominican Republic. There are actually a lot of people who share the opinion that Havana Club 15yr isn't that great as a sipping rum (despite its price!!), and tastes kinda medicinal. Varadero has a 15yr offering too, which I thought was better than HC, but still actually more industrial tasting (sorry, my best description) than some of the best Dominican rums.

My theory is that some Cuban rums go extremely well as mixers for some of the famous cocktails they're associated with, but their aged variants don't translate so well as sippers. And at the same time, there are some really good light rums these days from other countries that compete very well with the Cuban rums' flavor for mixing. So honestly I don't think we're really missing that much in the states.

Without getting too close to the political issues involved, I guess the story goes that several of the families making Cuba's great pre-Castro rums took their formulas with them when their operations were "appropriated". So they relocated to the Dominican Republic (ie, Oliver & Oliver, Matusalem) or Puerto Rico (Bacardi obviously), and either continued the business or resumed some years later. Bacardi has its own story, but as for the other operations, many of their products still make reference to "Cuban style" or "Cuban formula" or even outright names like Cubaney or Conde de Cuba. But many also do have a similar or better flavor. I don't mean this as a political comment, but the impression I had is that the Cuban rums lost some of their diversity and character once they fell under state control. It may be why modern Cuban rums don't seem to live up to the romantic appeal that's been associated with them since way before the "revolution".

Speaking of borderline political stuff, I keep wondering if Venezuela's going to go off the deep end some day, triggering a US embargo. Fans of Diplomatico, Pampero, and Santa Teresa would have to stock up if so!

-Randy

I'm a bit embarrassed to post the inventory at Trader Scott's. There's some fabulous stuff and some not-so-fabulous stuff.

On 2011-06-15 17:15, phinz wrote:
I'm a bit embarrassed to post the inventory at Trader Scott's. There's some fabulous stuff and some not-so-fabulous stuff.

Please don't be embarrassed, I think I currently have some "uncool" rums on the shelf as well. Ronrico silver, for starters

On 2011-06-15 17:15, phinz wrote:
I'm a bit embarrassed to post the inventory at Trader Scott's. There's some fabulous stuff and some not-so-fabulous stuff.

Embarrassed? Dude, I listed eleventy squillion kinds of Bacardi!

On 2011-06-15 17:15, phinz wrote:
I'm a bit embarrassed to post the inventory at Trader Scott's. There's some fabulous stuff and some not-so-fabulous stuff.

Just do what I do and say that "some friend gave it to me." :wink:

What the hell.

No particular order:
Redrum
Redrum Voodoo
English Harbour 5
Seven Tiki
Clement Rhum Vieux Agricole
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
Diplomatico Reserva
Doorly's XO
Flor de Caña Black Label 5
Flor de Caña Grand Reserve 7
Flor de Caña Centenario 12
Flor de Caña Centenario Gold 18
Siesta Key
Siesta Key Gold
El Dorado 12
El Dorado 15
El Dorado 15 Cuba Libre
El Dorado 21
Seven Fathoms
Ron Abuelo Añejo 7 Años
Coruba
Pyrat Pistol
Clement Premiere Cane
St. James Hors D'Age
St. James Extra Old
St. James Royal Amber
Ron Cubaney Solara Reserva
Ron Cubaney Gran Reserva
Zaya 12
Murray McDavid 13
Atlantico
Mt. Gay Sugar Cane Rum
Capt. Morgan 100 proof
Prichard's Key Lime
Prichard's Gold
Prichard's Crystal
One Barrel
Smith & Cross Traditional
Plantation Trinidad
Cruzan Black Strap
Goslings Black Seal
Wray & Nephew White Overproof
Bacardi 151
Lemon Hart & Son 151
Diplomatico Reserve Blanco
Margaritaville Dark
Sailor Jerry
Trader Vic's Dark
Myers
Trader Vic's Spiced
Ypioca Cachaca
Capt. Morgan Private Stock
Armazen Vieira Rubi Cachaca
Kraken
Bacardi Añejo
Bacardi Silver
Burnett's Virgin Island Gold
Rogue Dark
Largo Bay Spiced
Capt. Morgan Tattoo
Appleton Estate Reserve
Parrot Bay Strawberry
Bacardi Razz
Trader Vic's Banana
Cruzan Black Cherry
Cruzan Citrus
Burnett's White
Cabana Boy Coconut
Parrot Bay Key Lime
Jolly Roger Coconut Key Lime
Parrot Bay Coconut

dang man, you're seriously behind on your drinking.

you can't take it with you!

I've always been curious as re. the differences (if any) between the ED15 and the ED15 "Cuba Libre"...discuss.

I'll have to do a back-to-back on the two 15s when I get back from Seattle.

according to the Googles, the 'cuba libre' version is a spiced rum (notes of vanilla etc).

On 2011-06-17 07:45, thePorpoise wrote:
according to the Googles, the 'cuba libre' version is a spiced rum (notes of vanilla etc).

What's weird is that I have seen these rums pretty well distributed here, but never in the same store!

I just got one from my wishlist for Father's Day, so I thought I'd post my current stock:

10 Cane (gets lots of use!)
Barbancourt 8yr
Clement VSOP (the Father's Day gift! Probably my new favorite.)
Cruzan Light (my go-to light rum)
Cruzan Single Barrel (also gets used a lot, but at $40 it's a bit pricey up here)
El Dorado 12yr
El Dorado 15yr
Havana Club 7yr (sure, you can get Cuban rum here, but the good stuff is so freakin' expensive!)
Lambs Navy 151 (not great, but sometimes gets used in guest's drinks - LH151 doesn't grow on trees, you know!)
Lemon Hart 80 (another frequent pour)
Lemon Hart 151 (only for drinks that call for it by name and only for myself and VIPs, like the mayor, or the Queen)
London Dock Demerara 100 proof (not recommended, will probably never use again)
Mount Gay Eclipse
Mount Gay Sugar Cane
Pyrat XO
Sagitaba Pura cachaca
Trader Vics Dark
Trader Vics Gold (TV rums just became available and are about as cheap as it gets up here while being relatively drinkable, so they're my go-to cheap rums for camping, punch bowls, etc.)
Zaya (great stuff, but since it sells for $65-$80 here I will only buy it in the US. Unfortunately, it's almost gone...)

I also have these for flavoured/rum liqueurs:
Bacardi Vanilla
Captain Morgan Private Stock (gift, not terrible but hardly worth a $38-$42 price tag)
Cruzan 9 spiced rum (has overtaken Sailor Jerry as my go-to spiced rum)
Cruzan Coconut
Legendario Elixer
Redrum (also gift)
Sailor Jerry spiced rum

I thought I had a pretty decent selection, until I saw Phinz' post above. Holy shit! Anyway, as many Canadian can attest, we have huge liquor taxes and provincial legislation over distribution that rivals the strictest control states. This is why I always max my duty exemption every time I go to the states, which is luckily 4 or 5 times a year.

On 2011-06-13 10:15, Kill Devil wrote:
These are my "bottom" rums, the ones I always try to have on hand:

Lemon Hart 151 - thanks to Ed Hamilton and other fans, this is again widely available(stockpile!)Really no substitute for me.
El Dorado Demerara 80 proof - the best sub for Lemon Hart 80
Coruba Dark Jamaican - preferred to Myer's
Cruzan Aged Rum - sub for Puerto Rican Gold
Cruzan White - sub for PR White/Silver
Smith and Cross - hand's down favorite Jamaican rum, strong and funky. It's only downside is that it stomps all over delicate flavors in some cocktails

I try to steer clear of party rums like Barcardi, but would try the Bacardi 8 for a party situation.

Some comments from me:

1. I'm too lazy to list my rum inventory, but it's definitely straining my ability to store it all.
2. The above quote from Kill Devil is spot on, but Bacardi 8 is definitely worth it to keep on hand. The ONLY Bacardi I keep on hand. Also, I tend to sub Flor de Cana 4 yr and Cruzan light for PR white.
3. Randy, maybe a rum blog with the angle of pairing rum drinks with vintage movies and TV shows? That should be right up your alley. :wink: