Rums of choice?

Hi everyone!! Stumbled upon your site tonight and have been reading for a good bit and have a question.

My partner and I have just signed the contract on a new townhome and the first thing we agreed upon was that we wanted to put a tiki bar in the basement. Now here is the question.

We are cruising the Western Carribean (Mexico, Belize, Cozumel) in July and I want to purchase some rums to use in our Tiki bar. Does anyone have any favorites from these areas?

Thanks

Viva Cubano! Plus any Wray and Nephew or Lemon Hart product.

Of course Lemon Hart is Beachbum Berry's rum of choice. It is yummy. I was at Trader Joe's the other day and they have just started carrying Trader Vic's dark rum. I tried it and it is waaay tasty!!!! This doesn't answer your question about procuring rums from exotic places, but I think you might want to give it a try. What part of the country are you in? I don't know how extensive their distribution is. Depending upon where you live, it may not be a snap to get some. Maybe that would make it somewhat exotic?

[ Edited by: floratina on 2003-06-08 00:48 ]

Mmmm... Havana Club!

Thanks for the speedy replys. You folks are great and the posts I have read are vastly entertaining and full of information. With the help of you guys I should have a great tiki bar in my house....only one problem...no house until October. ARGH!!!

Perhaps the posts I read will keep me dreaming till then.

Thanks again

I agree with the Havana Club suggestions. It's great rum and it's not available in the US because of the silly trade embargo against Cuba. It's illegal to bring it over (but everyone does) so don't wave it around when you come home.

It would be interesting to see if there are any small local rum distilleries in the places you are going. I don't know of any.

Has anyone ever experienced this Montecristo 12yr rum?

[ Edited by: tikimug on 2003-06-09 14:29 ]

I gotta toss in a plug for Flor De Cana 4 year old light rum.

Mmmmmmmmm, so good, Bruce Cockburn even put it in a song.

I was listening to Perez Prado's Voodoo Suite tonight and drinking a few Cuba Libre's and thought I would post the following from a tag that comes with a bottle of Ron Matusalem Platino. I really like this rum and suggest you try it in place of your usual silver.

"During Cuba's 'Golden Age', Havana was the capital of tropical fun and personal liberation. The world's most elegant men and women mingled in the chic nightclubs, cafes and bars with such famous celebrities as Ernest Hemingway, Errol Flynn, Joan Crawford, Ester Williams and George Raft, to savor exotic rum drinks and lose themselves to the sensuality of balmy nights and Latin rhythms.
The most celebrated rum of this 'Old Cuba' was Ron Matusalem, named after the Biblical Methuselah, who was said to have lived for 969 years. This name was selected to symbolize the patient aging and Old World craftsmanship used to give Ron Matusalem its exceptional quality and distintictive character.
Having migrated from Spain in 1872 to establish a distillery in Santiago de Cuba, Ron Matusalem's founders brought with them a new approach to making rum. By combining the family's secret formula they had created for distillation, with the 'Solera' ageing and blending system originally developed for the production of sherry and brandy, they were able to craft rums that were not only superior to other rums in Cuba, but were the equal in quality and refinement to the finest spirits in the world.
Soon after its introduction, Ron Matusalem became renown for its unsurpassed smoothness and depth of flavor. Earning international awards in 1881, 1904, and 1911, the brand continued to garner recognition wherever competitive tastings were held.
Unfortunately, in 1960, after having captured half the Cuban market and the lion's share of patronage in fashionable nightclubs and bars, the brand was dealt a severe blow when descendants of its founders were forced to leave the island in the wake of the Cuban Revolution.
Although Ron Matusalem's business was severely disrupted, the brand has been successfully reestablished 'in exile' because the family retained the secret formula and production process that had been the key to its success.
Today, descendants of the founders produce Ron Matusalem in the Dominican Republic where the soils, climate and quality of sugar cane, combined with the family's secret formula, enable them to match the rum that was so well regarded during 'Cuba's Golden Age'.
Enjoying this suberb rum will transport you to a bygone era, to a time of elegance and sophistication that made Havana the 'Paris of the Americas.' In the true sense, Ron Matusalem continues to be 'The Spirit of Cuba'.

Pretty good ad copy, I think. And the rum is nice too.
KG

[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-05 13:29 ]

We go to Mexico regularly, and I think what you should do is not look far a special brand, just get to a non-tourist store and pick up the cheap stuff. We always come back with several bottles of Appleton white for $4 each. Get good rums cheap, That's what you need to look for.