What's your latest rum purchase?

picked these little guys up today - tax stamp dates them between 1944 - 1960 - thats about all i know, any other info would be appreciated

On 2019-02-10 14:21, Hamo wrote:
Restocked my Demerara, and decided to get my first bottle of Barbancourt (and my first bottle of apricot liqueur).

Weird! The El Dorado 8 just appeared at my favorite store as well and I nabbed it today. Planning to try it tonight in something still to be determined.

I had to drive out to Santa Clarita for work today, and google maps took me home on the side streets for a bit to dodge traffic. I looked out the window at a stoplight and I realized I was right next to a Mission Liquors, a chain I'd totally forgotten about even though they carry a very respectable assortment of rum. I duck in and, lo and behold, they've got not one, but TWO products I thought I'd never see on the shelf again.

Found two more

SteveKH

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=36627&forum=10&vpost=533316&hilite=Tax%20stamp%20date

Couple of purchases from the last few days.

Went to an Angostura tasting a couple of weeks ago and the brand rep. said that they are no longer producing this product. Apparently the rums used to make it are being diverted into making other products.

Where’d you find that Royal Amber, Pat? Let us know when you make a Mai Tai with it.

On 2019-04-21 23:00, Hamo wrote:
Where’d you find that Royal Amber, Pat? Let us know when you make a Mai Tai with it.

In the mail. I couldn't find anyone else stupid and crazy enough to buy half a case of obscure booze all at once and then wait around to sign for it all day on a work day just to keep the shipping charges from driving the price of an individual bottle through the roof, so I just went and ordered the whole enchilada for myself.

First things first, it does indeed make a kickass Mai Tai.

It comes out very different from MTs made with our usual choices for jamaicans and agricoles. It certainly goes down smooth, and like Hopechest said, it performs best all by itself. I still like a Mai Tai made with the usual suspects, but for some reason blending the Royal Amber with other rums doesn't yield the mutliplicative results that other mixes do.

Also of note, this is a new packaging from what I'd seen online in the past. If I remember correctly, the old packaging purportedly billed it as a product of France, and theories circulated that it was a blend of French-Caribbean rums. This new label claims that the contents were distilled in Puerto Rico.

Now, having tasted this stuff in a cocktail and all by itself, I really don't believe that. In a glass by itself it's got hints of the kind of subdued funk you'd find in a modern black blended Jamaican, ie some pot still, but a good amount of column. On the other hand, it also has plenty of flavors that really don't remind me of other rums too.

http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=19258

Looking back on this AMOCI article where they talk about the kind of Martinique rum that would most likely have actually gone into later formulations of the Mai Tai (black blended molasses based rhum traditionnel, not agricole), they mention that TV-branded Mai Tai rum in the day was probably a blend of Jamaican rum, Martinique molasses rum, and cheap VI rum as padding, I get an idea.

Now this is an extremely loose and sloppy experiment conceived by a mind that was two drinks in already, so don't take the results as gospel. We tasted the Royal Amber neat alongside an everyday black blended Jamaican (Coruba) and the only rhum trad. I have access to, a Guadeloupe 5 year, from Transcontinental Rum Line*. Among a panel of three tasters, the Royal Amber was consistently called the smoothest. The Coruba was heavier, and tasted back to back with the RA was noticeably smokier. The TRL still tastes like fruity hard candy and birthday candles, but was drier and harsher than the other two. Neither of the two were really in the same wheelhouse as the Amber by themselves, BUT, when the Coruba and TRL were blended about 50/50, the results were weirdly close. The features of the two that made each glaringly different from the Royal Amber mellow out and they somehow add up to taste more similar than you'd expect.

To whit: Based on flavor, if you told me that Trader Vic's Royal Amber was a blend of Jamaican and molasses-based French rums, probably both column and pot stilled, I'd believe you. Given how much subterfuge and such there is in the world of rum, it wouldn't surprise me if this "distilled in Puerto Rico" business is just them cutting their imported blend with some nice cheap industrial spirits for tax purposes/to plump things out and keep costs down.

• Near as I can tell, this bottling represents a single marque from a pretty big array of marques cranked out in the off season by French Antilles distilleries mainly for bulk export to independent blenders and bottlers. Ergo, its probably pretty simple compared to the kind of blends they'd have been wielding back in the day, but I'm assuming they're kin.

Wow, great recap! Thanks. Was that Ace Spirits from Minnesota? That’s the only place I’ve found online that has Royal Amber, but there’s a $60 minimum order. A local liquor store carries Trader Vic’s rums; maybe I can get them to order me some Royal Amber.

On 2019-04-23 20:39, Hamo wrote:
Wow, great recap! Thanks. Was that Ace Spirits from Minnesota? That’s the only place I’ve found online that has Royal Amber, but there’s a $60 minimum order. A local liquor store carries Trader Vic’s rums; maybe I can get them to order me some Royal Amber.

Yup, Ace Spirits. I think it'd be a worthy effort to try to get a local merchant to order some RA, but I've tried with a few stores around here and they still haven't gotten back to me about it. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Also on the subject of Ace and French rums, they also stock Mangoustan's rhum, which appears to be another French product. It might be interesting to do some experimentation with that too and see if the theory of Franco-Jamaican blending holds up, but it will be a while before I'm ready to throw a hundred clams to the wind on a boat load of booze that I may or may not even like again.

https://www.acespirits.com/buy-slaur-mangoustans-rum-shop-for-rum-online.html

I will send my minions to Ace. All the rhum will be mine muaaahaahahahaha :) :wink:

Nope, Ace in Minnesota does not have any St James on hand. If they still have some (somewhere) online, order them all up!!!

On 2019-04-25 11:05, lunavideogames wrote:
Nope, Ace in Minnesota does not have any St James on hand. If they still have some (somewhere) online, order them all up!!!

We actually were talking about Trader Vic's Royal Amber, the successor to the TV-branded Mai Tai rums of yesteryear, not St James. It's the only TV rum actually worth drinking imo, and what they use for the Mai Tai at the flagship restaurant in Emeryville. Unlike the rest of their lineup, it's really hard to find, but it's quite a bargain if you can get it.

https://www.acespirits.com/buy-trader-vics-royal-amber-rum-shop-for-rum-online.html

Haha cool. My bad :)

On 2019-03-12 20:45, PalmtreePat wrote:
I had to drive out to Santa Clarita for work today, and google maps took me home on the side streets for a bit to dodge traffic. I looked out the window at a stoplight and I realized I was right next to a Mission Liquors, a chain I'd totally forgotten about even though they carry a very respectable assortment of rum. I duck in and, lo and behold, they've got not one, but TWO products I thought I'd never see on the shelf again.

If you're after St. James Royal Amber, Mission Liqours still has some on the shelf.

Cool thanks. I'll try to get there soon. Which location or all?

On 2019-04-25 16:12, lunavideogames wrote:
Cool thanks. I'll try to get there soon. Which location or all?

The one in Pasadena is where I got mine. I chatted with the guy at the counter while he was ringing me up and he mentioned his manager specifically as having thought to stock up ahead of time. I'd call whichever location you're going to ahead of time to ask what's in stock.

Picked up these beauties at Bitters + Bottles in South SF (I already have the Hampden regular proof)

Got all 6 bottles
:)

Got this too

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2019-04-28 17:35 ]

On 2019-04-28 08:39, kevincrossman wrote:
Picked up these beauties at Bitters + Bottles in South SF (I already have the Hampden regular proof)

Exquisite choices sir. I need to pick up a bottle of that Worthy Park while its still available, that Hamilton Blonde has rekindled my interest in their distillates.

On 2019-04-30 06:22, PalmtreePat wrote:

On 2019-04-28 08:39, kevincrossman wrote:
Picked up these beauties at Bitters + Bottles in South SF (I already have the Hampden regular proof)

Exquisite choices sir. I need to pick up a bottle of that Worthy Park while its still available, that Hamilton Blonde has rekindled my interest in their distillates.

I was quite unimpressed with the Worthy Park. If it were a $30 rum I would still think it was meh, but at the $65 price point, or whatever I paid for it, I was really disappointed. I was hoping for full body, lovely pot still flavor, and it just fell flat.

On the other hand, I can't wait to get my paws on that Hampden overproof. It's supposed to come to Austin soon.

Kevin, what are your thoughts on the Worthy Park?

I vended at a rum tasting on the weekend and was fortunate enough to have a couple of brand representatives like my Tiki mugs enough to want to trade for some rum so i scored these two bottles.

:)

The Tiki Lovers lineup is finally stateside, so I picked up a bottle of their dark. Even though I'm a tiki boy now, my interest in cocktails originated with pre-prohibition drinks, so I was also excited to see that there's a new, and supposedly more accurate, recreation of "Bogart's" Bitters on the market. Looking forward to trying them with some nice rye.

Oh wow, I had no idea there was a new attempt at Boker's out on the market! I HAVE to track that down.

On 2019-05-22 09:11, HopeChest wrote:
Oh wow, I had no idea there was a new attempt at Boker's out on the market! I HAVE to track that down.

I mixed up a heavily bittered old fashioned last night and it came out really nice, and very distinct from an Ango OF. This take on Boker's is light on the cardamom and cinnamon and turns kind of chocolaty when mixed. It's tasty enough that I might go so far as to use it in a Trinidad Sour, heretical as that may be.

Need to restock some things, plus bought my first bottle of Appleton 12

Had to deliver some samples for work today, and the lab I ended up at turned out to be just 10 minutes away from Hi Times, so I took the opportunity to grab that bottle of Kijafa I've been meaning to get along with a few bar staples. For those interested, the XM 12 year is on clearance right now for 10 bucks a bottle.

[ Edited by: PalmtreePat 2019-06-03 14:15 ]

How do you like the Diamond Reserve Demerara? I just saw that for the first time a few days ago at a local bar who was making a drink special with it. I'm intrigued by their relationship with El Dorado.

On 2019-06-05 13:35, HopeChest wrote:
How do you like the Diamond Reserve Demerara? I just saw that for the first time a few days ago at a local bar who was making a drink special with it. I'm intrigued by their relationship with El Dorado.

I think it's definitely a mixing demerara. It's got a lot of the medicinal brown sugar kind of flavor you get out of british navy style demeraras. It works great for a demerara dry float and the navy grog.

I had a coupon to use and needed more Plantation

Grabbed some hi-test bottles while I was across state lines yesterday. Cracked open the Lemon hart as soon as I reached home and made a proper zombie for the first time. Freaking PLCB refuses to import it - they've cut some deal with Cruzan to be the sole 151-proof rum available statewide. Disgraceful.

Hang10: I really like that Casa Magdalena, good daiquiri rum.

I was recently in France and went to check the rum section on a giant supermarket. I pictured there shelf to share here. I always find interesting how brands like Bacardi or Havana Club present there products for different markets. The first impression was that they carry a huge range of rum, here in The Netherlands you can't even buy rum in the supermarket. The "top shelf" stuff was this:

Then you go to the massive range of "rhum agricole" being Saint James and Dillom from Martinique the only ones I recognized:

They even had a pre-mix cocktail from Saint James called "Tiki Planteur" with rum agricole old rum, triple sec and notes of fruit like orange, pineapple, guava en passion fruit.

I got a bottle of Dillon pure cane sugar syrup to experiment a Ti punch.

I doubt the liquid inside is still viable but I'm a sucker for old bottles.

Stopped in a few different Front Range liquor stores yesterday. I was surprised that "The World's Largest Liquor Store" (which has a meager rum selection) had one bottle of Rum Fire.

Just doing a little restocking___
https://tikicentral.com/uploads/78930/5b8afbc3.jpg

[ Edited by: coralreef 2019-08-22 14:03 ]

Picked up the latest Hamilton bottles.

Found Navy Bay rum at Total Wine. Thought I'd try it out.Supposed to be a blend of both pot still and column.
The label reminds me of Myers. Also going to visit El Presidente tonight.

[i]On 2019-09-14 15:48, coralreef wrote:
The label reminds me of Myers.

I’d be surprised if Infinity Spirits has not received a letter from the Meyer's lawyers.
Btw, how is the rum?
Cheers

Oh yeah!

Wow! I want those esters in my mouth. How limited is this and who did the bottling? Doubt it will make its way to the US.

I wandered into a random liquor store this afternoon, as I am wont to do, and found that they actually had Trader Vic's Royal Amber on the shelf. On top of that, it was the old label style too. Interestingly, despite what I'd heard, there's nothing on this particular bottle that indicates it's a product of France. In fact there doesn't seem to be any indication of its origins at all. I'll be giving it a taste alongside one of my new label bottles to see if there's any difference.

OMG, I keep purchasing the last bottle of Clement VSOP ($50 agricole) on the shelf at the liquor store, drinking it all in 2 weeks, and then when I go back they magically have another 3 bottles on the shelf to drain my wallet! I know I should stick to Barbancourt at 2/3 the price, but Clement is soooo good. I finally tried Clement in my standard rum-a-rita last week ($$$), and its special flavor made it fabulous.

Bought two bottles of Hamilton rum over the weekend-Jamaican pot still gold and Hamilton 86. Anxious to try the 86 in a jungle bird.
Cheers

On 2019-11-05 21:15, nui 'umi 'umi wrote:
Bought two bottles of Hamilton rum over the weekend-Jamaican pot still gold and Hamilton 86. Anxious to try the 86 in a jungle bird.
Cheers

NICE! Now that their distribution issue has been sorted here, I just had my local place bring in a couple of bottles of the White 'Stace 87.
Can't wait to try them in a classic daiquiri.