Pirate's favourite drink: Rum!

[Wolfwood]

I've recently got my hands on Pyrat XO Reserve and Pampero Aniversario. Neither of them stands up to Ron Zacapa, but they are pretty good rums nevertheless.

Pampero was a bit too fruity for my taste, although I do love the bottle and the leather pouch it came in. And Pyrat XO did not taste as old as it claimed to be (somewhat raw taste, reminiscent of some younger French sugar cane juice rums I've tried).
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It is much better to be armed with a sword that has two edges than with an estoc [...], which is nothing more than a stick with a point. (Rapier Master G. Morsicato Pallavicini, La Scherma Illustrata, p. 14.)

[Salty Dog]

Thanks, good info! Have you tried Kaniche XO?

[Wolfwood]

I haven't - it's been on my "to taste" list forever, but I've not yet been able to locate it. And shipping it in from some other EU country feels like overkill...
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It is much better to be armed with a sword that has two edges than with an estoc [...], which is nothing more than a stick with a point. (Rapier Master G. Morsicato Pallavicini, La Scherma Illustrata, p. 14.)

[Salty Dog]

[Salty Dog]

[Pirate]

Captain Morgana would make a good top ten. Who's Next Black Beaver?

[Rusty Edge]

Went on a cruise. When stopping at Falmouth, Jamaica I needed an excursion that 1) wasn't too strenuous, 2) I hadn't done before.

My new find- Hampden Estate single Jamaican rum. 7 years old, 46% alcohol by volume. https://www.hampdenestaterum.com/

I didn't fully appreciate it on the tour. It started with a rum punch made from their Rum Fire white over proof rum. 63% alcohol by volume. It's called fire because when you light it, all that's left is a little pure water. No residue. Drinking mine and my wife's, I was drunk. So were many of the other's on the tour. Touring the natural fermentation barn, the distillery barn, and being among the other buildings, molasses bin, etc. was olfactory overload. By the time I was tasting the good stuff, I couldn't fully appreciate it. I could tell the flavor was concentrated, but I wasn't sure I liked it.

While the distillery is very old, 1753, until recently they were a wholesale contract business. Because their product is high in esters, it is mostly sold in bulk to European chocolate makers, perfume makers, flavor extract makers. It's also sold to other distilleries to blend, such as Appleton Estate.

So it's made from spring water, cane juice, molasses, the dregs from previous batches, and natural yeast. They alluded to a secret trace ingredient, I suspect bananas or vanilla because they grow on the estate, but it could easily be another tropical fruit or spice. They say the real magic is the natural fermentation barn, which reminded of a corn silo with it's molds, cobwebs, and scents. The vats are cedar, and most of them date to the 1700s. They didn't show us the aging facility. They took us into the lab and we smelled various samples. I could be wrong about some of this, as I said I was drunk.

So, I bought a bottle of each to take home. It's amber, and the taste of a sip lingers for about 20 minutes . I've done taste comparisons to the other spirits from my shelves on different nights. Cognac is the only thing I have that compares to it. You can find it online in the US.

[Salty Dog]

I bought a bottle of Koloa Rum from Kauai, Hawaii. It is OK but not outstanding. My current favorite is Kaniche XO, which I buy at Total Wine. The basic Kaniche rum costs $20 a bottle and is very good, but the Kaniche XO sells for a bit more at 35 to 40 a bottle and it just amazing!

[Roland]

[Salty Dog]

Roland,
Have you tried Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout? It is from England and you will find it in that section of Total Wine. It is amazing! What a great drink!!!!!

[Roland]