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Rum - every day a school-day!

Brandy, as everyone knows, was invented by a sect of ancient Peruvian monks, as an emetic, to counter the effects of frog-licking, itself brought on by imbibing the juice of mushrooms found only in Java.
 
I've never got on with rum if i'm honest. I much prefer Brandy. Any courses in that?

Once went to the Martel distillery,on the 2nd. tour of the day 0915 with about 6 on it. At the end they opened a bottle of their Napoleon Cognac, the tour before got the dregs of an old bottle, the tour after, about 20, got a bottle between them the tour after 30 got a glass apiece. Four of the six had a glass and left after a couple more I was alone with the bottle, MINE, about lunch time I left on my Bike for the campsite(I was in no condition to walk). tried other distilleries on other days but they wouldn't leave the bottle with me. :gloom:
 
I've never got on with rum if i'm honest. I much prefer Brandy. Any courses in that?

Like any booze, there is the good shit and the bad. Most Rum in this country is the dregs that they send over from the Caribbean while laughing at us. Even the beloved Pusser's issue rum falls into this category, likewise Lambs and all the other well known brands. Sorry shipmates, but it's the rum equivalent of Asda Smart Price Vodka. Some of it (not all) even comes as concentrate and is diluted over here to reduce shipping costs. Clearly this shite is to be avoided.

Being fortunate to have grandparents in the Caribbean, I've had the pleasure of sampling some ****ing amazing rums. A good one can be just as nice as a decent single malt whiskey or fine cognac and the historical link to the RN and our nation's history is appealing to me. In around 1700, my house belonged to the governor of Barbados, as such I have a rum cellar. Yep an actual room built 300 years ago purely for the storage of rum. We've even found old Spanish coins around the place too which were used as rum (and slave) currency. Cool eh?

It's worth giving rum a chance, my personal favourite is Eldorado 25 from Guyana over a little ice. It's like drinking liquid gold. It costs stupid money over here, but in the Caribbean you can pick up a perfectly drinkable 70cl bottle of the 5 year old stuff for about $4 US.

The best and most authentic rum I've found in the UK thus far is Jeffersons from Whitehaven, they do a nice tour and have a good museum. It's a little touristy but I like it. Other good Caribbean rums like Mount Gay and Wray & Nephew are starting make their way over here, but again you'll probably only find the younger vintages (which are OK) but nothing top notch.

The Rum Story - The Dark Spirit of Whitehaven
 
Once went to the Martel distillery,on the 2nd. tour of the day 0915 with about 6 on it. At the end they opened a bottle of their Napoleon Cognac, the tour before got the dregs of an old bottle, the tour after, about 20, got a bottle between them the tour after 30 got a glass apiece. Four of the six had a glass and left after a couple more I was alone with the bottle, MINE, about lunch time I left on my Bike for the campsite(I was in no condition to walk). tried other distilleries on other days but they wouldn't leave the bottle with me. :gloom:

Try the Otard distillery ... half the price of the Martell tour and as much cognac as you can drink without falling over! If you were on the same campsite as I was don't try walking back after along the river!

If you are into really REALLY nice Cognac try Delmaine which is really smooth

My only complaint is when sampling at some "lesser known" vendors is they have the nasty habit of putting "Schweppes Tonic Water in it ('kin heathens) ... known locally as "Cognac Schweppes" .... until you you try the neat product ... then you realise WHY they put tonic in it!
 

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