2007 June « Scottes\’ Rum Pages

Rum Run: Lincoln Liquors, Billerica

June 28, 2007 — Scott Steeves

Lincoln Liquors – aka Mall Liquors – is a funky place that is 2/3 liquor store and 1/3 greeting card store. What the heck is up with that? I like to stop in occasionally because I’ve found some obtuse stuff there, like Marie Brizard Orangero which is apparently no longer made, and I’m not so sure it’s been made for some time since I can’t find any info about it. I’ve also found Doorly’s XO there for $17 as a close-out, and Barrows Grand Reserve for $17 (which was no bargain IMHO, but it’s normally about $45 so I had to try it). They also have occasional oddities like little 200ml Appleton Estate rums, in bottles the exact shape of the regular 750ml. For some reason I didn’t buy one, and now they’re sold out. (I’m sure they exist elsewhere, but I’ve never seen them before).

It’s been a while since I stopped in, so I figured they might have some new stuff, so I popped in. They didn’t have much, really, other than a bottle of Barbancourt 15-year-old for $35. I’ll wait.

But I picked up a slew of other things.

Mount Gay Barbados Sugar Cane Rum – called “Sugar Cane Brandy” elsewhere in the world, US laws require that this be called Rum when sold here. I haven’t had this stuff in a dog’s age – so long ago that I don’t remember it. But I picked it up to add to my collection of Gold Rums since I want to do a comparison of a bunch.

Appleton Special Jamaica Rum, purchased for the same two reasons: It’s gold and it’s been a while for this stuff, too.

A pint bottle of Ron Barcelo Dorado, from the Dominican Republic. I think I bought this because I have been trying to find El Dorado demeraras… But it’s also gold, a pint is cheap, and the Ron Barcelo Imperial is pretty darn good.
A nip of Captain Morgan Tattoo for a spiced rum comparison. But I really need to find a couple more spiced rums if I can. I’ve seen some cheap-ass-looking spiced rums. When the bottle scares me I won’t buy it. But I want to find something like Papagayo which is supposedly sold in Massachusetts. I called their Massachusetts distributor yesterday to find a store that might carry it, but I haven’t heard back from them. I’m getting anxious since the same company distributes El Dorado in Massachusetts. Call me back you bastahds!

A nip of Captain Morgan Parrot Bay for a coconut rum comparison. I actually thought the Cruzan was pretty decent, so I want to do a 3-way shootout with Malibu. Maybe a 4-way if I can find a nip of some other coconut rum, but I really don’t want to have multiple $12 bottles of coconut rum lying around if most of it is crap, so I’ll look for nips.

And two half pints of Palo Viejo, white and gold, to try some other Puerto Rican rum other than Bacardi. And I still can’t find Don Q or Ron de Barrilito, so a PR comparison will have to wait. No, I’m not going to drink Ron Rico neat, or Castillo. I’m just hoping that the Palo Viejo is at least drinkable. Even if it’s not I figure that 3 or 4 rums will give me a decent idea of “The Puerto Rican” style of rum. The so-called “gold” Palo Viejo is so pale that I thought the clerk gave me two bottles of white… Let’s hope it’s not rotgut.

If you’re in the area, and curious, you might want to pop into Lincoln Liquors. Route 3A in Billerica, in the K-Mart plaza right near the town center. You might get lucky and find some interesting spirits. And if you’re hungry, Sichuan Gourmet is in the little strip mall near the set of lights. Fantastic food, and highly recommended.

Posted in Lincoln Liquors, Billerica, Liquor Stores & Bars. 4 Comments »

Ron Zacapa Centenario 23-Year-Old

June 26, 2007 — Scott Steeves

Ah, the Zacapa 23. Nectar. Sweet Gautemalen nectar. Man, I love this stuff. So I figured that it was finally time for a review.

Actually what recently made me decide to do a full review was a high-end sipping session with Phil. Among other things, we tried the Zaya Gran Reserva which instantly reminded us of the Zacapa 23. Phil cracked his bottle of the Zacapa and we sat down with both, side-by-side, tasting each one and trying to figure out which was better.

We failed to find a winner.

From the best we could determine, the Zacapa is sweeter, with some lighter fruits and honey, and a tiny bit smoother. The Zaya was richer, fuller, with heavy fruits (tastes of raisins or figs and such). But they were both equally superb, just in slightly different ways.

I was astounded that we could not determine which one we liked more. I am still astounded, and have since wondered if we were just in some kind of mood that placed them at the exact same level of quality. Is that really possible? I suppose it is – if I was in the mood for a sweet rum I’d grab the Zacapa. If I wasn’t in the mood for sweet then I’d grab the Zaya.

So I decided that I’d have to give each one a full review, and then square them off again, side-by-side, for another shootout.

So here’s the review for the Ron Zacapa Centenario 23-year-old, a truly superb rum.

Solera Process

As an immediate point of interest is that the Zacapa 23 is not really aged for 23 years. It is produced using a solera process, which is a blend of rums… It can be difficult to explain the age of a rum from a solera process, so I’ll have to describe the process.

Take a barrel and fill it with rum. Wait a few years, and fill another barrel with fresh rum. Wait a few more years, and fill yet another barrel with fresh rum. And so on, and on, until you have a stack of rum aged for different years.

Now go to that first barrel – the oldest stuff – and draw off some rum. Fill that barrel to the brim from the next barrel, using rum that’s slightly younger. Fill that barrel from the next one in line, again filling the barrel with rum that is slightly younger. Keep doing this process until you remove some rum from the barrel containing the youngest rum. And finally, fill that barrel with fresh rum.

Within time, that barrel containing the oldest rum is a mix of rums across time. That oldest barrel will still contain traces of the original rum that was first poured into it.

The solera process was originally used for making Sherry in Spain, and some sherry-makers have barrels that contains traces of sherry that is hundreds of years old. I don’t know when Zacapa began it’s solera, but the Ron Zacapa Centenario has an average of 23 years of aging.

Initial Tastes

The rum smells sweet with touches of honey, hints of vanilla, a touch of spice and a slight fruitiness. What a wonderfully complex and well-balanced bunch of aromas. The first sip is sweet, touches of chocolate, somewhat rich and full. The swallow is wonderful, with a medium finish with a barely-detectable burn – the smoothest rum I’ve ever tasted. Some spiciness some through at the finish, but well-balanced and not overpowering. Simply superb.

More Tasting

The worst thing about the Zacapa 23 is the end. Not the finish – it’s great – but the end of the glass when the bottom is clearly visible. The only thing to do is to pour another, and try to make it last.

It’s not easy. This rum is so very drinkable and so very smooth.

But there’s not much more to say – everything comes out quickly in the first few sips and stays superb all night long.

Water & Ice

Though I’ve had this on ice, it’s really not necessary. Sometimes in the summer it’s nice, since a cold drink is more refreshing. Water doesn’t do much to this rum except weaken it, and again it’s not necessary. So if I wanted it cold I’d put it in the fridge for a bit, or store it there and let it warm up a bit before drinking. You’d be missing things if it’s too cold, and it’s certainly not necessary.

This rum really deserves to be neat, but having it slightly cooler than room temperature is nice, too.

I once told a friend that this rum should never be mixed with anything, except maybe a piece of ice. I now take that back – this rum should only be mixed with friends.

Summary

Ron Zacapa Centenario is absolutely the best rum I’ve ever had.

Except perhaps for Zaya Gran Reserva. But I’ll have to decide that another night.

Posted in All Rum Reviews, Ron Zacapa Centenario 23-year-old. 15 Comments »

Rum In Your Luggage

June 25, 2007 — Scott Steeves

Flying to the islands? Bring back some rum? Want to get it home safely?

Thanks to new regulations on airlines, you can’t bring much in the way of liquids in your carry-on bags. It can be difficult to fly with that precious supply of hard-to-find rum in a manner that allows it to be consumed neatly once home. You can wrap it bubble-wrap and hope, or stuff it into carpet tubes, or find some other ingenious way to keep those liquids safe. And you can hope that your methods works.

Well, check out this article about a new way to package your rum so it flies safely. It describes the “Liquor Travel Safety Pack” that is designed to withstand 20-foot drops without breakage.

Damned if I can find a way to order one, but that should come soon. Keep an eye out for it.

Posted in Ramblings, Rum In Your Luggage. Leave a Comment »

Some Outstanding Rums

June 24, 2007 — Scott Steeves

Last night my friend Phil and I sat back and sampled several outstanding rums.

We started with Gosling’s Family Reserve – heavy, dark. Very good but I’m not such a fan of dark rums like this.

Next came Appleton 21-year-old. Excellent stuff, quite complex, but the strongest burn of the bunch.

Then Santa Teresa 1796 – excellent, quite excellent. Definitely one of the top rums I’ve ever had.

We cracked the Zaya Gran Reserva next – oh, this is beautiful stuff. I have had it before, and I don’t remember it being this good. In fact I’ve considered it over-priced for some time, but last night it was magic in a bottle.

The Zaya reminded us both of the Ron Zacapa 23, so Phil grabbed his bottle from the fridge. Also fantastic, as usual. I really do love this stuff – sweet, smooth, rich, decently complex… great stuff.

But we couldn’t decide between the Zaya or the Ron Zacapa, so we went back and forth between the two several times, taking little sips, trying to decide which was better. After 6 or 8 little samples over time, neither of us could decide which was better. The Zacapa is a little lighter and sweeter, the Zaya a bit heavier and richer. Both are absolutely fantastic.

I know that I owe some full reviews on all of these rums – well, the Appleton 21-year-old has a review listed to the left. But I haven’t had time to sit each one down and give it a thorough tasting. There’s no doubt that all of these belong in the “Highly Recommended” category, but they also deserve an appropriate amount of time to discern all the subtleties.

I’ll also have to go back and compare the Ron Zacapa and Zaya again. Was it just last night? I don’t think so, though. We definitely spent some time sampling the two back to back… But a full review of each may bring out some things.

Posted in Ramblings, Some Outstanding Rums. 1 Comment »

Stirrings Mojito Mixer

June 21, 2007 — Scott Steeves

It’s very unusual for me to drink enough to reach a level of intoxication. I don’t see much use in getting smashed, and barely ever go further than a simple buzz. My wife of 10 years says that she’s seen me drunk only once – a night of excess involving most of a bottle of Ron Zacapa Centenario. I love the taste of a good rum, or a good cocktail, but believe in moderation.

Usually.

There are times when I like to tie one on. Sure, I’ll drink a few Mai Tais now and again – when someone else is making them – but generally if I feel like getting buzzed I’m lazy. I’ll have a few shots of the good stuff while my taste buds still function, but once my brain gets rattled I’ll switch to something easy, like Rum & Ginger Ale. Occasionally, very occasionally, I’ll go so far as to make a quart of some cocktail and nurse it, like a baby. A hungry, angry baby.

Quality Ingredients
One day in a liquor store I grabbed a bottle of Stirrings Mojito Mixer, caught up in the propaganda of the display which spoke of quality. Bottled mixers generally taste like crap – because they’re full of crap. Here’s the list of ingredients from one unnamed bottled cocktail mix:

Water, corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate, cellulose gum, polysorbate 60, gum arabic, glycerol, abietate and FD&C Yellow No. 5

Ugh.

Here’s the list of ingredients from the Stirrings Mojito Mixer:

Triple-filtered water, cane sugar, key lime juice from concentrate (water, key lime concentrate), citric acid, natural mint and lime flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

That’s a hell of a lot closer to the real thing.

The Taste
Given that I like to try all rums neat, I felt it was appropriate to do the same with the Mojito Mixer. I found the taste to be extremely natural, without those obnoxious tastes found in most pre-made mixers. It was sweet, like a good simple syrup though much lighter, with a lot of key lime taste and a hint of mint. It was obviously high quality stuff, and very good. I have to say that I wasn’t so pleased with the key lime taste – I guess I like “regular” limes much more. But I deemed it Worthy, and grabbed a bottle of rum and a jigger.

A Mojito
Call me a sinner, but I grabbed the Havana Club Añejo Blanco for my first Stirrings Mojito. What better way to try it, with a known high-quality rum like this, one almost made for Mojitos? OK, enough rationalization – I’m a sinner.

I mixed it up according to the directions, and sipped. It was quite good – hardly a real Mojito made up fresh, but it was tasty and easily drinkable. Granted, it was a hot summer day, so a Mojito was perfect. The Stirrings Mojito wasn’t perfect, but it was quite good.

A little later, when it was time to catch a buzz, I made up a quart of Mojito using Ron Matusalem Platino. It too was excellent – for a while. By the time I reached the bottom of the mug I had had more than enough of the key lime taste. It was a bit much.

Summary
The Stirrings Mojito Mixer is very high quality, and pretty darned good and tasty. It won’t beat a real Mojito made with fresh limes and yerba buena, but it’s good enough for those lazy times. Recommended – but 2 minutes making a real one is even more recommended.

Call me a sinner. I’m guilty.

Posted in Other Reviews, Stirrings Mojito Mixer. Leave a Comment »

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