The Rum Howler Blog

(A Website for Spirited Reviews)

  • Copyright

    Copyright is inherent when an original work is created. This means that the producer of original work is automatically granted copyright protection. This copyright protection not only exists in North America, but extends to other countries as well. Thus, all of the work produced on this blog is protected by copyright, including all of the pictures and all of the articles. These original works may not be copied or reused in any way whatsoever without the permission of the author, Chip Dykstra.

  • Cocktails and Recipes

    Click Image for Awesome Recipes

  • Industry Interviews

    Interviews

    Click the Image for Great Interviews with the Movers of Industry

  • The Rum Howler Interview (Good Food Revolution)

    Click on the Image to see my interview on Good Food Revolution

  • The Rum Howler Blog

    Unknown's avatar

  • Rum Reviews

  • Whisky Reviews

  • Gin Reviews

  • Tequila Reviews

  • Vodka Reviews

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 1,092 other subscribers

  • Subscribe

  • Visitors

    • 15,539,787 pageviews since inception

  • Archives

  • Follow The Rum Howler Blog on WordPress.com

Author Archive

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Cocktail Hour: Caribbean Queen (with El Dorado 3 Year Old Rum)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on May 4, 2018

When I began to explore mixed drink servings, my wife purchased a large cocktail book, 1001 Cocktails (Alex Barker compiler) for me to draw inspiration from. I poured over the recipes seeing which ones I might like, and more importantly, which of those that I could also make at home with my small collection of ingredients. When I was studying the gin recipes Alex provided, I noticed he had several recipes for ‘Lady’ cocktails:  The Lady, The Green Lady, The Fair Lady … you get the idea. His recipe for The White Lady caught my eye. It was a simple recipe mixing Gin with Lemon Juice and Triple Sec. I mixed one, decided it was too tart, so I added enough sugar syrup to suit my taste, and named my tweaked creation Lady of the Empire. It was my first ‘Lady’ Cocktail.

Recently, I began to experiment with white rum (El Dorado 3 Year Old) instead of gin in the serving. The substitution works; but I decided to go even further adding both lemon and lime juice as well as a dash of grapefruit bitters to put it over the top.

I call my new serving, the Caribbean Queen inspired of course by the Billy Ocean tune on m 80s playlist.

Caribbean Queen

1 1/2 oz El Dorado Cask Aged 3 Year Old Rum
1/2 oz Bols Triple Sec
3/8 oz Lemon Juice
3/8 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Sugar Syrup (1:1 ratio)
dash Scrappy’s Grapefruit Bitters
Ice
Lemon Peel

Place the ingredients in a metal cocktail shaker with ice
Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker begins to frost
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Add Lemon Peel for Garnish

Enjoy Responsibly!

If you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BTW: Here is a link to my recent review of the El Dorado 3 Year Old White Rum:

Review: El Dorado 3 Year Cask Aged Rum

“… In my mouth the taste is light but sweet. The rum has a pleasant soft texture with light oil-like mouth-feel. There is no bitterness, and the soft butterscotch/caramel flavours remain firm through the palate accented with light minty candy-like flavours ….”

Enjoy both the cocktail and the review, Chimo!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cocktail Hour: Caribbean Queen (with El Dorado 3 Year Old Rum)

Review: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit

Posted by Arctic Wolf on May 2, 2018

Wild Turkey produces their bourbon from a mash bill which includes three grains: corn, barley, and rye. This mash bill is said to have a relatively high proportion of rye which gives the whiskey brand its signature spicy kick.

Their Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit is bottled at 50.5 % alcohol by volume (101 proof). It is a single barrel whisky with each barrel was chosen by Wild Turkey Master Distiller Jimmy Russell. Although the spirit carries no age statement, the Wild Turkey Website informs us that all of their Bourbon is blended from whiskeys aged a minimum of five years in what the company refers to as their ‘famous #4 alligator char‘ American Oak barrels.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit 

” … The initial aroma is rich with a combination of corn, butterscotch, oak, and vanilla whetting my appetite. Some maple and cedar notes develop as do some very nice baking spices (more vanilla, some cinnamon accents and a touch of ginger). I begin to notice some rye notes in the glass probably associated with that hint of ginger within the baking spice. Honey comb and tobacco can easily be imagined in the breezes as well as some almond accents and dollops of marmalade and apricot jam …”

Please enjoy my review which includes two serving suggestions, the Old Fashioned Spirit, and the Infinity Cocktail.

Chimo!

Posted in American Whiskey, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit

Review: Herradura Silver Tequila

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 30, 2018

The Herradura Tequila brand is owned by Brown-Froman. It is produced thirty miles from Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, in the town of Amatitan, at the Brown – Forman Tequila Distillery Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V..

Herradura is produced from agave grown in the lowlands. This is important to know, because lowland agave will usually bring more earthy fruit flavours through the distillation than highland agave which tends to bring spice and citrus. The lowland character of the Herradura tequila was obvious during my tasting sessions and dealing with the strong earthy flavours of the spirit was particularly significant during cocktail construction.

The subject of this review, the Herradura Silver is a true 100% Weber Blue agave tequila. The agave used is cooked in old stone ovens, and distilled on old copper pot stills. When I tasted the Herradurra spirit several years ago I was told that it was an unaged spirit intended to bring to the palate the true unaltered taste of lowland tequila. I notice this time that my media notes make note that the spirit has been aged for 45 days in American Oak barrels which is meant to bring a touch of refinement to the spirit. It is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume for the North American Market.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: Herradura Silver Tequila

“… I notice firm earthy agave which to me resembles the aroma of baked squash and/or grilled zucchini. As the glass breathes I begin to notice some lemon citrus and both lemon and orange peel. There are hints of menthol/mint and the spiciness of hot white pepper in the air as well. As I adjust to the overt agave aroma, very light indications of sandalwood and oak spice are noticed which bring ever so light impressions of tea and chocolate into the air …”

Please enjoy my review which concludes with a delicious cocktail suggestion, Estrella de la Tarde (the Evening Star).

Chimo!

Posted in Blanco Tequila, Tequila, Tequila Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Herradura Silver Tequila

Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 29, 2018

Central City Brewers + Distillers is a small craft producer of beer and Spirits. They began business as a brewpub in downtown Surrey (British Columbia), where they created their Red Racer craft beer. After this initial  success they turned their attention to spirits using Canadian barley to produce their whisky and Rocky Mountain Berries to produce their gin.

According to the company’s website:

We craft our premium spirits on 3 state-of-the-art Holstein Stills, manufactured in Germany on 3 different sizes: 2500 litre, 1250 Litre and 500 litre, to allow greater versatility. All fitted with reflux columns and one with up to 20 plates, this Stills are capable of producing up to 90% ABV and can produce almost any spirit our distiller can imagine.

I sampled their Lohin Mckinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt Whisky (a collaborative effort between Central City Brewery’s Master Brewer Gary Lohin, and Master Distiller Stuart McKinnon as part of my judging duties for the 2018 Canadian Whisky Awards. I kept brief notes for each of the spirits which I tasted, and after the reveal, I decided to pen a brief review based upon those tasting notes, as well as from a small tasting sample I was able to obtain afterwards.

Here is a link to that review:

Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

” … there was a very obvious sweetness in the air initially. More typical whisky scents gathered and settled into the breezes. After the tasting session when I sniffed my empty glass, the sweetness from the wine combined with the herbal tones in the whisky …”

Please enjoy my review of this new Canadian Single Malt, Chimo!

Posted in Canadian Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Lohin McKinnon Wine Barreled Single Malt

Review: LMD Spiced Rum (Flavoured Alcohol Beverage)

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 27, 2018

Last Mountain Distillery is part of a small wave of Micro-Distillers which have began to appear on the Canadian landscape over the last few years. These are small ‘mom and pop’ operations which make their spirits in small batches usually only a barrel or two at a time. This particular distillery is located in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, and it is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of Colin and Meredith Schmidt.

Last Mountain Distillery’s LMD Spiced Rum Flavoured Alcohol Beverage is produced from a blend of both aged and an un-aged cane spirits. It is flavoured with 5 different natural spices and Madagascar Vanilla. Although it is labelled as a ‘Rum Flavoured’ beverage, I must point out that if the spirit was produced (or sold) in the USA it could accurately be labelled as Spiced Rum. However, because it is being sold in Canada where the regulations concerning rum labeling are more stringent than in the USA, the spirit cannot be labelled as a Rum.

I suggest that those reading my review should bear in mind that many of the more famous spiced rums sold in the USA may actually have less aged rum in their make-up than does the LMD Spiced Rum Flavoured Alcohol Beverage.

Here is a link to my full review:

Review: LMD Spiced Rum Flavoured Alcohol Beverage

“… The first sip brings a beguiling smoothness forward as the LMD Spiced brings a pleasant but light sweetness forward. Light flavours of vanilla and butterscotch are complemented by a firm (but not aggressive) spicy thrust. There is a light sense of earthiness and I receive mild impressions of both licorice and angelica root as well as perhaps a hint of a mineral content in the dram …”

Please enjoy my review which includes my serving suggestions, the Flying Machine, and the LMD Box Car.

Chimo!

 

Posted in Rum, Rum Reviews, Spiced Rum | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: LMD Spiced Rum (Flavoured Alcohol Beverage)

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »