The Number 9 spot in my rankings of the Best 50 Mixing Rums in the World may at first seem like an unlikely candidate, a young amber rum which is sold only in Western Canada by Highwood Distillers. Upon further examination however, the high esteem I hold for this rum is more easily understood. Although this rum is sold only in Western Canada, it is in reality a Demerara Rum distilled and crafted at the world-famous Diamond Distillery (think El Dorado Rum folks) in Guyana, South America.
Highwood Distillers have purchased aged rum (probably one year old) in bulk from Demerara Distillers and then set the barrels of rum they purchased down to age for a further time at their aging facility at the foot of the Canadian Rockies. This addition aging in the northern latitudes (at high elevation) gives the final blended rum an additional layer of fine oak spice which just begs to be mixed in cocktails.
This is a countdown of the best Mixing Rums I have ever tasted, and Momento Amber Rum deserves its top ten spot. Here is my original review written 6 years ago (re-scored based upon a recent tasting) where I express my delight at finding this diamond in the rough:
#9: Momento Amber Rum
________________________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned for more mixing rum revelations as I will be adding to this list each day until Christmas Eve.
And you can follow the rankings by bookmarking this page:
The Rum Howler 2016 Top 50 Mixing Rums Countdown
Lot No. 40 has received a bit of a makeover recently as the spirit which was previously branded, Lot No. 40 Single Copper Pot Still Canadian Whisky has received a new label, and the whisky is now known simply as Lot No. 40 Rye Whisky.
Lot No. 40 is expertly distilled in small batches using only the finest locally sourced ingredients. By distilling in a single copper pot still, the result is a whisky that starts off earthy and woody tasting and then becomes full bodied and complex with a velvety vanilla oak finish.
Plantation 3 Stars Silver Rum is relatively new white cocktail rum from Cognac Ferrand. In producing this rum Alexandre Gabriel (President and Owner, of Cognac Ferrand) blends rum from three different Caribbean Islands in order to achieve the correct balance between flavour and character suitable for a cocktail rum bearing the Plantation name. These three Islands (Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad) are considered by the folks at Cognac Ferrand to be the three “star” producers of the Caribbean, hence the name “Plantation 3 Stars” was chosen for the rum.
According to the media materials I received, each style of rum serves a unique purpose: unaged rum from Barbados provides aromatics and character; a clear filtered 3-year-old rum from Trinidad provides classical elegance and refinement, and the Jamaican rum provides structure and an unmistakable ‘funk’ to the final recipe. The Jamaican portion of the rum is actually composed of two Jamaican styles, an unaged rum which contributes to that Jamaican ‘funk’, and a small amount of very expensive 12-year-old rum which contributes just the right flavour component to make this a rum ideal for classic cocktails. Indeed the 3 Stars rum is, at its heart, a cocktail rum meant to add elegance and complexity to your favourite cocktails.
It is of course produced exclusively from rye grain, distilled (and almost certainly aged) in Calgary by Alberta Distillers Ltd (who are also owned by Beam Suntory). The Chairman’s Select is aged in American Oak (bourbon barrels), cut to bottling strength (40 % abv) and then bottled in Walkerville Ontario, the home of Canadian Club.
It was in 1910 that the appearance of Haley’s comet coincided with a total solar eclipse, and this event is said to have inspired Mount Gay to create their Eclipse Rum. The Eclipse is a traditional double distilled gold rum produced from copper pot stills and aged in white Kentucky oak barrels which were previously used to age bourbon.
The Rum Howler Blog 