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Archive for the ‘Rum’ Category

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Review: McDowells No. 1 Celebration Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 17, 2011

Depending upon which website you visit, McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Rum is listed as either the 3rd or the 4th best-selling rum in the World with sales of over 6 million cases per year. It is the largest selling rum in India with a market share between 38 and 40 percent. My research indicates that the McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Rum is a result of a multiple distillation production which uses 5 copper column stills. The rum is aged for at least 3 years in oak barrels before being blended and bottled. Because the information from the various websites I visited was somewhat contradictory, I would not want to claim that these are solid facts, they should more reasonably be assumed to be good estimations.

The rum is distilled, blended and bottled at Ponda, Goa in India by United Spirits Ltd. (formerly known as McDowell Spirits Ltd). For your information, Goa, a former Portuguese colony is situated on the Western Coast of India. It is India’s smallest state by area, but the fourth largest by population, and the most prosperous by GDP.  Today Goa contains a unique blend of European culture merged with Indian hospitality. It is a preferred tourist destination in India famous for its abundance of white sandy beaches.

I have very little experience with rums from India, (Amrut Old Port Rum is the only other Indian rum I have tasted), and it will be very interesting to see what this Indian Rum has in store for me.

Here is an excerpt from  my review:

“…In the glass the rum has a rich mahogany color with reddish tinges in the light. The initial nose carries a lot of caramel, toffee and molasses forward with strong accents of vanilla and dry fruit….”

You may read the full review here:

Review: McDowells No. 1 Celebration Rum

As is my normal practice I have included a cocktail after the review which I believe suits this rum very well, the  Pondo Celebration Mule.

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: McDowells No. 1 Celebration Rum

The Chinook

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 8, 2011

It has been a long and bitterly cold winter this year in Edmonton. The snow started in October and the cold followed the snow. Usually we get a few warm days here and there, and although the snow will accumulate, about half of it will be melted away by now. But not this year. Not only has the snow kept falling in amounts I haven’t seen for well over 30 years, but the thermometer has rarely popped above zero degrees centigrade meaning that I still have October’s snow under my December, January, and February snow. The piles beside my driveway reach up to the roof of my house and yesterday it was snowing some more.

What we need is a good ‘Chinook‘. A Chinook, for those who don’t know is a warm Pacific wind which flows over the Rocky Mountains. As it passes up over the mountains, it looses its moisture by the way of rain so that after it passes over the mountains it has become dry. Flowing down the westward side of the mountains it gains warmth due to something called adiabatic warming. Think about it. A warm, dry air mass pouring over the mountains coming to melt all that snow and warm up the winter time. It is not unusual for the temperature to increase by as much as 30 degrees Celsius during a Chinook and for a foot of snow to disappear. That sounds positively lovely!

So today I am making my own Chinook. A cocktail, I designed many months ago when I reviewed Highwood’s Momento Amber Rum. My Chinook might not change the weather, but it sure will make it easier to deal with.

The Chinook

1 1/2 oz Amber Rum (I suggest Momento Amber Rum )
1/2 oz  Cherry Flavoured Whisky  (I suggest Red Stag Flavoured Bourbon)
1/4 to 1/2 Oz Lime Juice
2 Tsp Simple syrup (or sub grenadine for colour)
3 Large Ice Cubes

Put all ingredients into a blender.
Blend until smooth(ish).
Serve in a wine glass.

Garnish with a thin lime slice folded around a Brandied Cherry with a spear through it.
(I have to give credit to forrest here for the wonderful garnish idea!)

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavoured Whisky, Rum | Tagged: , , | Comments Off on The Chinook

An El Dorado Evening

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 5, 2011

El Dorado Rums are world-famous for their terrific flavour and complexity.  Recently the company has released a Connoisseur’s Range of rums which highlight particular aspects of their distilling and blending practices. These Connoisseur Rums each bring a unique aspect of the El Dorado rum flavour profile to the consumer which is derived from the particular still which has produced them.

Since I enjoy the El Dorado range of rums, I decided to construct a complex cocktail utilizing the different flavours and structures of El Dorado rum. I chose the 3 Yr Cask Aged Silver Rum, the 5 Yr Cask Aged Gold Rum, and one of the new aged Single Barrel Connoisseur Rums.

Depending upon which of these new Connoisseur Rums is chosen, the cocktail will carry different aspects of the El Dorado style into the cocktail.  For example the El Dorado Single Barrel PM carries many woody tones which will provide a strong oak flavour and a high level of complexity into the cocktail; the El Dorado Single Barrel Demerara ICBU Rum carries more sweetness and a fuller nutty flavour which will make a softer, smoother cocktail.  Each version of the cocktail is very good in its own way and choosing which version I prefer to drink really is dependent upon my mood at the time.

I chose the name An El Dorado Evening for the cocktail for obvious reasons. Please enjoy!

An El Dorado Evening

a cocktail by Arctic Wolf

2/3 oz El Doroda 3 Yr Cask Aged Rum
2/3 oz El Doroda 5 Yr Cask Aged Rum
2/3 oz El Dorado Single Barrel (choose one from the connoisseur’s range)
1 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Amaretto
4 Large Ice Cubes
Glass half full of Crushed Ice
maraschino cherry
mint sprig
pineapple slice

Add the first five ingredients into a metal shaker with the large ice cubes
Shake until the metal shaker chills
Strain the mixture from the metal shaker over the crushed ice.

To garnish add the maraschino cherry and sprig of mint into the glass and the slice of pineapple on the rim. (Please use a real maraschino cherry, and bruise the mint before placing it in the glass.)

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, White Rums | Comments Off on An El Dorado Evening

Rum Review: Spiced Jack No. 94

Posted by Arctic Wolf on February 2, 2011

Legend has it (according to the Spiced Jack Website), that in 1956 a certain roguish pilot, Lieutenant Jack Butler, who was stationed in Bermuda in 1956 developed a secret recipe for spiced rum. Of course after developing this “Top Secret” recipe he and his plane disappeared without a trace. Mysteriously, all of his rum disappeared too. Fortune would have it that he had sent his secret recipe to his brother shortly before he disappeared and now White Rock Distillers are able to bring this formulation forward as Spiced Jack No. 94 Spiced Rum.

The ’94’ is a reference to the bottle strength of this rum which is 94 proof. This is a higher than normal bottling strength for a spiced rum which should impart a little ‘kick’ to the tonsils when it is sipped. In spite of this implied kick to the tonsils, the Spiced Jack Website assures us that the rum will be smooth. In fact, not just smooth, it will be “courageously smooth”.

A friend of mine gave me this bottle in trade on New Years Eve. I had taken a few sips (after I had already sipped a lot of other rums and whiskies that night), and decided a new rum to add to my collection would be a good thing. I never had a chance to try the bottle again until a few days ago when I decided to put it through the paces of my review system.

By clicking on the following link you can discover what I learned about my New Year’s Eve Rum Swap:

Rum Review: Spiced Jack No. 94

Please enjoy the review, and remember that the aim of my blog is not to help you drink more spirits, it is to help you drink better spirits!

Posted in Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , | Comments Off on Rum Review: Spiced Jack No. 94

Rum Review: El Dorado 21-Year-Old Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 27, 2011

Ed 21 Served Neat

The Master Blender for  Demerara Distillers Ltd. , (DDL) is credited with the creation of El Dorado 21-Year-Old Special Reserve Rum which uses a selected blend of rums from their world-famous stills, the Enmore (wooden Coffey still), the Versailles (single wooden pot still), and the Albion (Savalle still). All of these rums in the blend have been aged in oak for a minimum of 21 years, making this one of the oldest production rums in the world.

The rum is part of a family of luxury cask aged rums which also includes a 12-year-old rum,  a 15-year-old rum and a 25-year-old Rum. According to the DDL website…

“El Dorado rums are blended selections of different ‘vintages’ or batches of rums from different stills – aged in oak barrels. Importantly, the age statement specifically indicates the youngest rum in the blend, even though the oldest may be many years older. This rule is the same as the one for Scotch Whisky and is used for rums produced in English-speaking countries…”

This age statement is quite different from those rums which feature a solera style age statement which highlights the oldest rum in the blend and usually includes a high percentage of rum which is much younger in the blend. In my opinion, this sets the El Dorado 21 Year Old Rum apart from its peers and it is very hard to find many comparably aged rums in my marketplace.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…The mouth is heated up with oak spice, and my first impression is that I am sampling a yummy oak and toffee extract filled with rich brown sugar. The oak is at the center of the flavour, yet the tannins do not inhibit the other flavours in the rum from forming and delighting me.  Raisins, prunes, and dates give the rum an almost smoky quality while the impressions of nutty elements adds softness to the mouth-feel. Cinnamon and brown sugar weave throughout and the rum is an absolute marvel of complexity and balance…“

You may read the full review here:

Rum Review: El Dorado 21-Year-Old Rum

Please enjoy the review and remember that it is my aim to help you drink better rums not to help you drink more rums!

Posted in Dark Rums, Howls, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Review: El Dorado 21-Year-Old Rum

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