Madeira (an autonomous region of Portugal) is an archipelago comprising 4 islands approximately 520 kilometers off the northwest coast of Africa. Early in the colonization of these Islands it was noticed that these islands in the middle of the Atlantic had exceptional conditions for the planting of sugarcane. According to historical reports, the king, Infante D. Henrique, introduced sugar cane on Madeira Island in 1425 only 6 years after the Island was discovered.
William Hinton founded his Distillery in 1845 producing the rum from local sugar cane juice. The distillery had great success and by 1920 was processing 600 tons of sugar cane daily. Unfortunately, this was the peak of the rum production and a decline eventually saw the distillery cease production in 1986.
In 2006, William Hinton’s heirs relaunched the distillery using an alembic still. Their William Hinton 3 Year Old Rum is produced from sugar cane syrup which has undergone a special prolonged fermentation process and aged in French oak barrels. The spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.
Here is a link to my review with complete tasting notes and my serving suggestion:
Review: William Hinton 3 Year Old Rum
Please enjoy the review and my suggested serving, the Madeiran Presbyterian.
Chimo!
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The Rum Howler Blog 