The first salvo was launched several months ago when the Liber Group quietly placed Juan Santos Colombian Coffee Infused Rum on the store shelves in Alberta, Canada. Sample bottles for tasting were placed into liquor stores, and the bottles began to sell. This isn’t an ordinary flavoured rum, its core is a premium 7 yr Old Colombian Rum from Santana Liquor which I reviewed for Rum Connection on September 21, 2009.
The importer (and distributor) is a small Canadian company called The Liber Group. I met with their representative on Thursday September 16 to discuss the rum invasion, and to sample their product line:
In early November the push will begin to place four aged rums into the Alberta Marketplace. The Liber group plans to introduce a 5-year-old, a 9-year-old, a 12-year-old, and a premium 21-year-old rum into the marketplace coinciding with this Province’s Rocky Mountain Wine and Food Festivals in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton. Plans are underway to grow the market through Western Canada this fall.
Here is an excerpt from my impressions of the Juan Santos Five Year Old Rum:
“…The rum has a nice soft texture and buttery feel in the mouth. Flavours of creamy mild caramel seem to melt on the tongue with traces of nutmeg, and a hint of cinnamon. Wrapped around this caramel/toffee like flavour is the unmistakable presence of a soft bourbon and a hot peppery rye….”
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This will be the first in a series of reviews over the next few weeks as I explore the full Range of Juan Santos rums (5 Yr, 9 YR, !2 Yr and 21 Yr)
We have come to the fourth review on a series of new Colombian rums entering the Canadian marketplace. The Juan Santos 12 year old rum brings an increased level of smoothness and depth to the rum glass, and it was truly a pleasure to review the sample which was provided for me by the rum’s Canadian importer, The Liber group.
The Rum Howler Blog 