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Posts Tagged ‘Rum’

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Review: Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 23, 2011

Robert and Zachary Brinley founded the St. Kitts Rum Company in the early 1990s to blend and market their Brinley Gold Rums on St. Kitts and in the United States. It is the stated goal of the company to make and market the “best tasting flavoured rums in the world“. To that end, the Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum is produced using a rum blend which has been aged for four years in used American whisky and bourbon barrels. The rum is flavoured (or perhaps I should say spiced) with Madagascar vanilla, orange, nutmeg, clove, and other tropical spice flavors. It is blended as a mixing rum, but Brinley maintains that the rum is smooth enough to be enjoyed over ice.

As part of this review, three friends and I performed a side by side tasting comparing Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum, with the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum, and the standard bearer for the spiced rum category, Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced.

Each of these rums is produced from stocks which have been aged in American oak barrels. As well, each of these rums seems to walk the path of a vanilla and caramel rum accented by fragrant spices which compliment the rum but not to dominate it. With this similarity in style and production, a side by side tasting seemed only natural.

(I should note that a sample bottle of Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum was provided to me for this review by the River Valley Beverage Group, which is the liquor agency responsible for distributing this rum in Alberta.)

Here is an excerpt from my review:


“… The flavour of the rum carries a bit of an oaky thread with butterscotch, and a strong push of vanilla riding in the currents. I taste some light baking spices as well as a very light indication of canned fruit (apricots and pears). There are some other spicy flavours which remind me of nutmeg and cloves…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum

As well I have included a nice cocktail with this review called the Orange Push-up.

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum

Review: Bacardi Oakheart Smooth Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 20, 2011

On September 1, 2011, Bacardi launched their new Oakheart Smooth Spiced Rum. As the name suggests, the Oakheart is an aged rum. The rums in the blend have been aged in charred oak barrels to give the rum added depth of character and perhaps a bit of whisky-like smokiness. I met the Bacardi Area Sales Manager at the Sherbrooke “Drink Like a Pirate” Rum Festival, and he arranged for me to receive a bottle of the Oakheart Spiced Rum to review on my website.

For this review, three friends and I performed a side by side tasting comparing Brinley Gold Shipwreck Spiced Rum with the Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum and the standard-bearer for the spiced rum category, Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced. Each of these rums is built on the foundation of aging in American oak barrels, and each of these rums seems to walk the path of a vanilla and caramel rum accented by fragrant spices which compliment the rum but do not to dominate it.

Here an excerpt from of my review of Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum:

“…The initial mouth-feel to the rum is quite creamy, and this creaminess serves to coat the palate allowing the flavours to linger. I taste a lot of vanilla, some nice rummy butterscotch and a little dollop of maple syrup. The rum has a bit of spicy heat as well, with some orange peel, cinnamon and cloves heating the palate…”

Here is the full Review:

Review: Bacardi Oakheart Smooth Spiced Rum

I have included a couple of cocktail suggestions for the Oakheart Spiced Rum including, Island Sunset.

Please enjoy the review!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Review: Mount Gay Eclipse Black

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 16, 2011

Mount Gay Rum has added another member to their family of Rums, Mount Gay Eclipse Black. Like the other rums of Mount Gay, The Black Eclipse is produced from two types of stills, the traditional pot still and the column still. According to the information provided to me, the Mount Gay Eclipse Black features a higher percentage of rum from the pot still than the other Eclipse Rums. As well, the rum is blended from well aged stocks of several different barrel types. The combination of these two factors is said yield a bolder, richer, more robust and flavorful rum. Finally, it has also been bottled at 50 % alcohol by volume, higher than the Eclipse Gold or Mount Gay XO,  which helps to bring this robust flavour forward even more.

Recently the distributor for Mount Gay Rum (Select Wines), arranged for me to receive a sample of the Mount Gay Eclipse Black Rum for the purpose of reviewing their new rum here on my website.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“… What settles into those breezes is rich aromas of molasses, leather and tobacco, smoky dry fruit, ripe banana, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper corns. The rum has a rich bronze colour, and when I give my glass a gentle tilt, and swirl the liquid slowly to cover the sides I am greeted with a thick oily sheen which imparts thick legs on the side of the glass…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Mount Gay Eclipse Black

I have included a new recipe for the rum which I call Cold Fusion.

Please enjoy the review and the new cocktail.  Cheers!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Overproof Rum, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Mount Gay Eclipse Black

Review: Captain Morgan Deluxe Dark Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 13, 2011

The Captain Morgan Rum Company can trace its history back to 1945 when Seagram’s CEO, Samuel Bronfman, negotiated the purchase of the Long Pond Distillery from the Jamaican Government and formed the Captain Morgan Rum Company. The company’s iconic brand,  Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced Rum was based upon a recipe purchased from two local Jamaican pharmacists, the Levy Brothers who had developed the recipe using rum from the Long Pond Distillery. The Rum Company moved its production from Jamaica to Puerto Rico in the 1950s, and in 2001 Seagram’s sold the rum brand to the spirits giant, Diageo.

The subject of this review, Captain Morgan Deluxe Dark Rum is a blend of Caribbean rums which have been aged in white oak barrels for at least two years.  (Note: The Diageo marketing team here in Alberta provided me a sample bottle of this rum for my review.)

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…This rum seems to have a little spicy thrust in its delivery. It heats up the palate with some peppery spice, and then lays down a layer of molasses and dark caramel across the palate. I can taste some dry fruit, (prunes, raisins, and dates) and a little leathery tobacco deeper down. I also taste a wide swath of vanilla, and some odd spices which seem to hint at ginger and nutmeg…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Captain Morgan Deluxe Dark Rum

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail which follows, the Mandeville!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Review: Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 6, 2011

A few weeks ago I received a bottle of the ‘new’ Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum from the Canadian Brand Owner, Mosaiq for the purpose of a review on my website. I call it the ‘new’ Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum because of a few changes that the rum has undergone after it was sold by Pernod Ricard to Mosaiq.

When the brand was owned by Pernod Ricard the rum was bulk shipped from Guyana to the Hiram Walker Distillery in Ontario, Canada. It was aged in Canada, and for tax purposes, it was blended with 1.5 % of the content being Canadian distilled rum.

Mosaiq has changed things a little. The rum is now blended with 100 % Guyanese rum and all of the rum is aged in Guyana rather than in Canada. It is bottled in Canada by the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) for Mosaiq. I wish I had a bottle of the old blend to compare against, but since I do not, my review will concentrate solely on the merits of the newest blend. Here is an excerpt from that review:

“…I can smell molasses and rummy burnt caramel which seems to come in waves at me. Dark dried fruits like prunes and raisins rise up as well in a bouquet that despite the astringency is very complex and enticing. Baking spices build quickly, and smells of rich brown sugars enter the fray as well as the sweet aroma of canned fruit (peaches and apricots)…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum

As well I have included a nice recipe from Tiare (A Mountain of Crushed Ice) called the Guyana Zombie as well as a brand new recipe of my own called Hart Breaker.

Please Enjoy the review and the recipes!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum

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