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Posts Tagged ‘Spiced Rum’

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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: Kōloa Kaua`i Spice Hawaiian Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 8, 2011

Nestled on the Island of Kaua`i, the Kōloa Rum Company is making history. It started ten years ago when the company was first incorporated. A seven-year struggle through red tape and government bureaucracy ensued before the necessary permits and licenses were granted, and finally on April 1, 2009, the Kōloa Rum Company obtained a license to distill their rum. The first legally distilled rum in the Island’s history.

I have previous reviewed the Kōloa Kaua`i White Hawaiian Rum, the Kōloa Kaua`i Gold Hawaiian Rum, and the Kōloa Kaua`i Dark Hawaiian Rum. In each case I have marveled that such a young company was able to produce rums of such quality. Early this summer the Kōloa Rum Company sent me a sample of their new spice rum and that rum is the subject of this review.

Here is an excerpt:

“… the initial nose is very pleasant with that sweet caramelized sugar rising into the air with a variety of spices. Vanilla and nutmeg seem prevalent, and I detect cinnamon and cloves in the air as well. Other spices are indistinct but I seem to sense allspice, and orange peel in the breezes as well…”

And here is a link to the full review:

Review: Kōloa Kaua`i Spice Hawaiian Rum

I have included a nice recipe which combines pineapple and raspberry with the spice rum and I call it, The Raspberry Smooch.

Please enjoy the review and the cocktail provided!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Kōloa Kaua`i Spice Hawaiian Rum

Review: Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on August 11, 2011

The Cruzan Rum Company is located on the Island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. The Island of St. Croix is the largest of the US Virgin islands, being approximately 28 miles long and 7 miles wide. Along with the tourism industry and one of the largest oil refineries in the Caribbean, the St. Croix economy is dependent to a large extent upon the Rum Industry as a major engine of their economic growth.

All of the Cruzan Rums are produced using a modern five column distillation method which produces a light bodied rum, the quality of which can be tightly controlled by the five column distillation. The rum is then aged in once used American oak bourbon barrels. The Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum is a relatively new offering, boasting 9 spices blended in an aged rum. The spices listed upon the Cruzan website are allspice, vanilla, pepper, ginger, mace, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and juniper berry. It is bottled at 40 per cent alcohol by volume and is, I believe, aged for up to two years in the aforementioned American Oak.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“… When I brought the glass to my nose I was struck by the scents of pungent spices mingling with the sweeter scents of caramel toffee. Vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves are easily identified in the breezes although vague unfamiliar accents above the glass tell me that much more is going on…”

You may read my full review here:

Review: Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum

I have included a nice recipe,  Spiced Punch, for your enjoyment.

Please enjoy the recipe and the review!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum

Review: George Street Spiced Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on July 10, 2011

There is a place where they believe they know rum better than anywhere else. And it’s hard to ague with those folk because not only have they been smuggling and buying their rum for over three hundred years, they also happen to drink more of the stuff per capita than anyone else in North America. Where is this great rum haven, you might ask? Well, it’s not anywhere in the good old U.S. of A., and it not some tropical haven in Latin America or the Caribbean Islands. Nope, these people who drink more rum than anyone else live on a rock they call Newfoundland, which is part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the Great White North of Canada.

On that rock called Newfoundland is a city called  St. John’s where they have a place where the rum consumption reaches its apex. That place is George Street! A street full of music and revelry, lined from top to bottom with Pubs and Restaurants, where almost everyone’s drink of choice seems to be Rum! And it is for that place that the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Commission (NLC) have named their new rum, George Street Spiced Rum.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…After a few minutes rich baking spices have built up, and I imagine that I can smell sweet cinnamon rolls in that glass. Rich brown sugars pour out with vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and pecans. This is probably the one of the nicest noses I have encountered in a spiced rum. But my feeling is that the spices are only part of the story. It is the aged Guyanese Rum under the spices which is giving the nose depth and character. I have a strong urge  to steal a sip before I am finished nosing the glass…”

Here is a link to the full review:

Review: George Street Spiced Rum

I have included a nice recipe for a Rum and Cola style drink called the Sparkling Cola Cocktail.
Please enjoy the review and the cocktail!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Flavouerd Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: George Street Spiced Rum

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

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