Recommendations for a rank neophyte in the realm of rum?

[Scottes]

If I make it down to that store would you like me to send you a bottle?

You can tempt me with a trade...

[Dood]

One of my favorite light rums is Green Island, and should be available in the EU. We can't get it in the US. I picked up a taste for it while adventuring in Africa.

My understanding is that the Starr Africa rum is the Green Island rum re-branded for the US market.

Correct, but I haven't been able to find Starr African on the shelves anywhere and no one willing to ship to my area. But I still have a bit left from my last wreck diving trip to Mauritius where it is made. I still have extra bottles of 28 different rums made there.

I've never seen it in stores, but I was able to try some at a local El Torito restaurant, of all places. You can only imagine my shock when I looked past the usual suspects of Bacardis, Captain, Meyers, and then saw a bottle of Starr sitting all alone.

I spent the majority of my evening keeping the bottle company.

[AngelSword]

If I make it down to that store would you like me to send you a bottle?

You can tempt me with a trade...

I am certain that something can be arranged. I hope to be blending several of my applewood rums to create a final version later this week.

[AngelSword]

.... and then saw a bottle of Starr sitting all alone.

I spent the majority of my evening keeping the bottle company.

Well done! *sigh* That taste takes me back to Mauritius.

From the Green Island label:
"You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then Heaven; and that Heaven was copied after Mauritius." Mark Twain 'Following the Equator' 1897

[Scottes]

From the sounds of you two I'll have to grab 2 bottles. One for Angelsword and one for me!

I'll make a note to go hit that store soon. They also have the Ron Botran 18-year-old Solera that was at Rum Fest... And the New Orleans rums, which have been on my list for quite some time.

[Capn Jimbo]

What rums for the neophyte has become a common question, and always draws a diversity of confusing answers. The neophyte grapples with these and tries to find a consensus that simply isn't there. That's why I worked so hard to develop my Case for Reference Standards (Link) to provide a good starting place for new drinkers.

This provides the beginnings of a collection as well. Personally, I respect the history and tradition of rum. Exploring this history in an organized fashion can lead us to understand and appreciate the five basic styles: Barbadian, Jamaican, French, Demararan and Cuban.

Its my belief that starting from the beginning makes more sense than flitting about the ends...

[JaRiMi]

With respects to different rum styles, personally I have used a slightly different basic style division..

In the "rum industriel's", so called by the french because the rum is based on molasses rather than sugar cane juice, I tend to separate each one of the British West Indies styles as their own; Jamaican, with its pungent and powerful estery flavour profile - Bajan, known for its elegant poise and smooth, dry character - Trinidadian, traditionally lighter in style but much favoured by blenders for its mellow and subtle flavours - and finally Guyanese Demerara, the richest in its powerful flavour profile with notes of coffee, tropical fruits and brandy-like notes. I would add to this what I call "Hispanic" rum style; this ranging from Cuba, Venezuela, Puerto Rico to Central American Panama and Guatemala - rums that are quite sweet in style, with flavours that I feel have some fundamental things in common with each other. Even the Philippines rhum has something in common with these hispanic styles.

Apart from these I would distinguish the "rum agricole's", made from sugar cane juice rather than molasses. These mainly come from French islands and also from Haiti.

I must say, I do not share at all the particularly French belief that rum industriel's would be somehow inferior to the rum agricole's - quite the opposite, and I find the naming belittling the molasses-based rums. It seems rather a case of the French trying to distinguish their product as a better one, starting from naming..In any case most rum agricole's that I have tasted are quite simply firewater, too burning, pungent and unpleasant to enjoy. One fine exception to this is the Haitian Barbancourt, perhaps the smoothest and most beautiful of all rum agricole's I have tasted. However it is worth noting, each to their own, this is but my humble opinion.

[Capn Jimbo]

"J", great post, couldn't agree more with you on the agricoles and Haiti. As far as light rums go, it's pretty hard for me to ignore Cuba as the birthplace of the lighter rums and the new distillation methods. Santiago, sugar and rum were truly immense in comparison to Trinidad. Through Bacardi this new Cuban lighter style came to revolutionize tastes, spread to Puerto Rico and stil dominates public tastes and sales today. Accordingly "Cuban style" became one of Dave Broom's four basic styles (Jamaican, Demeraran, French and Cuban). As the birthplace of rum I found it impossible to ignore Barbadian rums.

In my case, I was committed to presenting the historical development of rum as a means to truly understand rum. Beginning in Barbados, to Jamaica, French Indies, Demeraran and last, Cuban. After that it's all a modern mish mosh. I believe the rums you call Hispanic are most like Broom's Demeraran soft and medium-bodied style. Barbados is the home of rum, with Mount Gay truly being THE reference standard; Jamaican is just as you say; French is - well - French; and Cuba created light rum as we know it via its then "new" distillation processes and filtering.

Trinidad really stumps me, historically anyway, as it did not appear to be a major event in the history of rum. Caroni went out of business. Trinidad Distillers Co. products are very hard to find and traditional. 10 Cane from cane juice and Pyrat from molasses (and containing flavor enhancing additives) are very modern, and each company's products are very different from one another in taste profiles, to me. On top of that Trinidadian rum is one of the components of Pusser's Blue Label, a rum with which you can bleach clothes (although I love it for exactly that reason).

A hodge podge stylistically for me. What's your take?

[JaRiMi]

Current Trinidad rum scene is so dominated by Angostura Ltd. that what we see today does not at all reflect the country's rich past with rum making. On the other hand, Angostura has become a huge commercial success story that has been a blessing to the island, so ironically whilst rum traditions are suffering from a monoculture, financial benefits have been great.

Caroni 1975 Ltd. did not really reflect the rum traditions of the nation either, being a government-owned plant where yes, quality rum was made, but being also managed by incapable and corrupt people unable of doing successful business.

What is recorded of Trinidad's rums historically seems to support the claim that they were significantly lighter in style already in the days when rum was made in Trinidad by using potstills for distillation. As I said, I wonder if this has possibly served as an inspiration to Don Facundo Bacardi in his days? Pure speculation, of course.

Nowadays Trinidadian bulk rum is used in vast majority of so-called international rum brand blends, and in some cases it also ends up in surprising places, such as Pyrat from Anguilla, or Borgoe from Dutch Guayana.

I have personally enjoyed the Trinidadian lighter style since the 1980's, but have also seen how this style has changed as heavier types of rums have been added into the blends. I wish I could still find 1980's bottlings of Trini rums just to prove how much they have changed the flavour profiles since those days! Majority of hcanges started in the 1990's, I recall relatives sending me a bottle of Royal Oak from T&T and myself almost spitting it out upon tasting the difference! There was a specific dieseloil-like heavy flavour in there that simply did not exist before. Some of the old Caroni bottles I have now are still "pure" and without this flavour in them.

Angostura has changed the way we look at Trinidadian rums by releasing their 1919 and 1824 rums - these no longer typify the traditional style, but are fantastic showcases of the art of blending and the art of being able to produce many different styles of rum from column stills - and this is a common misbelief especially amongst the whisky drinkers, that column stills cannot produce anything but pure alcohol with no flavour.

[Capn Jimbo]

Thanks for the post, good information.

What is recorded of Trinidad's rums historically seems to support the claim that they were significantly lighter in style already in the days when rum was made in Trinidad by using potstills for distillation.

I've checked my usual sources: Ayala, Broom, Williams, Curtis and Coulombe, etc. but I can't seem to find any mention of this. Can you cite a source? Thanks again...

[JaRiMi]

The information about Trinidadian rum's character I have received comes from a few sources, in fact. I was reading a few UWI historical studies (I have to get back to you on exact information on these), and also in talks with John Barrett, manager of Bristol Spirits ltd. as well as Mr. Rudy Moore of Caroni 1975 ltd and Mrs. Candice Escayg from Angostura - all these people, when discussing history of Trinidadian rum, made a mention that how the style in Trinidad was always a lighter one, thus unique when compared to other British islands.

Mr. Barrett makes a mention of this in the information published on the Classic Rums website as well - see the link

http://www.simonaskey.com/bs/providence.html

I have to ask him for more precise source of his information next time I email him.

Two books I highly recommend: Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History - by Frederick H. Smith (2005)

A comprehensive study of bush rum in Trinidad & Tobago / by Christopher Gray. (1988)

Here's an interesting link to UWI St. Augustine library, did a search for "rum".

http://stalibweb01.sauwi.uwi.tt/F/DIEXM ... &x=24&y=10