Refined Vices

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Rum Barrels

Everything started when i discovered the Vizcaya rum about a month ago. I contacted the company right away and asked if there is a possibility of visiting their rum facility. Nancy de Blanck, the sales and export manager of the company without any hesitation agreed to my proposal. 10 emails, 2 phone calls and two weeks later I was there...

I decided to go there with Ramon the bartender from Hilton bar "Sol y sombra" who has a good knowledge about spirits, Kierstin our official DRA group photographer (good job) and Maria the beginning rum enthusiast.

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Brugal

Brugal is the world's third largest producer of rum, ranking behind only Bacardi and Captain Morgan. In the Dominican Republic, if you're drinking rum, you're probably drinking rum from Brugal.

The Brugal family inadvertently started the movement for entrepreneurship in the Dominican Republic when Andrés Brugal Montaner settled in Puerto Plata on the northern coast of the island and started a small rum distillery in 1888. Today tourists travelling to Puerto Plata can tour the Brugal facilities there, where the family still ages, blends, and bottles their rum.

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St. Nicholas Abbey

Approaching this old Jacobean plantation promises to be a memorable experience. Coming from the west (via Holetown or Speightstown) you’re greeted by a road lined with massive mahogany trees. Via the east coast its impossible to miss the view offered by Cherry Tree Hill.

It is one of the highest points on the Bajan Island and offers the breathless view of the entire rugged east coast. The last route is the one we took. After stopping to take pictures of the view you start driving down the slope where you enter the mahogany lined road that leads to the estate.

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Appleton Estate

Trying to decide which shore excursions to take on a cruise can be a mind boggling thing. Well, on a recent cruise which included Jamaica, it was easy for me. While my family was off getting freezing cold walking up the Dunn river falls, I went on the Appleton Estate Rum Tour.

I boarded my van with other passengers from our ship. We traveled the route winding through the lush greenery and little villages until we entered the valley where the distillery resides. Upon entering the gates, we all could smell the sweet smell of molasses wafting through the open window.

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Brugal

The Brugal Rum Factory is located on the Avenida Luis Ginebra on the outskirts of the city of Puerto Plata on the Atlantic Coast of the Dominican Republic.

The plant is a factory and not a distillery. The rum is distilled elsewhere in the country and trucked to Puerto Plata for aging, blending, and bottling. Brugal bottles a light rum under the Carta Blanca label and produces under the Brugal label a light rum as well as multiple grades of dark rum; Carta Dorado, Añejo, Extra Viejo and the limited edition Siglo de Oro. In addition, they produce a rum cream that is very tasty indeed.

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Barrilito Tower

On Wednesday, January 28 I met Federico Hernandez, the organizer of the upcoming Puerto Rico Food and Rum Festival along with MOR member Rumelier. We had scheduled a tour of the Ron del Barrilito facility as well as the Bacardi plant. Here is an account of the Barrilito tour.

We arrived just after 10 AM. Federico drove right up to the production building. The doors were open and we walked into the bottling room where workers were busy boxing up a recent bottling run. Federico asked if Don Fernando Fernandez, the third generation family owner was available.

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Old New Orleans Distillery

During Tales of the Cocktail this year, I decided to make a trip down to see Celebration Distillation – home of Old New Orleans Rum. I wanted to get an inside look at how this small American distillery was producing a unique collection of rums that they claim captures the essence of the Crescent City in a bottle.

I spent the morning putting together some notes, and then grabbed a taxi from the Hotel Monteleone to the distillery.

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Jameson Irish Whiskey

I was in London last April visiting a friend who was living there for the year, and, it being that time of year, we decided we would be unable to forgive ourselves if we did not head over to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day.

The day after the festivities, we had a flight back to London at seven in the evening, but that left the entire day to recover and see the rest of the sights in Dublin. My two companions, being girls, decided to check out the local shopping.

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