On Saturday night, super unhealthy smoke from the fires drove our tropical rum soiree inside Saturday night for our first indoor entertaining since Covid struck. Initially disappointed not to have a final summer evening, I have to say that the tropical theme couldn't have been more welcome considering the zero visibility, 306 EPA hazard rating, for the yellowed air outside. Using three 4-ft Costco tables to create a horseshoe within a space in the den created by pushing all the regular furniture up against the walls. The purpose was, like Gin, Tequila and Ryes we 'examined' over the summer, to familiarize ourselves with yet another item in the liquor cabinet.
My experience with rum is essentially zilch. I can sum it up in three parts: I own Myers dark rum for gimlets, a drink I love in summer. I had a sip of Mt. Gay in Hawaii once, tasted at the Bacardi plantation in the Bahamas once, and once had a taste of a 25 year Cuban rum. That's IT. No one else in the group knew much more than I did so it was appropriate that we confine this tasting to the $30-40 category.
There was no outline for the tasting. I bought four rums and published that list to the group with the instruction: bring one from somewhere else. We accidentally ended up with an even number of light vs. dark:
Lighter rums:
Appleton, Jamaica
Barbancourt, Haiti
Mt. Gay Eclipse, Barbados
Dark rums:
Zacapa, Guatemala
Koloa Rum Plantation, Kauai
Zaya 16 yr (solera), Trinidad
and later, for a palate check, a little Myers, but it wasn't an official contender
We had six tiny half ounce pours of each to start. I tasted through mine and immediately tossed out the Zaya and the Koloa, both of which were heavy on vanilla bean, a flavor I despise. The Koloa was brighter than the Zaya but the only real fan of that style in the room preferred the heavier, sweeter Zaya. She admitted that her favorite ice cream is Rum-Raisin, so I guess that explains it. (It was my bottle, purchased blind without recommendation, but it went home with them at the end of the night.)
The remaining dark rum, the Zacapa, was excellent. Pure sugar cane, no molasses, no vanilla, but lightly toasted, bright and complex. An excellent sipper. It was evident how good it was when we compared it to the Myers, which was nice but generically so. It had no outstanding quality besides it's friendliness. It's understandable, observed one guest, why it's so common in mixed drinks.
The Mt. Gay was the harshest (the majority opinion) or at least the hottest (my description), showing an alcohol punch though on a percentage basis all were in the same 40-43% ball park. That could actually recommend it to a mixed drink the same way the heat in Rittenhouse Rye made a more focussed Manhattan at our Rye tasting a few months back. The Barbancourt, palest of them all but still blonde, was really interesting, and the group favorite figuring in everyone's top three except mine. The aroma included something that reminded me of melting plastic.
My favorites? Out front, flawless with distinct character, something you wouldn't mistake for tequila or any other spirit in a blind tasting, was the Appleton. Perfectly balanced, complex but smooth, intriguing, something I could happily sip or combine. Close behind it, though, the Zacapa. I went with the Mt. Gay for 3rd place.
We then mixed each into an Old-fashioned--one ounce pours at best--as predicted the Mt. Gay showed well this way. And then some of us chose various ryes to test in gimlets. Again, the Appleton aced every category.
Fun night though, with a fun playlist of escapist island songs. Exactly what we needed.