Giving The Gift Of Delicious-y Rum
Could there be anything more Christmas-y than our favourite rum guy, Peter Holland, gathering you all round the fireplace and talking about the true meaning of one particular spirit? Yes, we're talking about Rum. It's that time of year, you're looking for that festive sip. Maybe for yourself or for the rum-lover in your life but, yet again you've found yourself lost amongst the many available.
We suggest you read on.
Over to you, Pete!
You know the best thing you can do with the Rums in That Boutique-y Rum Company's collection, and that is to drink them. I guess a close rum second is to gift them, and what with Christmas coming up any of these would make the perfect pressie for your wife, husband, partner, significant other, parent, favourite child (assuming they are of legal drinking age), work-mate, flat-mate, postman/woman, milkman/woman, least favourite child; or even your old Maths teacher. Well maybe…
The thing is, what if you’re not particularly familiar with rum? Which one do you choose? Do you choose the one with the prettiest label? Which, actually in the case of our Boutique-y offering might not be such a problem, as they all sport awesome labels and taste fab. But how to more closely align it with their sipping preference?
The starting point is the distillation classification. Single malt whisky is made on a pot still, as is Cognac. And while single malts can be widely different in style, they tend to be characterful spirits – and so our Pot Still Rums will please those looking for pronounced flavours in their glass. The Caroni in the TBRC range is big and bold, smokey – dare I say even dirty (in a nice way). Keeping the funk levels right up is our Secret Distillery #1 from Jamaica, and to a little more time-mellowed extent, the Monymusk. Our rums from Guyana in the form of Uitvlugt, Enmore and Diamond should be considered here, rums older than 25 years are not at all commonplace.
The forthcoming Issan from Thailand and our super cool O Reizinho from Madeira are both made from sugarcane juice, and so offer plenty of character. But in a manner that could be said to be a sugarcane Eaux de Vie – the spirit captures the taste of the cane and will drink quite differently to the molasses-based rums previously mentioned. You’ll want to get the 3-year-old O Reizinho alongside the unaged release, as it’s a stunning indication of just what time in a barrel can do to a spirit.
Traditional Column Still Rums such as our Travellers release, offer something a little gentler – the balance splits to being more about the time in oak. The Bellevue being a little more smokey than the Travellers. Our Labourdonais rum offers a sugarcane juice take on the traditional column still distillation, although I think it will be the Px cask influence you’ll fall in love with.
The forthcoming Foursquare release offers a combination of pot and column still, the combination of different distillation methods, coupled with twelve years in oak offering a lovely complexity that will surely please many people. We have a Blended Rum #1, with all the parts coming from Jamaican distilleries – this is a stunning, characterful blend for the enthusiasts for sure!
Choice… choices…