Review: The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum
The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum is produced at the Four Square Distillery in Barbados. The Real McCoy brand of rum is named for Bill McCoy the pioneer rum runner of the Prohibition era. He was the first person to load his boat with rum and sail up to New York in January of 1920. He parked his boat 3 miles of the coast in international waters so as to obey the law. His rum was never cut with turpentine, wood alcohol, prune juice or water as many others did. His rum soon became know as the Real McCoy because it was unadulterated. Bailey Pryor while producing a documentary of the life of Bill McCoy found the distillery that supplied Bill McCoy his rum. After speaking with forth generation master distiller Richard Seale he launched the Real McCoy brand. The rum is created in a classic dry rum style which was the style Bill McCoy sold from his ocean parked boat. The rum is made from black strap molasses, yeast, and pure spring water. After a 44 hour fermentation in a closed top tank, the molasses wine is split in half. Half is distilled in a 2 column Coffey still and the other half is distilled in a 1500 liter copper pot still. The rums are aged separately for 5 years in heavy char American oak bourbon barrels. Once mature these rums are blended. Barbados spring water is then mixed to reduce to 80 proof. No sugars, perfumes, or coloring are added before bottling. Read more 
Review: Bacardi 8 Anos Rum
Bacardi 8 Anos Rum was originally created in 1862. It was the exclusive party rum of the Bacardi family for over 130 years, and still today it only exists in very limited stock. The Bacardi Company got its start when Don Facundo Bacardi Masso purchased a distillery in 1862 in Cuba for 3500 pesos. They continued producing rum in Cuba until 1960 when their distillery was seized as part of the Cuban Revolution. Since then they have been distilling their rum in Puerto Rico. This molasses based rum is fermented with a single strain of yeast, Le Levadura Bacardi. After distilling, the spirit is aged for a minimum 8 years in oak barrels, and then blended by their Master Blender. Read more
Review: Captain Morgan Watermelon Smash
Captain Morgan Watermelon Smash was just released. This is the fourth cannon ball shaped variety of rum in the Captain Morgan stable of rum. The others include Cannon Blast, Jack-O-Blast, and Loconut. These flavors weighs in at 70, 60, and 40 proof. Captain Morgan Watermelon Smash hits the scale at 50 proof. All are designed to be enjoyed as a chilled shot or mixed in a tasty cocktail. Watermelon Smash is made with rum distilled in St Croix. Natural flavors and certified colors are blended with the rum upon its arrival in the US. How much watermelon flavor does the Captain pack into this rum? I could smell the watermelon from the shelf the bottle sat on. Maybe because the bottles label is watermelon scented, or maybe because there is just too much watermelon flavor to contain in one bottle. Read more
Review: Kirk and Sweeney 12 Year Old Rum
Kirk and Sweeney 12 Year Old Rum is produced by 3 Badge Beverage Company, a family owned company that also makes Uncle Val’s Gin, Pasote Tequila, and Bozal Mezcal. 3 Badge is run by 4th generation vintner August Sebastiani out of an old fire station in Sonoma California. This is the same fire station his grandfather helped build and also worked as a volunteer fireman. The original and namesake Kirk and Sweeney was a wooden schooner best known for smuggling rum from the Caribbean to the Northeast during the early years of prohibition. In 1924 it was seized off the coast of New York with a massive amount of rum aboard. The Kirk and Sweeney lineup includes a 12, 18, and 23 year old rum. Kirk and Sweeney 12 Year Old Rum is crafted from blackstrap molasses produced from sugarcane grown in grown in the Dominican Republic. The rum is fermented, distilled and aged for 12 years in oak barrels at Bermudez Distillery in Santiago de los Caballeros DR. Read more
Review: Zaya Gran Reserva Rum
Zaya Gran Reserva Rum is produced in Trinadad, the southernmost island of the Caribbean, at Trinidad Distillers. It is made from 12 different rare rums that are carefully selected and blended by the Zaya Master Distiller. These rums are aged a minimum of 12 years. Some are up to 18 years old. Zaya is one of several spirits in the Infinium Spirits stable that also includes Templeton Rye, Crystal Head Vodka, Tequila Corralejo, and Kerrygold Irish Cream Liqueur. Read more
Review: Malibu Lime Rum
Malibu Lime Rum was just released. This is not the first time Malibu has created a lime flavored rum. A previous Malibu Lime was produced until 2003. This is one of 15 rum varieties Malibu currently produces. With lime being such a popular flavor to mix with rum, I’m a little surprised Malibu went 15 years without having a lime flavored rum. But checking Bacardi Rums flavor lineup they don’t a lime flavored rum either. The rum base for Malibu is made from molasses created from the finest sugar cane crops and pure water. After fermenting with a proprietary yeast the spirit is distilled 3 times at the West Indies Distillery in Barbados. The rum is barreled and shipped to Canada where lime liqueur is infused with the rum before bottling at 42 proof. Read more
Review: Ron Abuelo 7 Year Old Rum
Ron Abuelo 7 Year Old Rum is made from 100% Panamanian estate grown virgin sugarcane honey, fermented with yeast raised in the companies own laboratory. The spirit is distilled utilizing an advanced stainless steel four column still. The rum is aged for seven years in carefully selected small white oak barrels. The rums are blended to produce a uniform taste and bottled at 80 proof. The history of Varela Hermanos SA dates back to 1908 when Don Jose Varela Blanco a young Spanish immigrant established the first sugar mill in the recently formed Republic of Panama. In 1936 they began the distillation of alcohol from sugar cane juice. In 1976 the new modern Don Jose Distillery opened and this is where Ron Abuelo rum is now produced. Read more
Review: Pyrat XO Reserve Rum
Pyrat XO Reserve Rum is made from a blend of nine different Caribbean rums that are aged up to 15 years. Pyrat gets its name from the Old English word for pirate. Once blended the rum is further aged in French limousine and toasted American barrels. The Pyrat rum brand is part of Patron Spirits and it was included in the recent $5.1 billion acquisition by Bacardi. Pyrat XO Reserve Rum is blended and bottled in Guyana South America by Demerara Distillers, who also distill some of the rum used to produce this rum. Read more
Review: Bacoo 5 Year Old Rum
Bacoo 5 Year Old Rum is one of three rums crafted under the Bacoo label in The Dominican Republic. The others include an 8 Year Old and 12 Year Old Rum. A Bacoo is a mischievous mythological spirit claimed to be found in the Caribbean. Bacoo’s are told to be found in empty corked rum bottles floating in the Caribbean Sea and are said to have magical powers. A Bacoo is described as a short man with large eyes, long arms, and legs and lives on banana’s and milk. As long as you keep Bacoo happy and well fed, he will grant your wishes. Bacco Rum is made from estate grown fresh cane juice. The rum is distilled in a unique copper still and then aged for 5 years in oak barrels. Read more
Review: Grander 8 Year Old Panama Rum
Grander 8 Year Old Panama Rum is the result of Dan Dehart, a Louisville native and lifelong bourbon fan search through the Caribbean basin for the best tasting rum. A rum with no coloring, flavoring, or sweeteners added. Dan wanted to find a distillery capable of producing a true cane to glass rum. This search led him to Ingenio San Carlos Distillery in Panama were this, Grander 12 Year Old, and Grander Single Barrel rums are also crafted. Made from sugar cane grown in Herrara Panama, the cane is harvested and transformed into Grade A molasses. The molasses is fermented with a proprietary locally grown yeast. Distillation follows with a 1922 American Copper and Brass Works copper still. The rum is aged for eight years in previously used bourbon barrels. Panama’s climate provides an intense environment for the rum and barrels to interact. After blending, the rum is filtered through cellulose plates and than chill filtered and bottled at 90 proof. Grander is named for the 1000 pound marlins, anglers dream of catching off the coast of Florida. Read more