Review: J Wray Gold Rum
J Wray Gold Rum was released in the US along with their Silver rum June 2016. It is made at the Appleton Estate in Jamaica’s number one rum producing distillery, which is also the oldest continuously operated rum distillery in the Caribbean. The Appleton Estate traces its history back to 1655 when the estate was granted to Frances Dickinson’s heirs for their grandfathers service to England during England’s successful capture of Jamaica from Spain. Rum has been produced at this site since 1749. John Wray began distilling and blending rums, and served them to patrons at his Shakespeare Tavern in Kingston. In 1862 his nephew joined him and J Wray and Nephew began its history of producing Jamaican rum. In 1916 the Lindo Brothers and Co. purchased the Appleton Estates, and the company J Wray and his nephew had built. Today the Appleton Estate sits on 11,000 acres with sugar fields, a sugar mill, and a distillery with 5 pot stills and a multi column continuous still. J Wray Gold Rum is crafted from molasses made from estate grown sugar cane and pure limestone filtered water. After distilling, the rum is trucked to Kingston where it is aged and bottled. Read more 
Review: Cruzan Tropical Fruit Rum
Cruzan Tropical Fruit Rum was just released. It is one of 23 rum varieties, 16 of them flavored rums, currently produced by Cruzan. In 1760 a sugar mill began crushing sugar cane at the current site of the Cruzan Distillery. Since the early 1800’s the Nelthropp Family has lived on the island of St Croix and worked at this distillery. The eighth generation is currently working at this distillery. Cruzan Tropical Fruit is made from cane molasses and tropical rain water. After a five column distillation the rum is aged in oak barrels. Natural flavors including Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Guava, Lime, and Orange and added before bottling at 42 proof. Read more
Review: J Wray Silver Rum
J Wray Silver Rum was launched June 2016. It is made at Jamaica’s number one rum producing distillery in the oldest continuously operated rum distillery in the Caribbean. Rum has been made at this site since 1749. J Wray Silver Rum has replaced Appleton White Rum in the Campari America product portfolio. I have been told J Wray Silver is not just a change in name and packaging. The rum is crafted using a different recipe. J Wray Silver is made from molasses created from sugarcane grown on the New Yarmouth Estate located on the Vere Plains of Clarendon. J Wray Silver is a blend of pot still rums and column still rums that are aged and then slowly filtered through special charcoal filters. Read more
Review: Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum
Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum was launched January 2013 along with Papa’s Pilar Dark Rum. The brand is named for Ernest Hemingway’s customized 1934 Wheeler Playmate Cruiser he piloted through the Florida Keys, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum is made with a blend of 3-5 year old rum sourced from the Caribbean, Central America, and Florida. Each of these rums is made from molasses and is slowly fermented in temperature controlled conditions. The rum is column distilled and aged in bourbon barrels, and port wine casks. The rums are shipped to the Drum Circle Distilling Company, the makers of Siesta Key Rum, in Sarasota Florida. The barrels of rum are married together in a unique Solera aging and blending process, and then finished in Spanish Sherry casks before bottling at 84 proof. On May 20, 2017 the Papa’s Pilar Rum Key West Distillery and Experience Center opens. Read more
Review: Blackmask Island Coconut Spiced Pacific Rum
Blackmask Island Coconut Spiced Pacific Rum is one of 4 rum varieties produced by United Winery and Distillery in Nakhon Pathom Thailand. The other varieties include Original Spiced, Black Premo, and Tropical Chai. Each starts with a cask aged pacific rum base. Island spices and coconut are infused with that rum base in creating Blackmask Island Coconut. Coconut rum may be synonyms with the Caribbean, but the coconut is native to Asia, so it’s only natural a distillery in Thailand would make a coconut rum of their own. Read more
Review: Blue Chair Bay Key Lime Rum Cream
Blue Chair Bay Key Lime Rum Cream was recently released. I have been checking liquor stores shelves for weeks since I first heard of it’s existence. It is one of eight rum varieties Kenny Chesney has in his Blue Chair Bay product line. I have enjoyed all of them so far. Key Lime Rum Cream starts with a white rum base, distilled and aged in oak barrels at the West Indies Rum distillery in Barbados. The rum is shipped to Rochester New York where real cream, key lime, and other natural flavors are blended before bottling at 30 proof. Read more
Review: Bacardi Banana Rum
Bacardi Banana Rum was just released. This is one of ten flavored rums in their current product line. If you thought they had more, they did at one time, but several flavors have been dropped. Bacardi Banana starts with a rum base made from molasses, and a single strain of yeast, Le Levadura Bacardi. After fermenting for 30 hours in closed fermentation tanks, the fermented molasses is split. Some is column distilled, and some beer distilled. Each is aged separately in charred American white oak barrels previously used to age bourbon. Once mature the rums are blended and filtered through a mix of charcoal made from tropical woods and coconut shells. Natural flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. While this is Bacardi’s first banana flavored rum I have already reviewed 7 other banana flavored rums. I can’t wait to see how Bacardi Banana Rum compares with the others. Read more
Review: Toppers Spiced Rhum
Toppers Spiced Rhum is one of six rhums crafted in St Maarten at the Toppers Distillery. For years Melanie Daboul created several flavored rhums out of her home kitchen. These rhums were given as complimentary after dinner drinks at the two restaurants she and husband Topper Daboul own on the Dutch side of St Maarten. Toppers Spiced is a premium rhum infused with vanilla bean, cinnamon, cloves. allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, orange peel, aniseed, and black peppercorn. Read more
Review: Siesta Key Gold Rum
Siesta Key Gold rum was introduced in 2011. It is one of six rums crafted at the Drum Circle Distillery in Sarasota Florida. The others include the previously reviewed Toasted Coconut, and Spiced, along with Silver, Distiller’s Reserve Spiced, and Beer Barrel Finished Spiced. Siesta Key Gold is made from Florida grown sugar cane and triple filtered water. It is distilled in a Christian Carl custom made small batch copper still that was build in Stuttgart Germany. The rum is aged in small oak barrels and then mellowed in used barrels first used to age Makers Mark Bourbon. Read more
Review: Captain Morgan Loconut
Captain Morgan Loconut was just released. It is made with a blend of real coconut liqueur, Captain Morgan rum, Caribbean spices, and natural flavors. This is the second follow up to their original citrus, and pepper, spiced rum flavored, Captain Morgan Cannon Blast, that was launched August 2015. Their pumpkin spiced rum flavored Jack-O-Blast was introduced September 2016. All three of these flavors are designed primarily to be consumed as a shot, but, while Cannon Blast and Jack-O-Blast weigh in at 70 and 60 proof, Loconut hits the scale at 40 proof. Read more