Review: Mount Gay Eclipse Rum
Mount Gay Eclipse Rum is named for the 1910 total solar eclipse from Halley’s Comet that was visible over Barbados. Mount Gay distillery is the oldest continuous operating rum distillery, dating back to 1703. Master Blender Trudiann Branker hand selects a blend of rums distilled in traditional copper pot and column stills and matured for up to 2 years in charred used American whiskey barrels. The rum is crafted from sugar cane molasses in Barbados, the birth place of rum. The spirit is fermented for 72 hours with a proprietary house yeast and double distilled in a traditional copper pot and column still. Pure well water sourced from a 300 foot well is blended to reduce to proof. The rum is filtered through natural coral. Read more 
Review: 896 5 Year Old Rum
896 5 Year Old Rum is made from a blend of rums distilled and aged for a minimum 5 years in Barbados. Sitting next to 896 5 Year Old Rum on the shelf at Total Wine and More is 896 8 Year Old Rum. Both are imported and bottled by Universal Brands in Princeton Minnesota. If you have ever visited a Total Wine and More, I have no doubt you are amazed at the selection of beer, wine, and spirits they carry. While they sell most of the top name brand spirits you would expect, they specialize in selling local craft spirits, along with spirits you just can’t find at any of your local liquor stores. Some of these spirits are hidden gems from craft distillers that would never make there way to your state if not for Total Wine and More. Others are produced or bottled by some of the nations biggest private label distilleries including the one in Princeton Minnesota that produces 896 Rum. Unfortunately little or no information is available about these products. I often stay away from these products because as a reviewer there is very little to write about other than the actual product review. I purchased this bottle because I am a big fan of rum produced in Barbados and since it was on sale for $13.99 I thought I would give it a shot. Read more
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: Doorlys 5 Year Old Rum
Doorlys 5 Year Old Rum is a blend of pot and column still rums blended before and after ageing in previously used bourbon barrels. Doorlys is named for Martin Doorly who founded the company. Each barrel is aged a minimum 5 years. Doorlys is one of several rums produced at the Foursquare Distillery. Others include Foursquare Spiced Rum, RL Seale, and the Real McCoy brands. Doorlys has been made on the island of Barbados since 1908, and was the first rum ever to be exported from the island. Read more
Review: Bumbu Rum
Bumbu Rum is made at the historic West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. The distillery was founded in 1893 by two German Brothers and was recently acquired by Maison Ferrand. Yes this is the rum Lil Wayne shouts out in two of his newest songs featured on his Dedication 6 release. Those tracks are Fly Away and New Freezer. Bumbu Rum is based on the original recipe created by 16th and 17th century sailors of the West Indies. This spice grog was called Bumbu. They made their version by blending navy strength rum with native fruits and herbs of the Caribbean. In making the current Bumbu Rum a little more care is given in crafting the rum base. The Master Distillers select sugarcane from eight countries including Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, and Honduras. The terroir of each countries sugarcane contributes unique flavor characteristics. The spirit is fermented with a yeast strain that dates back to 1840. Bumba is distilled using two continuous stills and aged up to 15 years in Grade A once used bourbon barrels. Spices, fruits, and herbs, all 100% natural ingredients are added to the rum after aging and prior to bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum
R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum is crafted at the Foursquare Distillery on the Caribbean Island of Barbados. The odd shaped black bottle is designed to look like the old style leather flask pirates used to transport their rum. The thumb indent molded into the glass bottle actually feels more comfortable when drinking pirate style, aka straight from the bottle, as opposed to pouring into a glass. It is named for Richard Seale the Great Grandson of Reginald Leon Seale, who founded the Foursquare Distillery in 1926. Richard Seale is also the Master Distiller who created R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum. The Foursquare Distillery crafts several rums including the Doorly, Real McCoy, and 10 Cane line of rums, and the distillery is located on the site of an old plantation that dates back to the early 1600’s. Read more
Review: Plantation Barbados 5 Year Old Rum
Plantation Barbados 5 Year Old Rum is made from molasses in the birth place of rum, Barbados. The Plantation Rum brand was born in 1997. It was created by Alexandre Gabriel, the President and Owner of Maison Ferrand. Maison Ferrand also produces Pierre Ferrand, and Landy Cognac, Citadell and Magellan Gin, and Froggy B Vodka. Plantation Barbados 5 year old rum is fermented for 3-5 days and distilled in pot still and column stills. The spirit is aged for 3-4 years in bourbon casks in Barbados. The rum then crosses the sea where it is aged a second time, for 1-2 years in Limousin oak barrels previously used to age Pierre Ferrand Cognac. Read more
Review: Endless Summer Silver Rum
Endless Summer Silver Rum was released in Florida March 2017, and is now also available in South Carolina. Additional distribution will follow. It is part of Grain and Barrel Spirits Company, which also produces Dixie Vodka, and Chicken Cock Bourbon. Endless Summer is named for the 1964 surf film Endless Summer, and the concept that if one had enough time and money it would be possible to follow the summer up and down the world making summer endless. Their search for the perfect rum lead them to the birthplace of rum, Barbados. Endless Summer is made in Barbados at a distillery located on the beach. It is crafted with rum produced and blended from three different stills, and coral filtered water from a spring garden aquifer. It is bottled at 80 proof with the Endless Summer films original movie poster as it label. Read more