I have been going into Hostaria 24 so regularly that the other night the Italian boss stopped by my table just as I was finishing my meal to have a drink with me.

He had noticed me gradually working my way through his rum list and offered me whatever rum I wanted on the house.  We got chatting about the rum.  Surprisingly, his more unusual rums all come from New York, arranged by a friend working in wine sales.  The irony of a restaurant in the Caribbean sourcing rum from New York!  If only more restaurants would go to this kind of trouble.

The boss was keen to treat me with something I had not yet tried.  Sadly he had underestimated me.  By the time of his gracious intervention I had tried pretty much everything on his rum list.  I told him that Sea Wynde, sadly out of stock, was the only rum on his list that I had not tried.  “It’s not out of stock,” he said, “I have a bottle upstairs”, and with those words he vanished.  The length of his disappearance stretched out ominously, and I became concerned that the rum may have met with foul play.  Just as I was wondering about the Dominican Republic legal system, and how long a bottle of rum has to have been declared missing before the police are obliged to start searching for it, he reappeared, bearing an impressive looking bottle.

He sat down, uncorked the bottle, and we were unexpectedly bathed in intense and surprising aromas.

We drank the rum and chatted about the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  He had come to the Dominican Republic nearly a decade before, immigrating there with a Dominican woman he had married in Italy.  Their relationship had not survived the transition of living in the Dominican Republic rather than Italy, but he had stayed on after divorcing her.  He ran his restaurant partly as a hobby and had a couple of other businesses on the side.  He lamented Dominicans’ lack of taste.  He has a point there.  It is difficult to walk into a bar in the Dominican Republic and order a rum other than Brugal, or a beer other than Presidente.  While both products are fine (admittedly Brugal more so than Presidente), these two giants have cornered the market and made things rather boring.  His Haitian experiences were worth listening to.  He was one of the few Dominican Republic residents I had met who visited Haiti regularly. Most people seem to see Haiti as highly dangerous.  He said it was worth visiting and you simply needed to take care and not wander the streets after dark.  Maybe I will go to Haiti after all then.

All the while we chatted the spectacular Sea Wynde rum accompanied us, and a very unusual rum it is too.

So on to the tasting. . .  After drinking it with the boss, I went back the next day and did a proper tasting where I took notes.  This review is based on that second tasting.

Sea Wynde (46%)

This rum presents itself as the true British Navy rum.  Supposedly a U.S. based rum blender has somehow obtained the formula for the rum the British Navy dispensed to sailors as their daily rum ration.  The practice of the daily rum ration stopped in 1970, and with it the production of authentic Britsh Navy Rum.  However, Sea Wynde claims to replicate the taste of British Navy Rum, using the same blend of Guyanese and Jamaican pot still rums used in the original.

Regardless of its authenticity as ‘British Navy Rum’, Sea Wynde is a very interesting product.  The majority of the world’s rums are exclusively or primarily produced in efficient industrial column stills.  Compared to these column stills, pot stills are an older, more artisanal, and costlier technology.  The uniqueness of pot stills lies in their ability to produce a more complex and flavorsome spirit, albeit a rougher one than a column still would produce.  These days the main centers for pot still rum production are Guyana and Jamaica, and most of this production is blended with smoother and cheaper column distilled rums to provide complexity they would otherwise lack.  A blend of pot still rums such as Sea Wynde is thus very unusual, and should be a potent flavor bomb.

The rum pours with a light honey color.  It does not appear especially heavy bodied, at least in the sense of being syrupy.  Perhaps it has a certain oiliness though.

The nose is eccentric and unlike your typical rum.  When the bottle was first opened (when the restaurant boss and I had a glass) I thought for a moment he had picked out a grappa after being unable to find the rum.  Maybe I am easily influenced by my surroundings (i.e. I see an Italian guy with a bottle of spirits and think ‘grappa’), but there really is a huge fruitiness about this rum.  Moreover, the fruitiness is not Zacapa type ‘stewed fruit’, or the ‘dried fruit’ you get in something like Brugal.  Instead it is ‘distilled fruit’.  Sea Wynde smells like a bizarre fruit schnapps, and if I had to pick the base fruit I would probably end up saying pineapple.  There was also a chamomile tea type note, or at least something that reminded me of the grappa tasting I did in New Orleans during which we tried a grappa based chamomile liqueur.  Demerara sugar was also a presence, but an unobtrusive one.

It is hard to talk about the palette of this rum as something separate to its aroma because the aromas are so intense they practically are the palette.   The palette has a fierce alcohol burn, with a very dry finish that lingers and lingers.  Water is definitely needed to moderate the burn.  The rum tastes stronger than 46%.  Also, the flavors are almost too intense to pick out until the spirit is diluted.  A single small piece of ice did little, so I ended up adding several small pieces, tasting after each one until the rum became smoother.

Dilution, plus a little sitting time, seemed to bring out the pineapple taste.  Meanwhile, the chamomile settled into a mild herbal tea type flavor.  The demerara in the nose became oily golden syrup on the tongue.  Even with considerable dilution the aromas remained very intense.  This is more a rum you smell than one you taste, and yet the aromas are intense almost to the point of being unidentifiable.

I rate this rum very highly, although it is so intense and eccentric tasting that it may not be for everyone.  It is too intense to drink straight.  However, different degrees of dilution should keep bringing out new elements.  I am sure this would be a brilliant mixing rum in Tiki drinks.  This has to be the perfect rum to use as a float in a pineapple juice containing drink that calls for a rum float.  Tons of potential here and definitely a rum to pick up.

On Tuesday night I got the chance to attend a tasting organized by Appleton Estate, the famous Jamaican rum producer. The tasting was led by Joy Spence, master blender at Wray & Nephew (producers of Appleton Estate). Joy was an interesting character. She had a fun and not-too-serious approach to rum, but the look of concern on her face when she described how the Hilton was using her 21 year old rum to mix cocktails indicated that her easygoing demeanor only extended so far. There was no doubt she was serious about her work. Tickets were fully booked by the time I realized this tasting was happening, but Jak Jakicevich of Glengarry Wines kindly managed to squeeze me in after a last minute cancellation. The tasting was more action-packed than any other I have been to, adding up to a very entertaining evening. I was glad to be able to make it.

Joy started by giving some general background on rum classifications. Samples of generic white, gold and dark rums helped clarify the basic classifications. The white was not identified by name, but I assume it was Appleton White (in New Zealand sold only as a well rum). It did not have a lot of character. The gold and dark were the respective versions of Coruba. The Coruba Original (the dark) impressed me. I had not drunk this stuff in years, overlooking it as a generic mass market product. It is good though – rich, aromatic and with a bit of personality – definitely a handy mixing rum for times when you need a full flavor.

Production of Appleton Estate

The session then moved on to cover rum production, and particularly that at Appleton Estate. Appleton Estate has a unique geography and micro-climate. It is situated in Jamacia’s Cockpit Country, an elevated valley of karst limestone formations ringed by mountains. The combination of elevation and surrounding mountains create a micro-climate of sunny mornings and wet afternoons which favors sugar cane growth. Furthermore, the heavy rainfall interacts with the limestone to create an especially rich soil. According to Joy there are only three karst limestone regions in the world (in Jamaica, Yugoslavia and China), and Cockpit Country is the only one with a climate suited to growing sugar cane. Joy is actually wrong about this. The Chinese karst limestone region is the largest in the world, occupying a sizeable part of Guangxi (and maybe also some neighboring provinces), and is also a major area of sugar cane cultivation. Logically you would expect the Chinese to also have a tradition of rum production. I have never heard anything about it though. Anyway, that Appleton Estate is set in an ideal region for sugar cane cultivation is indisputable.

All of the Appleton rums are distilled from molasses, with a house yeast and soft spring water being added to produce a ‘molasses wine’ with approximately 7% alcohol by volume. This is then distilled in either column or pot stills. To get a handle on the influence of still type we tried samples of column and pot distilled rum, two radically different products. The column still rum is concentrated to around 96% alcohol by volume, and has low esters and a sharp character. The pot distilled rum has only around 86% alcohol by volume, and the lower purity of alcohol results in high esters and hence huge aroma and complexity. Although the samples we tried had been diluted with water to somewhere around 40% the difference was still night and day. The pot still product strongly reminded me of a French Rhum Agricole, making me confused as to how much of the differences between ‘agricole’ and ‘non-agricole’ rums relate to pot versus column distilling, and how much relate to fermentation from sugar cane juice versus molasses. Joy mentioned that Jamaica has the greatest variety of high-ester pot still rums in the world. I have heard this before, and I guess it means there are some really interesting and eccentric Jamaican rums out there. Sadly Appleton Estate does not produce a 100% pot still rum, with all of their products being blends of pot still and column. This is a shame because I think a fully pot distilled product would be really interesting. On the other hand, taking the glass-half-full perspective you can say that at least none of their products are 100% column still.

Next we got on to the matter of aging, which Appleton Estate does in used bourbon barrels from Jack Daniels. As with any spirit, the barrel aging process contributes cellulose (for sweetness), tannins (for woody flavors and color), and flavonoids (vanilla, coffee, cocoa and other smooth flavors). The fact that the barrels are pre-used prevents the tannins becoming overwhelming. On the other hand, barrels must be reasonably new to make a meaningful contribution, and so Appleton Estate retires barrels from reuse after a fixed time. Jamaican rums are aged at around 80% alcohol, higher than in most rum producing countries. At this point, another couple of samples of rum demonstrated the effects of aging. Again we tried a column still rum against a pot still rum. Aging transformed the column still rum, which picked up some interesting buttery characteristics. I was starting to see the contribution column still rum can make, without it the Appleton Estate rums would lose their smooth house taste. The pot still rum was also smoother and richer after aging, though the rough-around-the-edges unaged version was good too.

Age statements on rum bottles are a mine field, with labeling laws varying by country. As a general rule of thumb it seems that the Spanish speaking territories have flexible labeling regulations that allow rum labeling to be based on the ‘average age’ in the blend (open to manipulation depending on the formula used to calculate the ‘average’), while the English and French speaking territories require age statements to refer to the minimum age of the blend. Many territories also allow additions of fruits, peels, honey, spices and so on, all of which are forbidden in Jamaica. Since Jamaica produces spiced rums as well, I guess that adulterating rum with flavorings is permitted in Jamaica if the label states that the contents are not pure rum.

The Appleton Estate Range

By this stage we were all more or less rum experts and it was time to assume very serious expressions and taste the Appleton Estate range of rums. Ambitiously, Joy started us on the Appleton 21 YO.

- Appleton 21 YO is the top rum in the regular Appleton Estate range – though it has recently been outdone by a limited release 30 YO. It is a premium gold rum, with long aging producing a dark color. The remainder of the Appleton Estate range also appear to fall into this category. Joy told us to look for a shadowy olive-colored ring on the meniscus of the rum as an indicator of aging. This visual phenomenon supposedly indicates the presence of tannins, and should be more intense in older rums. I found that all of the Appleton Estate rums displayed this effect to some degree, making it a matter of differentiating the subtle color differences. You probably need to practice this on a lot of rums before it becomes informative. Without practice it is still a great way to make yourself look knowledgeable. Joy also suggested using the legs of the rum to indicate body, by tilting the glass and observing the flow of the droplets – much as you would for wine. On tasting the rum was extremely smooth, with lots of vanilla, quite a bit of tannin, and some honey. The finish was long, and just a little bitter. It was a very pleasant sipper, but not a flavor explosion in the way that many single malts are. I would say it was well suited for either sipping straight or mixing in simple cocktails that showcase the base spirit – e.g. a rum Old Fashioned.

- Appleton VX is a blend of 15 rums and the introductory level rum in the Appleton Estate range. It was fresh and lively compared to the 21 YO, and the emphasis was on dried fruit, with prominent apricot and orange aromas. There was not much of a finish to it, but it was pleasant. I could not call this rum inferior to the others in the range. While it lacked the depth of flavor of the others, it had a unique fruity profile that they lacked. I can imagine it would work nicely in a Planters Punch and other cocktails containing juices.

- Appleton Reserve 8 YO was spicy. The orange notes from the Appleton VX were still there, but this time sprinkled with nutmeg. There was also some buttery richness to fill out the palate. This would be fine straight or as a mixer. It would not be a crime to mix it in a juice heavy drink or cut it with cola, but it also has enough backbone to work in more spirit heavy recipes.

- Appleton Extra 12 YO was fuller bodied than the 8 YO and had a much longer finish. There was a chocolate taste that the 8 YO did not have, plus a suggestion of honeycomb. Rounding things off there was a pleasant burned butter taste – rich with a hint of bitterness. Definitely one to sip on by itself, or use in cocktails that show off the base spirit.

- Master Blenders Legacy was less spicy than the previous two rums, instead running towards being sweet, fruity and fully bodied. The fruit flavors were intense, and sometimes it seemed almost like a chocolate laced pear eau de vie. It was rich and buttery with a long finish. This rum would surely go well with desert. It might also be nice in cocktails that include delicate aromatized wines like Dubonnet or Lillet. The rum has no age statement but is a blend based around 30 year old rum. In terms of price it falls about midway between the 12 YO and the 21 YO.

All the Appleton Estate rums share a house flavor, but tasting them alongside one another reveals big differences in character. Which one you reach for really comes down to personal preference and what type of drink you have in mind.

An Unsuccessful Foray into Rum Blending

The next part of the session saw us split into teams attempt to blend our own award winning rum. We were given four blending rums to work with, and our mission was to create a rum suitable for mixing in juice based cocktails. The idea seemed to be to produce something similar to the Appleton VX. The task was harder than you would expect. We came up with a pleasant blend, but it had the characteristics of a sipping rum more than a mixer, with respectable aroma and finish, but without the body a true sipping rum demands.

The winning team was one table over from us and their approach had been interesting. A full 40% of their blend was probably the most aromatic of the four rums, with a note running through its aroma that was intense to the point of being a bit unpleasant. We had used this rum very sparingly. Somehow though, when they combined 40% of this rum with around 40% of something else, they ended up with a rich and flavorful base, which they finished off by adding about 20% of the last two rums. It was an interesting demonstration of how complex blending is. A mixture that seemed counterintuitive to me actually worked very well.

A Couple of Questions

I asked Joy about the Wray & Nephew Pimento Dram. It does not seem like this is going to be imported into New Zealand anytime soon – or ever really. The local Appleton Estate brand representative cited lack of demand and poor labeling. The new label and name (Berry Hill) are a little cheesy I guess, but they obviously work in Jamaica. The lack of interest is a pity because this is a high quality and very interesting product. At least it is not too hard to make yourself though. You can check out my own efforts at producing Pimento Dram here.

I also asked for the low down on the notorious Wray & Nephew Old Tom gin. Old Tom was a lightly sweetened style of gin popular in England during the 18^th and 19^th centuries and no longer produced commercially – except by one of two companies that have recently flirted with resurrecting it. Old Tom is widely called for in older cocktail manuals, and while London Dry and Plymouth were the mainstream gin styles by the early 20^th century, Old Tom continued to occasionally appear in cocktail recipes at least into the 1930s. Wray & Nephew produces a gin for the Jamaican market under the brand name Old Tom. Despite the name, this product is not an authentic example of the Old Tom style that somehow survived in far flung Jamaica. Joy Spence dismissed the Wray & Nephew Old Tom as a cheap and nasty product manufactured using essences for undiscriminating local drinkers. I guess at some point somebody decided they liked the name Old Tom and built a brand out of it. I forgot to ask how far back the Wray and Nephew Old Tom dates, and where the name came from. It would be interesting to know.

Don’t Underestimate that Coruba

Finally, while not meaning to lower the tone at the end, I was surprised by the Coruba Original. I had more or less forgotten about this stuff, but it is actually interesting, being an old-fashioned dark style of rum with higher than average pot still character and a reasonable price to boot. The Appleton Estate range contains plenty of variety, but they are all gold rums and will not work in every recipe calling for Jamaican rum. Sometimes you just need an indelicate aromatic punch, something Coruba can supply. It is probably a bit sweet for rum and cokes, but I can imagine using it in a Planter’s Punch, or as a rum float on tropical drinks.

There also appear to be some more premium aged versions of Coruba that I bet would be quite good. I have never come across these in a shop though.

It is certainly relatively common in Barbados, being drunk in classic local drink the Corn’n’Oil (rum, falernum, Angostura Bitters, and a squeeze of lime). The Corn’n’Oil shows how versatile and easy to use Falernum is. You can simply splash it into rum to enhance the rum, or it can contribute to some more elaborate concoction like the Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai. It is sort of like a mildly alcoholic tropical version of sweet-and-sour mix.

So far I have relied on making falernum myself. Although I have tasted the Fees Brothers’ product, I do not rate it highly. The formula seems far too close to standard sweet-and-sour mix to be interesting.

I have tried two different falernum recipes. As with Pimento Dram, I found different recipes yielded very different results. Happily, my second attempt once again proved better than my first.

My first attempt was made as follows:

In 1/2 cup of white rum (Bacardi) soak the following for 48 hours: 6 cloves, 3 cm vanilla bean, zest of 2 limes, and 3 thin slices fresh ginger, and 2 drops almond extract (I was using a highly concentrated almond extract, possibly of dubious quality, hence the very small quantity).

Create a simple syrup from 2 cups white sugar and 2 cups water. Strain the rum mixture and add to syrup. Bottle and use.

This recipe made a tasty lightly spiced syrup. The flavor was not particularly concentrated so there was a temptation to use a lot and thus end up with a very sweet drink. Stored at room temperature the flavor of the syrup began to deteriorate quite rapidly. The low concentration of sugar in the 1:1 simple syrup would not have helped the shelf life of this falernum.

My second attempt used a different recipe, as follows:

Take 4 oz overproof white rum (Sangster’s Conquering Lion, 64%) and infuse it for three days with the following: 20 cloves, 2 tablespoons chopped almonds (approx 25 gms) lightly toasted in a frying pan. Add the zest of 4-5 limes (depending on size) and ¾ oz fresh ginger and infuse for a further day. Adding the limes and ginger only on the last day of the infusion stops the mixture from turning slimy and avoids over-extraction of these flavors.

Strain the above mixture through a moistened cheesecloth, extracting all liquid. Mix the rum infusion with 7 oz simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water ratio), 2 ¼ oz fresh lime juice (strained), 1/8 tsp high quality almond extract, 1/8 tsp high quality vanilla extract. Bottle and use.

This version turns out beautifully. The lime juice gives it an amazing freshness, and also eliminates the need for a squeeze of lime when making a Corn’n’Oil. Of course the lime juice also means you will need to store this syrup in the fridge or freezer. However, since the juice free recipe did not last well at room temperature, refrigerated storage is probably a good idea anyway. This version is like an all purpose rum enhancer, with sourness, sugar, and spices all rolled into one.

If I was to criticize I would say that the almond could be toned down a little. I may try it without one of either the toasted almonds or the almond extract in future. Be very careful not to over-toast the almonds given that they are an assertive taste.

A key point that emerges from comparing the two recipes is probably the importance of overproof spirits when doing infusions. The higher alcohol content extracts flavors better, so make an effort to find and use overproof spirits for infusions, particularly when the infusion is itself to be used to make a liqueur or syrup (dilution of the infusion makes it even more important that it is as intensely flavored as possible to start with). Another point is that when making falernum it makes sense to go heavy on the spices. The first recipe, with only 6 cloves to 500 mls of syrup (infused in standard proof rum), did not really cut it. The second recipe, with 20 cloves to approximately 250 mls of syrup+juice (infused in overpoof rum), was a big improvement flavor-wise. If your falernum somehow ends up too spicy you can always cut it with simple syrup, but if it lacks flavor there is not much you can do besides using huge quantities and producing overly sweetened drinks. Therefore you may as well be generous with the spices.

Recipe for a Kingston Cocktail

1 ½ oz Jamaican Rum (Appleton’s Estate)

½ oz Kummel (Wolfschmidt)

½ oz orange juice

1 dash pimento dram (I used a little over half a teaspoon of my homemade stuff – just to make sure it didn’t get lost)

Harry Craddock reckons that the mixture of Kummel and Pimento Dram is what makes the drink special. There just may be something in it. I was surprised by how strongly the allspice came through. Obviously the Kummel dominates, but the pimento dram contributes a clear spicy undercurrent that mixes nicely with the rum and caraway.

CockailDB lists several variations of this drink, which also appears as a Lupe Velez, a Mexicano, and a Surprised Cocktail. There are slight differences among them but the principle remains the same. The Lupe Velez and Mexicano use light rum instead of Jamaican rum, with the former increasing the pimento dram to ¼ oz while the latter keeps the pimento dram at just a dash but ups the kummel and orange juice. The Surprised Cocktail is identical to the Kingston. I wouldn’t mind trying the Lupe Velez sometime, just to see what the extra pimento dram does.

The Kingston must have been popular at some stage to pick up some many different names and variations. That seems pretty good going to a drink using such a counter intuitive combination of ingredients.

I dropped into Trader Vic’s recently opened Shanghai restaurant last night for a Shanghai Expat (www.shanghaiexpat.com) hosted cocktail party. The service at Trader Vics is five star, the Polynesian décor takes you a world away from the grime and grind of Shanghai, and the food and drinks are not half bad. However, you can’t help thinking the cocktails could be better. The drinks are by no means bad, but when patronizing the joint that invented the Mai Tai it is depressing to drink a Mai Tai that is merely a shadow of what it could be.

Unlike most places, Trader Vic’s make Mai Tais more or less to the original Victor Bergaron recipe. That is, they don’t add any fruit juices other than lime, they use freshly squeezed juices, they use orgeat rather than almond liqueur, they don’t add strange liqueurs like apricot brandy, and their drink is a rum-focused sweet-and-sour drink rather than a confused tropical punch with no rum taste. In short, they make a pretty good Mai Tai. Sadly they don’t use good rum.

The other disappointing thing is that Trader Vics do not use what I would consider a good quality mint. The mint they use is the mild and herbaceous mint with soft leaves common around Shanghai. This mint doesn’t do a lot to the taste of a drink, or anything else for that matter. More intense mint with stiffer leaves is sometimes available in Shanghai, just a littler harder to find. I think the stuff with stiffer leaves is peppermint, and maybe that is not the ideal mint to use. In any case it seems better to me than mint with no real flavor.

The Mai Tai was originally concocted with Wray Nephew 17 year old Jamaican rum. As his chain of restaurants expanded and stocks of the Wray Nephew 17 year old became depleted and increasingly expensive, Victor Bergaron began using lesser rums. In particular he began mixing lesser Jamaican rums with the very dry Martinique rums to obtain a similar complexity to the original Wray Nephew product. Unfortunately in Trader Vic’s these days they use standard Meyer’s rum plus a house Mai Tai mix. I guess there is some aged rum in the Mai Tai mix, but in any case the result is underwhelming.

Anyway, after the Trader Vic’s experience last night I thought I’d make my own Mai Tai today. Since aged Jamaican is unavailable in Shanghai I used a mixture of aged Cuban rum and Martinique rum. I found Marie Brizard Orange Triple Sec the other day, so that was another reason for trying the drink again. Previously I’ve only been able to find cheap Bols triple sec or Cointreau. Cointreau is nice, but the taste and alcohol content may be a little too intense to make it a perfect triple sec substitute.

My Mai Tai

1 oz Havana Club 7 Anos

1 oz St. James Amber

1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 oz Marie Brizard Orange Curacao

1/4 oz Monin Orgeat (Monin is quite intense so I reduced slightly from the 1/2 oz recommended in a lot of recipes)

1/4 oz simple sugar syrup

Shake over crushed ice and serve in a double rocks glass, putting one of the spent lime shells in the drink. Garnish with some nice quality mint if you have it. I didn’t have mint handy so used a pineapple spear with maraschino cherry.

The version makes a nice drink. The rum taste could be stronger, but the complexity is there. The nutty flavors of the Martinique rum go well with the orgeat. In the absence of a decent Jamaican rum Havana Club works OK. The citrus flavors seem far more of a background note using the Marie Brizard Curacao compared to Cointreau. I could be wrong though since it has been at least six months since I made this with Cointreau. If the drink has any weakness it could be that the Orgeat comes through a bit strong. Perhaps some more adjusting is in order.