Hello again,

Welcome back to another Vida Nativa review, today we have Blend #3: Tepejilote. A blend of two Alembic Pot Still rums, one spending 33 months in New French Oak and 13 months in Ex-Red Wine Casks made of Hungarain Oak with the other spending 35 months in Mexican Fortified Wine casks. It was then bottled at an ABV of 65.9% for 529 bottles.

Nose: Red licorice and baking spices dominates the nose while oak, cinnamon, leather, a minor amount of a savory funk, and a hint of vanilla and sweetness linger in the background.

Taste: Baking spices galore with cinnamon, some dark fruit, a sweet leather and red licorice combo, before heading into a bit of vanilla.

Finish: The vanilla slowly dissipates into a cane sugar syrup with some heat to it. It mostly covers your tounge before turning a bit sour thats more on the citrus side

Overall: 7/10, really nails home the warm baking spices and a good amount of this bottle was slammed beside a fire.

Given as a tip for a move from a nice 90yo lady. Unopened. How old is it? Is it worth anything? Just enjoy it? Thanks!

Little suitcase bielle dry sugar daiquiri…

Hello,

I have a cake recipe that I'm planning to make, but it calls for rum and I don't know what to buy.

It specified that it had to be light rum, but from what I've read so far, the color of the rum means absolutely nothing in terms of flavor.

In the recipe, the rum is used to make a simple syrup that each cake will get soaked in. Between each layer there will be mango mousse and ginger lime cream.

Based on the flavors I'll be working with, what rum would be most compatible?

Twenty years ago I wandered into a gun store in central Copenhagen, and the proprietor was in the proces of moving from a house to a flat, so he was selling off a good amount of his spirit collection.

One of the things I bought was a bottle of Pusser's Rum, bottled at 75% and wearing a white label. I had never either seen or heard of Pusser's before, but I was keen to try it, so I paid the ridiculous price he demanded for it: 750 DKK.

I enjoyed the bottle a lot, and it took me a few years before I could find other Pusser's rums. Of course the blue label stuff is only at 40%, so it was nowhere near as potent, even if it is delightful in it's own right, and a lot cheaper.

Pusser's makes the Select 151 Proof now, which is 0,5% off the old white label bottle, but I have no clue as to what was actually in that bottle. I hear that they used a blend of Guyana and Trinidad for a while, but currently it should be pure Guyana, is that correct?

And are there anyone on here that remember that particular white label one?

I bought it in August or September 2006, and I have no clue as to how long he had had it in his collection. Could be a decade, could be more.

Was in a BevMo while waiting for Best Buy to unfuck my TV order. Saw this and was pleasantly surprised.

A week late as went off on holiday on the Monday.

This was (I think) my 9th RumFest, and will probably be my last. It's definitely getting smaller, and more expensive. Even at my first one I remember thinking "Where's the "Fest" part?", and this trend continues. Olden days, they had a live Cuban band with dancers to close the day out, live Carnival performances through the day, and some cool experiential stuff (Coke Signature bar with a live singer for example). Not much at all of that this year.

The Good:

Stand-outs this year for me were Mount Gay with their 15 & 25 year old offerings, as well as their single estate offerings. They also get bonus points for avoiding the Golden Tot schtick. Warehouse #1 had some fantastic Jamaican offerings, Ha Long Bay was actually quite interesting I thought, Hampden Fresh was a nice new (to me?) white rum they're bringing to market, and of course Lyonesse from Foursquare was delicious (though dare I say not at all different to the ECS series?)

VIP Tickets getting a nicer tasting glass was a nice touch too.

Personally I preferred being able to buy direct from the sellers rather than the shop and I didn't feel like I was ever being sold anything.

The Bad

Why I don't think I'll be returning:

• It's not really changing. The regular distilleries are always there, plus a few new bottlers (Pleasantly fewer spiced rums this year though!), but generally the times I've come away with some new discoveries is shrinking.
• Same food, same sellers, same hosts, same same same...
• Masterclasses have gone from "£5 in advance, or sign-up on the day" which made early entry even more valuable as you could usually get in. Now they ALL have to be booked in advance for £10-15.
• WAY fewer Masterclasses too. 4-5 years back there were 2-3 running at a time, on both days. This year I think there were maybe 6 per day? But it was these sessions where you actually learnt something, or got to taste something really special. They're mostly sales pitches now.

I was also SUPER annoyed - to the level I'm actually writing a complaint - about the Foursquare "Masterclass". Usually the highlight, this was a 45-minute talk about grapefruit and the devils fruit, and its history, with one tasting of Captain Shaddock which you could get anyway at the Foursquare stand (and I'd already had). That was it. For £15. Not at all as advertised and just felt like a massive scam - and I'm a huge Foursquare and Richard Seale fan. Compared to 3 years ago when him and Luca Gargano had a range of "fresh from the barrel, might not make it to market", or "hasn't got a name yet" samples, this was just shit. Someone even asked "Where's the rum?" in the session - which I think Richard took as a joke but was a legitimate question.

I've always enjoyed going, and in a mini-influencer way have expanded from me and my 2 rum-loving mates going, to encouraging about 12 other people to go this year and converted a good chunk of them to "proper" rum too.
I just don't see what I'll gain from going again next year.

Ho hum.

What was it like other be into rum back during COVID/pandemic?

I was reading 4square ECS was not sitting on shelves like they do now but thats all I know about those times (hoarding like bourbon bros) that made me wonder....

Can anyone tell me what it was like, how fast were things moving, what was the hotness, how have prices changed, how has the subreddit changed in these years?

Back then I was not really into drinking, and had other hobbies that took all my money so I have no clue what the rum subreddit world was like then and how it compares now.

Lets talk Old Brigand Rum from Barbados in under three minutes 🤘

Check out the latest Rum Ramble episode, hosted by Dave Marsland.

#McrRumFest #Manchester #Rum #OldBrigand #Barbados

Achei até que ok.

Had too much of hampden 8 in my glass, and started experimenting:

Added ice, pineapple+coconutwater (2:1 to the rum) and a dash of lime. Surprisingly good, not too sweet, rum is still very present, but fresher than sipping it pure.

But I'm a cocktail noob and easily impressed. Thoughts on that combination?

This may be the most obscure liquor I’ve tasted so far as there’s virtually no information about it anywhere. It tastes fine to me. Definitely sweet on the tongue, has a good crispness. Could be a little more robust in flavor but not bad. If anyone else has tried this, I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

EDIT TO ADD: The distillery seems to be more known for their flavored vodkas so I can understand why the rum wouldn’t be at the forefront but with how invisible it is on the internet, I’m truly curious.

I very recently got into rum and started with a bottle of Doorly's XO, which I like a lot.

I also want to try the spiced versions of rum, so what's a spiced rum that's good and higher quality? I was thinking about Kraken, but I heard that one has lots of artificial aromas.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Unfortunately the cork is broken. He had a few other older bottles, mostly scotch. No telling how long any of it's been sitting down there in his office. He hasn't been able to get down the stairs in about a year or so and probably hasn't had a drink for several years before that. Half empty bottle of Old Grandads had a fair bit of sediment in the bottom.

Anyway, thought this was a cool find and wanted to share.