st barth caribbean places
The Caribbean Rum Awards will be hosted at the Rhum Room, the greatest rum bar in the Caribbean.
News

The Caribbean’s Greatest Rum Bar

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - June 25, 2018

By Alexander Britell

As you sit inside the bar, you start by watching.

Watching like the way you look at a monument or a sweeping valley – it is stationary but a thing that demands your attention, dynamic without moving.

That’s what happens when there are more than 600 bottles of rum in a single bar, the largest collection of rums you’ll find in any bar in the Caribbean – and, considering the quality and rarity of everything here – perhaps the greatest selection of any bar in the world.

This is the Rhum Room in St Barth.

Yes – because while it sounds like a lot of rums, there is nothing here without quality .

There are even more than 300 rhums Agricoles – a total that is almost certainly the largest of any bar in the hemisphere, with a cornucopia of rare expressions from across the French Caribbean.

As an example, the bar doesn’t just have La Favorite’s La Flibuste- it has multiple vintages.

It has every HSE on the market, even the original Sherry finishes.

It is a full fledged shrine to Rhum JM.

And that extends to the Molasses rums.

The ti’ punch cart is a dream for lovers of the French Caribbean’s classic cocktail.

It doesn’t just have the rarefied Veliers and their ilk (such as the old Caroni bottligs) it even has a rare bottling of pre-Embargo Cuban rum and baskets of extant British Navy Rum.

Even its Zacapa section includes only pre-Diageo expressions – the ones you can’t even get anymore.

And that’s without mentioning its superb Cuban section (with, yes the best of Santiago).

But the biggest story really is the Agricole offering – it is a simply breathtaking array.

And there is no filler-you can’t find a bad rum anywhere in sight.

But inventory alone does not make this bar, the brainchild of global rum expert Christopher Davis, what it is.

Did I mention it’s a speakeasy?

It’s a speakeasy setting — and it’s a cigar lounge, too.

Unmarked from the street in Gustavia, the Rhum Room is accessed through a kitchen door and then a small hallway, revealing this veritable temple of rum.

Once you get inside, more wonders emerge: a well stocked humidor of Cuban and Dominican cigars; a ti’ punch cart with the best blancs agricoles you can think of (including every variety of Martinique’s Rhum A1710).

The rums are so vast, in fact, that there’s even a ladder, making for a kind of library of rum.

You can sift through the rum menu for hours.

Categorized by country of origin and by blanc or aged, it is an astounding thing in its own right.

Indeed, there’s even a special section for the storied rums of Marie Galante in Guadeloupe.

And then there’s the pricing – while the ultra-rare expressions don’t come cheap – the vast majority of the rums here are priced to taste. Davis wants you to try and explore, not to be scared off.

It is hard to overstate how great of a place this really is – and what it means for the world of Caribbean rum. It is a place that puts Caribbean rum on the pedestal it deserves, reminding the region of the abundant quality of its famous export.

If this sounds like a lot of superlatives, well, it delivers the goods.

This is the new Caribbean rum Mecca, a new bucket list destination for every lover of cane.

This is the Rhum Room in St Barth, and it is the greatest rum bar in the Caribbean.

— CJ

Popular Posts ian fleming villa with beach and green trees

American Airlines Begins New Ocho Rios, Jamaica Flights, With a Nod to James Bond 

Ian Fleming began writing the book that would become Casino Royale at his seaside villa in the town of Oracabessa, Jamaica in February 1952.  It was here on the outskirts of Ocho Rios that Fleming would forge the story of […]


A New All-Inclusive W Hotel Is Opening This Year in Punta Cana 

w punta cana

The first-ever all-inclusive W Hotel in the Caribbean is opening this year in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean Journal has learned.  The hotel, part of a broad expansion for parent company Marriott International, is on the list of expected 2024 […]


Why Grenada Is a New Caribbean Luxury Hotspot

beach house silversands

From its world-renowned chocolate to its pristine beaches to a region-leading focus on sustainability, Grenada is as fascinating and unique as destination as you’ll find in the Caribbean.  But in the last few years, the lush Eastern Caribberan island has […]


Related Posts magazine beach grenada

Caribbean Moment: Magazine Beach, Grenada

Grenada is known for many things: its chocolate, its rum, its lush rainforest, its world-class cuisine. What you may not realize is just how beautiful the island’s beaches are, from its signature Grand Anse Beach to lesser-known coastlines like Magazine […]


Caribbean Photo of the Week: Frederiksted, St Croix

frederiksted st croix

The latest Caribbean Photo comes fro Caribbean Journal reader Eric Schaeffer, who sent in this lovely shot while walking in Frederiksted, St Croix, USVI. Have you taken a great photo in the Caribbean? Send it to news@caribjournal.com with CPOTW in […]


JW Marriott Just Opened Its First Caribbean Beach Resort in St Maarten 

jw marriott st maarten

It was arguably the most high-profile resort on the Dutch side of St Maarten: the Westin Dawn Beach resort, set on one of the most beautiful shorelines on the island and the area’s most famous branded hotel.  Then that unwelcome […]


SUBSCRIBE!

Sign up for Caribbean Journal's free newsletter for a daily dose of beaches, hotels, rum and the best Caribbean travel information on the net.


No. Thank You