Guyana’s El Dorado 15. Trinidad’s Angostura 1787. Barbados’ Mount Gay 1703.
They’re the sort of rums you hardly find together in the Caribbean, iconic West Indian rum expressions that seldom appear on a shelf even at the best of Caribbean bars.
At Antigua’s Galley Bay, however, they’re right there with one another — and when you’re done sipping them, there isn’t even a bill.
This is the rum shack at Antigua’s legendary Galley Bay Resort and Spa, an all-inclusive that has rather happily created a Caribbean rum bar just steps from one of the island’s greatest beaches.
The rum shack is a place for travelers to taste their way around the Caribbean through its most famous spirit, sampling the best of the region on a well-managed journey by the lovely rum-steward Elaine.
Antigua’s signature bottles are here as well, from the terrific English Harbour 10 to the brand’s latest cask-finish expressions: Madeira, Port and Sherry.
For the uninitiated, there are classic Caribbean rum cocktails, too: rum and coconut water, the traditional Cuba Libre and rum and pineapple, among others.
For the curious, there’s a journey around the Caribbean through rum: Wray and Nephew overproof; Havana Club; Gosling’s from the region’s northern neighbors in Bermuda; and even some lovely expressions from the Dominican Republic.
We’ve long extolled the virtues of traveling the Caribbean through rum, making this a very welcome concept.
And Galley Bay is right at the forefront in the region, cultivating a destination-within-a-destination, a place not just to enjoy the Caribbean but to discover it anew.
The comfortable cover of palapas, cozy pillowed corners and a setting at the edge of the resort’s signature lagoon only underscore it.
Because when your ingredients are “all-inclusive” and “rum shack,” well — that’s a hard cocktail to beat.
For more, visit Galley Bay.
— CJ