Rum Journal

Rum Journal: A Bourbon-Edged Expression from Papa’s Pilar
We’ve long been fans of the upstart Papa’s Pilar rum brand, thanks to what is one of the industry’s most drinkable rums and a terrific, authentic Hemingway-backed story. The brand has taken that drinkability both to hard-core rum aficionados and, …
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Rum Journal: A Terrific New Caribbean Rum: One Drop
When it made its debut four years ago, Harbour Island’s Afrohead rum sent a shockwave through the industry. Its superb design — and its drinkability — were a refreshing addition to the Caribbean’s rum offering. It was bold, it was cool …
Rum Journal: In Tortola, The Bar That Did Not Break
WEST END — There’s a group of us, sailors and rum-seekers, strolling through the pathways of West End in Tortola, searching for the Pusser’s we knew. West End has changed in the last 12 months, and will change again in …
Rum Journal: Tortola’s Legendary Rum Distillery
By Alexander Britell The boiler is smoldering, the smell of sugarcane alchemy pungent in the air, steps across the road from the beach. There’s a reason, after all, why they call it Cane Garden Bay. Here, in an old stone …
Rum Journal: A New Classic from Martinique’s Rhum JM
By Alexander Britell It was the first rhum agricole I had ever tried. And, instantly, rum was never the same. I was at a dinner at the Royal Riviera hotel in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat in 2006, when the waiter …
Rum Journal: The New Depaz VSOP
By Alexander Britell Ever since I first tried the old Rhum Depaz VSOP, the one that came in the dark wine-style bottle, I was hooked. It was a great value rhum agricole, eminently drinkable but with serious complexity. It was …
Rum Journal: Martinique’s La Favorite Reserve du Chateau 2002
By Alexander Britell There is a particular passion in the production of rhum agricole in Martinique. There is a thought, a contemplation, a level of sophistication that seems to transcend what you find in much of the rest of the …
Rum Journal: Dominica’s Hi-Rise Beach Bar
It’s on the water. There’s sand. It must be a beach. While Roseau’s most popular beach bar isn’t actually on the beach, you might think so after a rum punch or two. This is the Hi-Rise Beach Bar, a lively …
Rum Journal: The New “Platinum Blonde” from Papa’s Pilar
Another limited edition, another hit. The Hemingway Rum Company’s Papa’s Pilar Rum has debuted another limited-edition expression: Platinum Blonde. It’s remarkable to think about how far the company has come since it first launched in 2013 with its blonde and …
Rum Journal: A Great New Bar on Harbour Island
It’s the first thing you see — the thing your eyes are drawn to — when you walk to the start of the ferry dock on Harbour Island in The Bahamas, a warm white-and-blue sign that says “Harbour Bar.” But …
Rum Journal: Puerto Rico’s Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish
It’s hard to say precisely when cask finishing began in the rum world. Sure, over the years there were rums like Dos Maderas, which took Caribbean rum and then aged it for years in sherry casks. Then there was HSE, …
Rum Journal: English Harbour Madeira Cask
While English Harbour Rum has become the signature cane spirit from the island of Antigua, you may not know that the founders of Antigua Distillery Limited actually hailed from the Portuguese island of Madeira off the coast of Africa. And …
The Caribbean’s Greatest Rum Bar
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. …
Rum Journal: Antigua’s English Harbour Reserve 10 Year Old Rum
Every island has a different taste. Sure, there are diverse rum offerings on every island (some more than others, for sure). But the more you travel the Caribbean through a glass of rum, the more each island’s peculiar taste profile …
Rum Journal: How to Bottle Your Own Rum in Nevis
One of the most best (and most creative) rum shops in the Caribbean has just launched a terrific new experience: the chance to bottle your own rum. The L&L Rumshop on the island of Nevis, which is also home to …
Rum Journal: Tasting the New Bacardi Reserva 10
By Alexander Britell You’re in a far-off bar somewhere. Or even a bar in a major city in America. You order rum. What do you hear? “Well, we have Captain Morgan, we have Bacardi…” And that’s usually it. While the …