Berry Bros & Rudd Rum Collection - WOW
I am likely going to be scaling back the vodka, liqueur, tequila, and rum selection at the RWC store, namely because most of what we sell is coming out of LA and SF. Those are the big markets for those spirits. RWC has become the brown goods store and I need more space for the aged potions.
Yet, no sooner do I make that decision when a set of rums comes along that BLOWS ME AWAY. Berry Bros & Rudd is one of the most famous liquor stores in the world and frequently bottles its own goods. Their new set of rums is simply dyn-o-mite and are all aged 10+ years from islands all over the world. I'll have pictures on the blog in a little while. Here's what's available, but I don't have pricing yet. I'm hoping they're not too expensive because I want ALL of them. They're authentic and show the regionality of rum like no other series I've ever tasted. I am seriously considering doing a tasting with the whole collection very soon at Martin's West.
Guadeloupe 12 Year - vanilla extract on the nose, good rum character, not viscious or sweet, but rich with flavor and a dry, spicy heat.
St Lucia 11 Year - tea and honey aromas with cherries, one of the most bizzare palates I have ever tasted on any spirit ever, but yet still enticing - fruit steeped with herbal tea and laced with menthol. Weird, weird, weird, but I want more.
Panama 10 Year - classic, golden rum flavor, good balance of wood and vanilla, pure rum
Barbados 11 Year - luscious fruit aromas with golden honey, softer palate that tastes exactly like bourbon, lots of wood on the finish, a perfect crossover rum
Grenada 13 Year - thicker, fatter textures but with little pronounced sweetness, classic sugarcane rum flavor with a vanilla finish
Fijian 9 Year - the most tropical of the series, honey and sugarcane dance with coconut and tropical fruit on the nose. This would make the best pina colada ever or mai tai.
These are amazing bottlings that showcase the variety of rum flavors, as well as the quality it can offer spirits fans. Look for these in the near future (given that they do not cost too much!).
-David Driscoll