Speaking of JCVD...

I can't think of Van Damme anymore without thinking of my friend Nicolas Palazzi, who also is good-looking, cut out of granite, and speaks with a sexy French accent (and who also geeks out for terrible action flicks with guys like Michael Dudikoff). This is the imposing Mr. Palazzi standing off to the side in Jalisco, where we both travelled earlier this year. It was like having the Terminator with you while drinking tequila. I bring him up now because his fantastic sherry-aged rum just won "Rum of the Year" from Wine & Spirits Magazine. This one:

Of course they list it as $180 in the article, which is indeed what it used to cost. In celebration of Nic's award and JCVD's birthday, we're going to offer a new deal:

Equipo Navazos-Nicolas Palazzi Oloroso-Aged Cask Strength Spanish Rum $99.99 - Spanish rum aged in the finest Oloroso casks in the world? Yes, please! From the San Francisco Chronicle: The product is a partnership between Equipo Navazos, which hunts and bottles rare individual casks of Sherry; and Nicolas Palazzi, who, under his PM Spirits label, does much the same with the hard stuff. The short story: Rum aged for five years in the Caribbean was bartered with a Sherry house, which then aged it another decade in a solera-style system of oloroso casks. The result is 1,500 bottles that combine the burnished depth of Sherry, the sweetness of bourbon cask and the funk of molasses. You won't encounter another rum like it.

-David Driscoll