"We can go now, if you like."
It is 17:47. Ton Overmars is open until six.
Andrew is developing a taste for rum. Must be from his Jamaican roots. He's dead impressed by the selection at Ton Overmars. Probably the best in Amsterdam. Stuff from all over the Caribbean and beyond. Andrew has been working his way through alternately, the cheap and the interesting ones. Depending on who's paying.
Anejo the rum is called.
"That's a bit vague, Andrew. It doesn't say how old."
Andrew's eyes are much better than mine. Especially reading 5 point print.
"Five years. There's something in Spanish I don't understand."
"Let me have look."
I grab the glasses I pretend to never need, and peer at the back label."
"It says: 'durante mas de 5 anos' - for more than five years. I wonder why they don't put that on the front?"
As we're talking about Cuban rum, Bacardi comes up.
"Do they make any serious rums, Andrew? Proper aged ones?"
"No idea."
"Let's take a look on the internet. . . . Bacardi 8 Anos."
"That sounds like it's aged, dad. What else is there?"
"This:"
"BACARDÍ AÑEJO
Originated in 1862, BACARDI Añejo rum is original, mixable light-bodied, premium aged rum. Aged for up to three years, it is blended to achieve characteristic BACARDI smoothness."
"Aged for up to three years, Andrew."
"Maybe just a year. Or six months."
"Or five minutes. I could claim Dolores's blackberry schnapps was aged for up to 3 million years."
Ron, had I known I would have given you a bottle of one of my own-blended rums, I blend about 15-20 to get a taste I like, not by any a priori approach, but by adjusting it as I go along. Next time. Havana Club Anejo is really tops, one of the best regardless of price. It's easy to spend way too much money in this area. Gosling is good too, blended in Bermuda. Finally, anything from Guyana especially El Dorado:
ReplyDeletehttp://theeldoradorum.com/index.php
I like the 12 years aged one, very rich taste with an interesting fruity accent, I believe a fruit extract may be added, but it is very good. For some of the components they use wooden stills from the 1800s (really).
Gary
That Appleton estate is just bad cheap rum available in duty free.
ReplyDeleteHere's an upscale list, some of I never heard of:
http://www.gayot.com/spirits/top10rums/vizcaya-vxop-cask-21.html
Gosling's black seal rum is my guilty pleasure, and of course there's always the chance of a little Captain.
Tom and I have found that this
ReplyDeletehttp://angosturarum.com/Brands/Angostura_1919
is quite nice, especially when when camping on a chilly British summer night.