In praise of Rum

[Salad Dodger]

Whilst on holiday last Autumn, I discovered Kraken rum with roast coffee flavouring. What a revelation! It's like tiramisu in a glass.
Santa kindly brought me some for Christmas, and I am sitting here sampling it now. No mixer, just some ice cubes. Lovely.

Are there any other rum lovers amongst the CycleChatterati?

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I'm sure there are many rum lovers on here.

 

[ianrauk]

A third of a pint of spiced rum topped up with coke and ice will do for me ta.
Absolutely love spiced rums, in good measures.

 

[Brandane]

Appleton rum, from Jamaica, is my favourite. Have managed to get through a reasonable (but sadly sensible-ish) amount over Christmas and New Year.

Bought my brother a bottle of Kraken for Christmas and helped him drink it. Very pleasant it was.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Oh, a lover of rum? I was thinking about something else completely

 

[cyberknight]

when i was in my 20s i used to drink a double navy rum with ice .

 

[PeteXXX]

Before my teetotal days I used to love a large Woods Navy, no ice, with a dash of blackcurrant 🍇

 

[Beebo]

I love rum. But mainly the unspiced varieties.
Havana Club 7 is my go to, with a big wedge of lime and coke.

 

[Dave7]

I have never been able to drink rum.
When I was 17 one morning, an older guy put his arm around my shoulder and breathed in my face.
Turned out he had been on rum the previous night....... the smell made me feel sick. I can smell it now, 60 years later

 

[postman]

My sons future father in law likes Kraken,at his 70th birthday party every table had an empty bottle with battery operated lights in them,he had emptied the bottles himself over the past few years,we took ours home.

 

[Time Waster]

I was given a bottle of Old Myers Dark rum bought on their holiday in Jamaica. I was about 18 or so and it was a pressie brought back to me by my parents from Jamaica. It was really cheap there but impossible to find over here. It was a fine rum to drink on its own, real smooth and IMHO a match for the finest Scottish single malt. Turns out it is sold widely on the Greeek Islands and other places in GReece too. The same people bought me a bottle back from a trip there too a few years later.

Since that time I have tried a few but I would say that my favourite right now is Cane Rock. It is a Jamaican rum from a single estate full of intense and sublte flavours and undertones. AIUI real west indies rum is kind of like Scottish single malt. Each estate on the larger islands has their own character and flavours. One side of the island of Jamaica has different soils to another part of the island and this apparently comes out in the cane sugar and the final outcome of rum. Barbadan rum can be different. Venezuelan rum is different as is cuban rum. They all have their differences.

I have not tried spiced or flavoured rum much. I am afraid I have the rum elitism that scottish single malt elitist fans have for that beverage. You would not see Islay distillers selling their single malts with banana flavouring so why should you do that with good rum. The answer is likely that you do not, that the flavoured or spiced rums are likely cheaper rum which needs the added flavourings to mask the deficit in flavour from the base rum.

If you live in Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire or Yorkshire and can get to a Booths supermarket then do so. They are starting to stock more and more rums. In among the flavoured rums are good sipping rum from single estates. If you do not like rum then give some of these a try if you can. Or there is a famous pub in Brixton that sells possibly the widest range of rums you will ever see in one place in the UK, certainly in a UK pub or bar. That is if it is still open and run the same. Also, I think the George the IV in Eskdale used to sell a lot of single malts but also a fair few rums too. That was sold on though so might not do this now. I hope they do but I have not been in for 20 plus years.

 

[Gwylan]

In my early 20s I got totalled on rum with a group of chums
Of those lifelong chums who survived 5 out the 6 have varied recollections or no recall.
Two of them re-enacted the events of that night later. Accounts of the event vary.
The upshot remains my reaction to rum.

I'm hypersensitive to something in rum.
The first smell turns my stomach. My body reacts with a warning that if I touch that stuff there will be consequences
A bit of rum laced Christmas pudding made the day and Boxing day dire.
It's been more than 50 years so I don't expect much to change.
But Cognac, Armagnac and my favourite, Calvados are quite another matter.

 

[TheDoctor]

I've got dark rum, Bacardi, gold spiced and Kraken in my fridge right now, if that answers the question?
I've yet to have a rum-based cocktail I didn't love.

 

[Emanresu]

Not a rum drinker or any spirits really, a trip through the Highlands put me off if I remember correctly - or if I can remember at all.

Try white rum in a coconut where it mixes with the coconut milk. Turn the central heating to max and put on your most colourful tops to enhance the experience.

 

[Tenkaykev]

First time getting drunk on rum put me off, so I've not touched the stuff for nigh on 60 years ( working out the timeline made me realise how old I am! ). It also brought to mind an album from one of my favourite bands.