Odds & Ends: 11/12/2007

I’ve been debating what to post next.  I haven’t sat down to do any reviews lately, but it’s obviously not for any lack of spirits.  I’ve just been rather busy lately, and doing a full review of a rum or a restaurant requires sitting down with the intention of doing so and spending the next hour or so in the exercise.  I’ll do one soon, I promise.  I’m not sure if it’ll be another rum or another restaurant, or if I’ll go completely crazy and review something else entirely like a beer or chocolate-covered ant, but it’ll be something, and I’ll be reviewing it, and then everyone will know what The Dood thinks about whatever IT is.

The Great White Way

I’ve never been a big fan of white rums.  It’s always been spiced or aged or something that won’t ever be mistaken for vodka at first sight.  Until very recently I didn’t even own any white/silver/platinum rums – which are all the same color…which is clear…but “Clear Rum” doesn’t seem very marketable…although “Ron Claro” has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?  Note to self: trademark/copyright “Ron Claro”. 

My brother likes to point out that you can’t make a REAL mai tai (one of my favorite cocktails) without white rum, and that what I make on hot summer days is really a gross bastardization that isn’t worthy of the name (which is why I started referring to them as “Island Doods” instead of “Mai Tais”…I’ll post the recipe some other time).  So I took the time to research a few choices and decided to try out Ron Matusalem Platino (Platinum for the Spanishly-challenged).

The Matusalem is, in fact, fantastic.  It’s not a sipping rum, but it’s smooth and floral and fantastic in a cocktail.  I haven’t yet used it for a mai tai, but that experiment is forthcoming, trust me.  I’m also thinking that it will probably make an excellent base for future spices/blends/infusions/cures-for-tropical-diseases.

Well, if Matusalem is that good, what about other options?  Enter Scott’s review of Oronoco rum from Brazil.  This rum is, in a word, superb.  It is the liquid definition of “smooth”.  It is far richer than any other white I’ve ever tried, but not brutish about it.  This could actually be a sipper, although I’ll let you know right now that this is going to find its way in to some cocktails.  Remember boys and girls, better liquor makes better cocktails – and better cocktails make for better everything.

Rum Rumors

Pretty much all of the following were found at the Ministry of Rum forums.

Demerara Distillers Ltd, the people that bring you the fantastic El Dorado line of rums, have apparently bottled a few cases of Single Barrel rum.  Per Ed Hamilton, “…Demerara Single Barrel will be available in a few select stores. It hasn’t been released yet…I was told by the importer that it will be available first in New York and New Jersey.”  Expect this rum to be available around the end of November.

From the people that brought you Zaya and Ron Zacapa 23 Anos, soon you’ll be able to rejoice in a glass of Ron Zacapa XO, the distillery’s new 30-year blend.  RZXO is a product that’s been available outside of the US for a while, but this new 30-year-blend will apparently actually make it States-Side.  Details are a bit hazy, but according to what I’ve seen, expect some level of syrupy bliss in 2008.

Pending Travel

Going to be spending the Thanksgiving holiday out in the middle of the ocean this year.  Mrs. Dood and I will be taking a Caribbean cruise with her family for the holiday instead of sitting around and eating turkey and potatoes and pies and watching football.  It’s a rather big change, but we all have to make sacrifices.  One of the big benefits – beyond just easy access to all kinds of rum for a lot less money than usual – is that we’ll be able to visit the Anguilla Rum building and do a little rum tasting of the Pyrat Rum that calls Anguilla home.

I’ll be doing a thorough write-up of our Pyrat adventure for Refined Vices.  If you haven’t been to the site before, I recommend taking a peek.  I’ll post a link to the article here after I get it done, as well as do a review of the Pyrat Cask 23, of which I’ll be bringing home as many bottles as people will let me, and even more if I can get away with it.

This travel, of course, also means that there won’t be any Dood Updates next week.  I know, I know, how will either of you that read this ever survive without at least one Dood Update?  I know it will be difficult, but if we all try, I’m sure we can make it through these rough times.  I recommend some good rum to make the time pass more quickly.