Some rum.

Plantation produces a number of interesting rums, from a bargain priced base level one for mixing to a pineapple bark infusion--especially interesting--and some specialist aged editions including its 20 Anniversary Rum , in fact a blend of twenty year old and younger spirits. The devil may have taken a particularly greedy share of this last one, which has the thick texture and sweet tone almost of a liqueur without, however, the cloying character that compromises so many of them. An interesting rum that comes at an eye-watering cost of something like $*** a bottle.

Privateer , out of Ipswich, Massachsetts, distills an excellent cask strength rum from molasses in the New England tradition, called Navy Yard. Notwithstanding an alcohol content of a precise 57.4%, this is a smooth, rich, round spirit redolent of vanilla. Highly recommended.

The Foursquare Criterion cask strength Barbadian rum (56% abv) is not nearly so good notwithstanding Four Square’s peerless reputation as the distiller du jour. It is a decent enough rum, but resembles a slightly hotter, harsher, thinner and less flavorful version of the Navy Yard. In common with all four Square products the Criterion commands a premium price and in this case the rum is inadequate value for money.

Somehow The Real McCoy Spirit Company based in Mystic, Connecticut, manages to price the Foursquare rum it imports at a lower point than Foursquare itself. The limited edition twelve year old rum aged in rum Madeira and Bourbon casks is something special and outstanding value at about $50 the last time we looked. It is a lush and elegant rum reminiscent of a complex Madeira. It has, as the label accurately claims, “hints of toasted walnut, tropical fruit and sweet oak with a smooth warm finish.” Get some if you can.  

Possibly the most beguiling rum on the planet right now, and a steal at something like $35 a bottle, volume 1 of ‘the Rum Cooperative’ from Bostonian Bully Boy, an unlikely source given the mediocre quality of its other products, blends rums in descending order of proportion from Panama, the Dominican Republic, Boston itself, Trinidad and Jamaica. The alchemy creates an exceptionally smooth and complex spirit with a big taste reminiscent of Christmas cake or plum pudding rendered dry instead of sweet. This rum proclaims rather than hints at its flavor. An arresting label featuring the flora of the five sources surrounding clasped hands is wonderful iconography.

The Rum Cooperative from Bully Boy.

When it hit the shelves in New England this spring volume 1 justifiably became the buzz of the craft distilling world. It is imperative to grab a few bottles before they disappear; volume 1, its title may infer, will be the first, limited, edition of a series. For the take of the makers on their product go to www.therumcooperative.com