Bacardi Black. Along with Bacardi Gold, the two rums have recently been re-released into the UK market at 40% ABV rather than 37.5%. For whatever reason Bacardi Black is not as readily available as the White Superior or Gold. In most supermarkets and many off licenses the White Superior and Gold can be picked up at entry-level prices. However, the Black is largely absent from these outlets.
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Another holiday bottle that I thought I would review. I found this in a Supermarket in Ayia Napa amongst a selection of cheap looking Greek and Cypriot rum. I passed on the various Greek/Cypriot efforts and settled for this Black Head Rum. It is distributed by Slaur International, Le Havre, France. Those who have read my introduction will be aware that amongst my first rum tastings was Bardinet Negrita rum. That rum was also French. Negrita also had a rather questionable stereotype on the label. I’m really pretty shocked by this one to be honest.
I first came across this rum when travelling on a Thomson (TUI) cruise. I was on an all inclusive package no dark rum’s listed on the menu. I thought I may as well chance my arm and see what they would give me if I just asked for a dark rum and cola. I was quite surprised how quickly the bartender understood my request (getting anything other than a Bacardi and Coke when you mention rum is still a problem in the UK!). I was equally surprised how quickly he poured the measure and returned the bottle to below the bar. I got a quick glance at the bottle and noticed only the “medals” at the bottom. There was no charge for the drink so I sat down quite smugly thinking I might have been onto a bit of a winner.
This is really the signature rum for the Captain Morgan brand. However, it is no longer its most recognised rum/spirit drink. A lot of people recognise Morgan’s Spiced (UK) Or Captain Morgan Original/Gold Spiced Rum (USA). There are so many differences around the world that I won’t even begin to try and explain any further variations within the Captain Morgan brand. The UK has recently begun adopting the US style bottlings of the Spiced Rum.
English Harbour is a rum which I had been looking at for some time. For whatever reasons I had resisted the temptation to buy a bottle online. I was presently surprised to find Newcastle (Upon Tyne) department store Fenwick’s had it in stock. There is something satisfying about actually being able to have the experience of being able to buy a half decent bottle of rum over the counter. Whilst the rum was slightly more expensive than online (£27.50) this was tempered by the ability to have the rum instantly (even though its taken nearly 3 weeks to try it!) and the fact no P&P charges.
Bacardi 8 rum was the “sole preserve of the Bacardi family for over one hundred and thirty years” it is a “unique blend of the finest Bacardi Rums matured for no less than eight years”. Whilst the first part of the of the statement may be slightly fanciful the second part indicates to me that ALL the rum in the bottle is at least 8 years old. Still this hasn’t stopped the Bacardi Bashers and the Rum Conspiracy Theorists (there are some absolute crackers to be found online) from suggesting otherwise…….
A Premium Sipping Rum isn’t really a big deal anymore. You could probably spend most of your life trying every premium sipper and never get close to trying them all. However, what hasn’t really been done before is a white sipping rum. Whilst the casual rum drinker may consider Bacardi Superior to be a premium white rum, in terms of sipping it doesn’t even come close to the kind of smoothness and complexity that befits a true sipping rum.