St Abbs Captain’s Table XO comes from newcomers Black Mountain Spirits. They have three rums in the St Abbs range. St Abbs is the brain child of entrepeneur David Owens. David has a recent history in the rum world. He was involved in Takamaka (formerly Takamaka Bay) rum which hailed from the Seychelles.
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Bologne Black Cane is a relatively new white rhum agricole from established producer Rhum Bologne. Hailing from the island of Guadeloupe, Rhum Bologne are perhaps best known for the popularity of their rhum blanc.
This is produced in various ABV’s and some is even available by the bag in box method in many French supermarkets. Have I ever mentioned the variety of white agricole rhum available in French supermarkets at crazy prices? Wow!
Don Q Cristal is the brands entry level white rum. Don Q hail from Puerto Rico like Bacardi. Like Bacardi they also distill their rums using column distillation. Unlike Bacardi they are quite well thought of particularly in their native country.
Around 18 months ago Don Q had a major re-brand and began marketing and distributing their rums to wider global audience. Don Q’s range is now readily available in the UK through mail order and sprinkling of stores. I’ve previously reviewed their “dark” rum range but never quite got around to writing about the Cristal.
Manchester Rum Festival was the city’s first real stab at a fully fledged Rum Festival. Over the past couple of years a few rum events have “sprung” up all over the country. With Rum Festivals being held in Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and of course the original Rumfest in London.
Blackadder Raw Cask Barbados Foursquare rum. Blackadder’s Raw Cask rum selection are a number of rums which are “raw” and straight from the cask. No colouring, no additives and no filtration, so they look a little cloudy and raw.
Sourcing Blackadder rum has proved difficult. I ended up getting this bottling from Poland, of all places. This is particularly frustrating as most of Blackadder’s range is aged in the UK.
Elements Eight Fine Aged Platinum rum hails from the island of St Lucia. Elements Eight is the brainchild of Carl Stephenson (whose past employers include Wray and Nephew). Their rums have won numerous awards since they were launched back in 2006.
Platinum is a premium white rum. Unlike many white rums it is actually an aged rum. Aged up to 4 years in ex-Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels. It is then gently filtered to remove any colour. Leaving a very clean, crisp spirit behind. Unlike many rums bottled by UK companies this has been entirely tropically aged.
A while back I reviewed a Royal Navy rum from prior to Black Tot Day. I was able to do this by buying a sample from The Old Spirits Company.
The Old Spirits Company is ran by spirits and cocktail enthusiast Edgar Harden. It offers buyers the chance to buy scarce and hard to find bottlings from years gone by. The Old Spirits Company sells aged spirits as in bottled a long time ago rather than distilled a long time ago. Though in some instances both does apply!