The Legendary Alnwick Rum no less. The Spirit of Northumberland it proclaims. Not much of a proclamation to make really. I can’t think of a drink other than Newcastle Brown Ale the North East has produced, which is famous beyond its own counties borders.
We’re a funny little bunch up here in the North East of England. When we aren’t watching our EPL soccer teams FC United of Newcastle and the Mackem Red and White Stripes, reading the Viz or eating Kebabs we are usually to be found boozing. In actual fact we usually do most of these things pretty much at the same time…….
The jewel in the crown of Demerara Distillers Limited, certainly for those of modest means is the El Dorado 21 Year Old Finest Demerara rum.
Lamb’s Navy Rum is seen in just about every Supermarket off-license, public house and Working Mens Club (WMC) the length and breadth of England (and quite possible Scotland and Wales too).
I do enjoy reading other people’s rum reviews. Unfortunately I feel many reviewers take a very lazy approach to the reviews, often quoting in full, the notes on the bottle or the companies website. This can lead to very generic and to be honest quite boring review. It adds padding to the review but little else.
The British have a long standing love affair with dark rum. Most navy rum is British Navy Rum. Dark, sweet Demerara based rum’s are fairly commonplace in the UK Supermarkets. Brands such as Lamb’s and Captain Morgan lead the way in terms of sales. Rum which has been distilled and aged in the Caribbean but transported to the UK for blending (and occasionally further ageing). Lamb’s and Captain Morgan use a blend of different rum’s from different islands. Jamaican rum is used in Captain Morgan to lead the way in terms of flavour (it fails miserably).
Lemon Hart is a rum brand which as intrigued me for some time. Talked about regularly on websites devoted to rum, yet strangely absent from the country where it is blended and bottled. I’ve never come across a bottle of Lemon Hart rum in any store in the UK – ever. Only very recently I notice that The Whisky Exchange have recently begun stocking their Dark rum and the 151 proof. These rum’s seem very popular over the pond.