I am hideously behind on these postings. Work and life seem to get in the way of a lot of things…
In August, bk and I hosted yet another chapter of AA, this time with the focus on rum. It wasn’t as formal as perhaps it should have been. We didn’t specify clear or dark, spiced or non. Yet somehow, we ended up with mostly dark, non-spiced rums. This was an extra-special party for me because my best friend from college, Michelle, was visiting for the weekend.
Here’s the rundown of the rums and some of the the comments from our blind tasting. As you can see, opinions were very divided.
- Myers: thin body, spicy but
light/smell=poop/syrup! ewww!/antiseptic with a touch of rum/strong aroma and oaky taste/punch to the face!/bad whiskey - New Orleans: hug then a punch/smooth/clean, possibly young, CHEAP/smells like rubbing alcohol/oooh that smell! it burns!/like bad vodka/sweet and smooth like amaretto – needs a mixer/tastes like grappa/moonshine/thumbs down
- Berkshire Mountain Distillery: a hairy object in the fridge/ a mix between 1 and 2/ light vanilla- I like! /smells nice! mellow! smooth! i could drink it straight!/
- Zaya: a dirty old man/very nice, vanilla taste/sensitive taste, sweet finish/vanilla extract/smells like a ru
m and coke, tastes smooth and sweet/smell= candy/this smells yummy like dessert, mapley!tasty shit! - Appleton: European/not horrid, wants ginger and lime/good oaky taste/strong smell, kinda rank/boozy, not clean, finishes harsh/tastes=blahhhhhh/Ah! No thanks!
- Sailor Jerry: good, clean, slick/vanilla and bananas, finishes harsh/burns a little/shaking my head/no, no/pretty good overall
- Papagayo: harsh/vanilla taste/smooth!/smooth and grunty/heavy vanilla/so smooth, almost like Rob Thomas/
- Westerhall: mildly sweet/warm light and fruity/yum, one of my faves/Gnar Gnar Binks/ehhhh/too much burning/butterscotch
- Diplomatico: smells good, not bad, I could drink this!/syrupy, easy finish, but bland/no way/after notes of a stick/OK/tasty/too hot
- Pyrat: spices/less sweet and very good/yummy/smells citrusy and piney, sweet, good times/juicy fruit nose/Juicy fruit!
Once again, it was difficult to pick a clear winner, though choosing a loser was very easy. The $6.99 bottle of clear New Orleans rum I’d picked up earlier that day while getting some last-minute supplies was definitely the one that finished dead last. We drank the rest, eventually, but only after we’d made it through every other one and the rest of our gins.
After tasting all of these in the form of a dark and stormy too, I think our preferences became more pronounced. At the end of the day, we were torn between the Papagayo, the Berkshire Mountain and perhaps surprisingly, the Sailor Jerry.
More photos after the jump:
Previously:
Albany AA does bourbon and scotch
Eds note: There have been other AA’s but these are the only ones we’ve documented.
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