For as many rums as there are in the world, some are indelibly tied to the country of origin. When somebody asks me for “That rum from Haiti” I know they mean Barbancourt. Talking to someone about the great rum they had while on vacation in St. Croix, they don’t have to mention that it was Cruzan. In Bermuda, I’d bet you it was Gosling’s you were drinking. And nowadays, if you’re talking rum from St. Kitts, then you’re talking Brinley Gold.
That wasn’t always the case, and I’m not kidding. As in more than ten years ago, nobody was talking about it. Brinley’s is one big exception to the belief that if the rum isn’t coming from an ages-old distillery then it isn’t worth drinking. They distilled their first batch of vanilla rum in 2002, and it quickly caught people’s attention. They followed up with a few more flavors (mango, coffee, coconut) before introducing last year their Shipwreck Spiced Rum. Whether it really does come from a recipe found aboard a sunken British ship off the coast of St. Kitts is for you to believe or not, but it is certainly one of the best spiced rums out there.
Me personally, I tend to stick with the one that started it all. As a bartender, relaxing Sunday mornings are a rarity, seeing as they come at the end of a late Saturday night. But every so often I like to pretend, and I get up early, ruin some eggs, overcook some bacon, brew a ridiculously strong cup of coffee and flavor it with the finest vanilla rum out there. And as you can see from the picture, it’s time for a new bottle, both because this one’s almost empty and they’ve also introduced a new design. I need to keep up with the times. (And remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned if what liquor your buying is cheap, there’s probably a reason? The same apparently goes for bacon.)
So pull out the Sunday comics, spike that coffee and Make Life One Long Weekend ™. And no matter how late this Saturday night goes, I’ll definitely be up this Sunday morning. Final round coverage of the The Open Championship begins at 8am and I’ll be looking for Tom Lehman to see if he can repeat his magic from fifteen years ago when he won at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, the same place this year’s Open is at. You might recognize his clothing.
Bottoms Up!
Jack
