Thursday, March 31, 2016

South Florida Distillers Releases First Batch of Single Barrel Aged Fwaygo

     South Florida Distillers, makers of Fwaygo white rum, has marked its one-year anniversary with a special bottling.   Starting this week, founding partners Joe Durkin and Avi Eisenberg will begin selling their first batch of aged Fwayo, an award-winning white rum aged in virgin white American oak barrels.   Aging since February 22, 2015, the limited-edition rum, dubbed simply "single barrel Fwaygo," is twice-distilled, producing a deep, toffee-hued liquor.
     "The flavor we've arrived at is very unique and almost fools you into thinking you're drinking a bourbon," says Durkin. "It's got a really strong, smoky front end that moves into rum-like notes of sweet toffee, caramel, and vanilla on the back end. We like to think of it as getting the best of both worlds."
     True rum enthusiasts can geek it up by visiting the South Florida Distillers website, where they can find the distiller's notes for each bottle; in other words, you can look up how your rum was aged, including what barrel it was aged in, the char level of the barrel, when it was filled, when it was emptied, and at what proof it was aged.
     If you're interested in getting your hands on a bottle of single-barrel Fwaygo, act fast. The distillery's first special-edition bottle, a Grilled Pineapple Fwaygo made from locally harvested fruit that went on sale last October, sold out in record time.   Bottles will go on sale at the distillery at noon Thursday, March 24. Priced at $60 each, bottles of single-barrel Fwaygo will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Burlock Coast's  Rum Shop (inside the Fort Lauderdale Ritz-Carlton, 1 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.) is the only retail market carrying the specialty release.
South Florida Distillers is located at 1110 NE Eighth Ave., Unit 3C, Fort Lauderdale. Visit southfloridadistillers.com.