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| David Meaux and Cole LeBlanc |
“Wildcatting” is
an oilfield term that relates to a “Hail Mary “ in football in that it is a
real long shot. In the oilfields,
sometimes it becomes a “Rank Wildcat” if it is an even longer shot of
happening. Cole LeBlanc and David
Meaux , two landmen opening a rum distillery is a “Rank Wildcat” if there ever
was one.
Arcadiana,
Louisiana grows a huge amount of sugar cane, more than many Caribbean nations,
but there was no rum distillery. Cole
and David set out to remedy this problem and founded Rank Wildcat Spirits. They
tackled the application for federal, state and parish licenses and permits
aggressively and finally in February of 2012 they became only the second fully
licensed distillery in Louisiana since Prohibition. |
| Hand-crafted Still "Lulu" |
The spirits are
distilled in their handmade stainless steel and copper still “Lulu”. “The rum is made from Arcadian sugar cane and
premium molasses. “Arcadiana sugar cane
is what makes Sweet Crude special and that is the only flavor we want to
channel.”
Initially Sweet
Crude has an aroma not unlike that of an “agricole”. The grassiness is very apparent indicating it
origin of pure cane syrup. There is a
natural sweetness on the lips and clean and smooth flavor as it passes across
the palate. The finish is subtle and
lingers leaving a unique flavors of the high grade sugar cane and molasses used
in the process.
This will mix
well in a wide variety of cocktails like daiquiri, mojito, or even a Mai Tai. I like the flavor that it adds to the
mix. Unfortunately you can only get
Sweet Crude Rum in Louisiana at this time, but hopefully in the near future it
will be available in other places.
There is talk of an aged version coming out in the future that will be
called "Black Gold Cane-Cured Rum"
