By the Dawn's Early Light

     This time change has meant that it stays darker longer into the morning.  Instead of seeing sun-up, it is just dawn when I head down the dock toward the office.   It give a different perspective on the day, birds still perched on the pilings and no real strong definition  as you glance around you.  I still love my early morning strolls, waiting for sun rise.  ;o)

Flor de Cana: "Flower of Cane"

    The translation from Nicaraguan Spanish to English doesn't loose a thing, the Flor de Cana line of rums truly are the "Flower of Cane".    Making its first appearances is 1890, Flor de Cana was produced at the San Antonio Sugar Mill in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.   Founded by Francisco Alfredo Pellas and still being run by descendants of Francisco Alfredo Pellas.   Flor de Cana has grown to be the largest selling brand of rum in all of Central America.    

     For over a century now Flor de Cana has been producing some of the finest rum anywhere.  There was a time though during the turbulent revolutionary year that the Flor de Cana producers were afraid that the Sandinistas would confiscate their supply of aging rum, so many of the barrels were hidden outside of Nicaragua.   After the elections that ousted the Sandinistas and property rights restored, Flor de Cana brought all of their aging rum back into the country and currently have one of the largest reserves of aged rums anywhere.

     Flor de Cana has modernized all of their facilities over the years until today they have a blend of traditional craftsmanship and the most modern facilities from which to produce their rums.      After building the distillery, it was not until 1937 that Flor De Caña was introduced by Compania Licorera de Nicaragua, S.A. (CLNSA).    Grupo Pellas was founded in 1950.    It was the first company to distribute the rum, and in 1959 it was first exported to Venezuela, Costa Rica and other Central American countries.

     During 1963 and 1965 the Plantation in  Chichigalpa underwent a complete modernization updates.       8 years later a second distillery was constructed in Honduras.   The Plantation in Chichigalpa was completely modernized in 1996.

 

 

 

 

     This year there has been another modernization of the bottling for these venerable old rums.  The new bottles have a different shape and label, and if you are not looking for them you will not recognize them as being Flor de Cana.   New label or old, the same time proven quality of rum is still what you pour into your glass.  

 

     We proudly pour the entire line of Flor de Cana that is available here in Florida at the Rum Bar here in Key West every day.  Give them a try you won't be disappointed.  :o)

 

Carta Vieja, the Unknown Distillery for Panama Outsiders

     Carta Vieja Rums are one of the most popular in Panama, but outside of Panama, they are very scarce and virtually unknown.   They offer several expressions of their rums and they are very respectable and popular among the Panamanians.

 

    Carta Vieja rum is processed differently. It is blended and aged.  The Anejo Rum is aged for years in used bourbon casks Aging adds flavor and color. Samples are taken throughout the process and when it is ready it goes off to bottling.   Carta Vieja offers 4 expressions, Claro, Extra Claro, Anejo, and Golden Cask 18 Year Old Solera.   All are very nice rums that sell very well in Panama, but are just becoming known here in America.

     An innovative way of aging rum that is most often employed by rum producers in Spanish speaking countries is called the Solera method of aging. Solera was once described by a rum expert as “Spanish for cheating”, but in fact is just a way of taking the raw edges off aged rum much quicker than the traditional one barrel methods of aging and gives the master blender much more control over the final product.

     Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, Sherry, Madeira, vinegar, brandy and of course rum. It is a method of fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years.

 

     Rum produced from a solera system should not have a formal age statement as it is a blend of rum from many vintages, but for marketing purposes the label will often display some sort of age.

     The only drawback from this system of aging is the initial investment in barrels, rum and warehouse space.

     The Solera system consists of a stock of rum in oak barrels, split into graduated units each of different maturation ages and each of equal volume. The final stage of finished rum is called the Solera. The supporting steps or scales are called criaderas. Rum for bottling and blending is drawn from the Solera, which is replaced by rum from the immediately supporting criadera of rum of the same style, but a little younger and less complex. From there, replacements proceed in succession down the scales of the system until the youngest criadera is refreshed with carefully selected young rum. The number of criaderas used before the solera varies from distillery to distillery. Many distillers will finish their rum in barrels previously used for sherry or port, adding even more flavour to the finished product.

     When rum from the oldest barrels of any one Solera is withdrawn for bottling, usually between 10 to 15% of the rum in the barrel, the same amount of rum is removed from an equivalent number of barrels of the first cridera or nursery. The rum is then blended and added in equal proportions to the space left in the barrels of the Solera. During the following months or years the slightly younger rum will take on the characteristics of the majority of the older rum in the barrel. All the rum in the barrel becomes exactly the same as the rum which was taken out months previously. 

 

     There are many rum companies throughout Central and South America are utilizing the Solera aging and blending system.   The system general produces a very nice resultant product.   ;o) 

 

New High Tech Fake ID's, What Next to Trip up The Sellers of Alcohol?

     As though we don't already have enough pressure on us as bartenders to spot the under age people's fake ID's out there, but now they can fool the scanners the police are carrying.   Tell me, how are bartenders with only their eyes expected to make a decision as to what is real and what is fake.  This is becoming a serious problem, and one that can cost a bartender a lot of money if they get scammed by some of these new generation high tech fakes.   Below is a story that was on NBC 4 News that did some investigation into them and they found some very interesting things.

trying to buy cocktails.  Today there are

Some New Fake IDs Pass as Legitimate Licenses 

Source: NBC 4 News

By Scott MacFarlane

March 13, 2014

     A new generation of fake driver's licenses has infiltrated the Washington, D.C. region, many of them sophisticated enough to fool law enforcement and scanning devices, according to a review by the News4 I-Team. 

     Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control officials reported an influx of thousands of phony licenses in recent months, including a series of fakes that successfully tricked the driver's license readers utilized by county police officers during traffic stops. 

     An overwhelming number of the licenses were confiscated from teenagers, who'd used the licenses to purchase alcohol at restaurants or retail stores. 

     "They look like the type of identification you'd go to the motor vehicle department and purchase," Montgomery County Police Sgt. Mark White said. "Some people are trusting these [licenses] so much, they're actually passing them as legitimate driver's licenses to police." 

     Law enforcement officials suspect the latest wave of IDs was generated in China. The driver's licenses are manufactured there, officials said, then sold online to American teenagers. 

     Police said some of the sites, including vendors which were recently scrutinized by Congress, sell licenses for approximately $150. 

     Customers send credit card information or cash overseas to the site operators and later receive the phony identification in the mail. 

     Lee Williams, an investigator for Montgomery County, said the ID manufacturers have meticulous attention to detail, and include some of the microscopic details featured in legitimate state driver's licenses, including watermarks and fine print.

 

     Read more at http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Some-New-Fake-IDs-Pass-as-Legitimate-Licenses_Washington-DC-250275301.html

 

    

     First they were stealing our identity, now they have ID's that can fool the scanners and the police.  The system does need tom updating.  ;o)

 

A Brief History of "Kill Devil"

     Today it is known as Rum, but back in the days of the pirates and the sailors of the 1700's, it was called "Kill Devil".  Kill Devil or rum was a commodity and would be traded for salted fish, pork, beef, timber and livestock.   Very much  a part of the "Triangular Trade" between the colonies, Africa and Barbados during the era.  

    During this period, distilleries were found at nearly every sugar plantation in the Caribbean.  Kill Devil was readily available and could be found aboard nearly every vessel sailing on the ocean.  Barbados rum seems to be the first to be called "kill devil", but the source of the name is really obscure.   Most rums originated in the West Indies, Barbados in the middle 1600's , where they were called "kill devil" or "rumbullion".  By 1667, they were simply called "rum",

      American Colonists would buy slaves from Africa, and trade them for Molasses to make rum in New England, then trade the rum for more slaves.  The "Triangular Trade" flourished for more that two centuries, but came to an end in the 1880's.   Kill Devil was a valuable commodity and would be protected at all cost.

   Off of the Coast of North Carolina where the cold waters of the Labrador Current met the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, there are hazards of severe weather, strong currents and navigational hazards that have caused the loss of many ships over the years.  Known as the "graveyard of the Atlantic", there have been thousands of ships documented as having sunken in the area around "Diamond Shoals".   Pirates, Buccaneers and other scallywags were known to sail the waters off of Nag's Head and plunder the bounties from ships in distress around this area.  Pirates would put lights on horses and walk the beach with them luring ships to close to the shoals, where they would run aground and meet up with the marauders that would steal the cargo.  It was this practice that was the basis for the name of the town of Nag's Head.  Much of the rum taken from the ships was taken into the sand dunes and hidden until they could later retrieve it for sale or their own consumption.  These rums were reportedly "strong enough to "kill the devil"  hidden in the dunes of Dare County which was the reason that the area was renamed "Kill Devil Hills".   This is the same area that the Wright Brothers flew the first powered flight as well.


   Kill Devil, or rum as we call it today has a very long and glorious history, between the Maritime History and on the land, it is a very refined spirit today compared to the unaged rugged spirit of the days when it was known as  "Kill Devil".

2014 Rum Master Tasting Results

     The results for the 2014 Rum Masters Tasting had some real surprises.  It is starting to reflect the new look for the category.  This is one event that stresses the merits of each of the rums on ts own, not the mixability or how it tastes when mixed with something.   This is a London based tasting that each year does a fine job of judging the expressions  in their own category and presenting a fine set of results.

White
Company	Product Name	Award
Havana Club	Havana Club Añejo 3yo	Gold
Angostura Ltd	Angostura Reserva	Gold
Fiji Rum Company	Bounty Fiji Rum Premium White	Silver
Joseph Banks	Joseph Banks 5 Island Rum	Silver
Santa Teresa	Santa Teresa Claro	Silver
Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala	Rum Botran Reserva Blanca	Silver
Selvarey	Selvarey White	Silver
Gold up to 7yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Joseph Banks	Joseph Banks 7yo Golden Age Rum	Master
Santa Teresa	Santa Teresa Añejo Gran Reserva	Master
Edrington Distillers	Brugal XV Ron Reserva	Gold
Rémy Cointreau	Mount Gay Distilleries Black Barrel Rum	Gold
One Eyed Spirits	Ron de Jeremy Rum	Gold
Berry Bros & Rudd	Penny Blue XO Mauritian Rum, Batch No.1	Gold
Edrington Distillers	Brugal Añejo	Silver
Ocean’s Distillery	Ocean’s Mellow & Singular 7yo	Silver
Amrut Distilleries	Amrut Two Indies Rum	Silver
Rock Spirits	Screech 80° Rum	Silver
Gold 8-12yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Abbey Holdings	St Nicholas Abbey Gold 10yo	Gold
Santa Teresa	Santa Teresa Selecto	Silver
Tortuga International Holdings	Tortuga 12yo Aged Gold Rum	Silver
Gold over 12yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Destilaria Ron Millonario	Ron Millonario XO Rum	Master
Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala	Botran Solera 1893	Master
Destilaria Ron Millonario	Ron Millonario Solera 15yo	Gold
La Hechicera	La Hechicera	Gold
Abbey Holdings	St Nicholas Abbey Gold 15yo	Silver
Dark up to 7yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Pusser’s Rum Ltd	Pusser’s Rum	Master
Havana Club	Havana Club Añejo 7yo	Gold
Angostura Ltd	Angostura 7yo	Gold

Dark 8-12yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Angostura Ltd	Angostura 1824	Gold
Westerhall Estate	Westerhall Vintage Rum	Gold
Amathus Drinks	Flor de Cana Centenario 12yo	Gold
Angostura Ltd	Angostura 1919	Silver
Dark over 12yo
Company	Product Name	Award
Pusser’s Rum Ltd	Pusser’s Navy Rum 15yo	Master
Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua	Flor de Cana Centenario Gold 18yo	Gold
Distilleria Serralles	Don Q Añejo	Gold
Distilleria Serralles	Don Q Gran Añejo	Gold
Premium
Company	Product Name	Award
Santa Teresa	Santa Teresa 1796	Gold
Super-Premium
Company	Product Name	Award
Rémy Cointreau	Mount Gay Distilleries Extra Old	Gold
La Hechicera	La Hechicera	Gold
Maverick Drinks	Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Rumbullion	Gold
Havana Club	Havana Club Selección de Maestros	Gold
Rhum Agricole
Company	Product Name	Award
Distillerie Damoiseau	Very Old Rhum Damoiseau 10yo 2001 Vintage	Master
Distillerie Damoiseau	Very Old Rhum Damoiseau XO	Gold
Héritiers Crassous de Medeuil	Very Old Rhum J.M 10yo 2002 Vintage	Gold
Héritiers Crassous de Medeuil	Very Old Rhum J.M XO	Silver
Héritiers Clement	Clement Aged Rum Select Barrel	Silver
Héritiers Clement	Very Old Rum Clement VSOP	Silver

Flavoured Rum
Company	Product Name	Award
Casa Santana Ron y Licores	Juan Valdez Coffee-Infused 8yo Rum	Master
Quintessential Brands	Toussaint Coffee Rum Liqueur	Gold
Worthy Park Estate	Rum-Bar Rum Cream Liqueur	Gold
Spiced Rum
Company	Product Name	Award
Fiji Rum Company	Bounty Fiji Rum Premium Spiced	Master
One Eyed Spirits	Ron de Jeremy Spiced Rum	Master
Bardinet SA	Negrita Spiced Rum	Gold
Blavod Drinks	Red Leg Rum	Gold
William Grant & Sons	Sailor Jerry	Gold
Rock Spirits	Screech 70° Spiced Rum	Silver
Maverick Drinks	Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Rumbullion	Silver
Maverick Drinks	Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Rumbullion Navy Strength	Silver
Overproof
Company	Product Name	Award
Westerhall Estate	Westerhall Jack Iron Rum	Master
William Grant & Sons	Wood’s Old Navy Rum	Gold
Worthy Park Estate	Rum-Bar White Overproof	Silver

     I found the results very interesting, especially where there were so many rums entered that we don't get to see here in the United States.  Rums like Havana Club, Wood's Old Navy, Toussaint Coffee Rum Liqueur, Rhum Damoiseau 10 year old, 2001 Vintage or St Nicholas Abbey Gold 10 year old.  Very impressive list and a great job was done by the judges.  ;o)