2015 LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION RUM RESULTS

     The Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition awards many different spirits, wines and mixers.  Today on this blog the interest is in what rums did well in the competition.   Below are the winners in the Rum Category.

BEST OF CATEGORY - RUM 

Cruzan Black Strap Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Dark (Unflavored) $17.99

94 Points  

GOLD MEDALS 

Cruzan Black Strap Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Dark (Unflavored) $17.99

94 Points 

Cruzan Single Barrel Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Gold/Amber (Unflavored) $29.99

93 Points

Blue Water Caribbean Gold Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $24.00

92 Points

Bacardi 1873 Solera

Rum (Cane Spirits), Gold/Amber (Unflavored) $22.99

91 Points

Reed & Lacey California Gold

Rum (Cane Spirits), Overproof Rum $46.49

91 Points  

Richland Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rhum Agricole (Unflavored) $60.00

91 Points

Sugar Island Coconut Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rum (Flavored) $19.99

91 Points

Bacardi Reserva Limitada

Rum (Cane Spirits), With indication of age (Unflavored) $109.99

90 Points 

SILVER MEDALS

 Bacardi 8

Rum (Cane Spirits), With indication of age (Unflavored) $22.99 

Bacardi Gold

Rum (Cane Spirits), Gold/Amber (Unflavored) $14.99  

Bacardi Oakheart

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $22.99

BlackMask Spiced Pacific Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $14.00

Cruzan Aged Dark Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Dark (Unflavored) $11.99

Marauda Rum Steelpan

Rum (Cane Spirits), Dark (Unflavored) $35.00

Sammy's Beach Bar Rum Red Head

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rum (Flavored) $24.99

Shellback Rum Silver

Rum (Cane Spirits), White (Unflavored) $17.00 

Shellback Rum Spiced

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $17.00

Sugar Island Spiced Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $19.99

Tiburon Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Gold/Amber (Unflavored) $34.99

Zaya Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Dark (Unflavored) $34.99 

 BRONZE MEDALS

 Cruzan Aged Light Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Gold/Amber (Unflavored) $11.99

El Ron Prohibido Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rum (Flavored)

Rogue Hazelnut Spiced Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $35.15

 

PACKAGING AWARD

El Ron Prohibido Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rum (Flavored)

Container- Silver

Shellback Rum Spiced

Rum (Cane Spirits), Spiced Rum $17.00

Illustration- Bronze

Sugar Island Coconut Rum

Rum (Cane Spirits), Rum (Flavored) $19.99

Illustration- Gold

Yellow Bird, Mystery Cocktail of the Caribbean

Yellow Bird Chilled

     Named for a song written by Haitian songwriter, named after the song Yellow Bird, the English version of the Haitian song Choucoune written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Keith, and popularized by Jamaican singer Harry Belafonte, The Yellow Bird has kind of disappeared from modern cocktail menus.   It has many versions that seem to be the version of the locale from which you find it.  There seems to be no one claiming to be the one that invented, but its home is definitely the Caribbean.  

     The version I like the best is one of the simpler ones, and served daiquiri style in a cocktail glass.  There are frozen versions as well as ones served on the rocks, but I think the intent of the cocktail was to be chilled and served in a cocktail glass.

Yellow Bird on the Rocks

   The Yellow Bird

• 1 1/2 oz. Diolomatico Blanco Rum
• 1/2 oz.    Galiano Liqueur
• 3/4 oz.    Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
• Juice of 1/2 Fresh Lime

Place all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake until really chilled.  Strain into a cocktail glass or a rocks glass filled with fresh ice  Garnish with a cherry and a lime wheel.

     There are some versions that use Banana Liqueur and orange juice and pineapple juice or even crème of coconut, but this seems to be the one that most of the reputable sources use.  I tried one made with Plantation Pineapple Rum, it is also absolutely incredible.   Try some experimenting to get it to your taste, it is a really great summer cocktail.   ;o)
 

Remy Cointreau buys Mount Gay Rum Plantation

Plantation that is now a part of Mount Gay

     Remy Cointreau has acquired a 134-hectare plantation in Barbados, for its Mount Gay rum brand.  The historical Mount Gay plantation is situated around the distillery and it was the distillery's domain in the 18th century.  The plantation will be used to create a  "luxury terroir rum".

      Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, CEO of the Rémy Cointreau Group, said: "We saw this unique opportunity as a sign to pursue our goal to create a true luxury rum brand.  "Here in Barbados, we now gather together all the elements to foster the legacy of Mount Gay Distilleries: authenticity, history and terroir, with a single-estate rum, a genuine Barbados historical 'château'."    The company recently reported "healthy growth" for the brand.

Plantation Rum Reveals New Look

French drinks group Cognac Ferrand has revealed a bottle redesign for its Plantation Dark Rum, at the same time as announcing a new distribution partnership with Identity Drinks Brands.

     Cognac Ferrand has altered both the recipe and bottle design of its Plantation Original Dark  
Rum.   As well as a refreshed bottle design, Cognac Ferrand also altered the blend of its Plantation Dark Rum to include Jamaican rum, making the spirit more suitable for cocktails.   The group has now appointed Identity Drinks Brands to handle its UK distribution from next month.   Identity Drinks Brands was launched by Nick Rodgers, founder of Instil Drinks, in May this year to “focus on high quality spirits that are looking for rapid growth in the UK”.   As part of Instil Drinks, Rodgers oversaw the growth of Plantation Rum.

     “I have Plantation in my blood, quite literally, so I couldn’t be happier to be to be working with and the Ferrand products again,” said Nick Rodgers, founder of Identity Drinks Brands.   “We’ve got some sensational plans to put Citadelle gin back on the map as the original artisanal gin; and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, which was created with renowned cocktail historian David Wondrich, has to be the most exciting liqueur on the market.”  

     Last July, Cognac Ferrand unveiled Plantation Pineapple Rum – Stiggin’s Fancy, created by infusing ripe Queen Victoria pineapples in Plantation Original Dark Rum for three months, before adding the distillate of rum macerated with the bare rind of the fruit.   The product was named one of the most innovative spirits launches of 2014 by The Spirits Business.

US Virgin Islands to File Violations Against Rum Operations

     The U.S. Virgin Islands' environmental agency plans to file a violation order against two rum producers on St. Croix as residents of several communities complain of a black mold persistently staining their properties, cars and boats.    Jamal Nielsen, spokesman for the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, said authorities are "in the process of crafting a violation order" against Cruzan Rum and Diageo USVI, a subsidiary of global liquor giant Diageo PLC that produces the rum for the Captain Morgan brand.    It's not yet clear if any corrective action will be ordered.   

 

    Exasperated residents in several St. Croix communities say a sooty-looking fungus has been accumulating in their neighborhoods, including on water cisterns and fruit trees. They blame it on the ethanol from neighboring rum facilities. Andrea Daley, the president of the Enfield Green Estates owners association, said the mold started growing on exterior surfaces exposed to sunlight several years ago when Diageo built a rum storage facility. "It's been tough. We have a red-and-white boat that is parked up in our yard, but now it's black. We had a soursop tree but the leaves got so covered in black fungus that we had to cut it down," she said Sunday during a phone interview.

     Like residents around Scotland whisky storage sites and bourbon-making sections of the U.S. state of Kentucky, they believe the mold is "Baudoinia," a natural-occurring growth created by a chemical reaction involving emissions of ethanol. St. Croix residents are pursuing a class-action lawsuit demanding the two companies install technology to capture ethanol emissions and pay damages to homeowners.  William F. McMurry, a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, who is representing the St. Croix residents in one of several lawsuits he has filed against distillers, said a judge is expected to rule soon on an effort by the rum companies to have the action dismissed. 

     In a joint letter sent to acting DPNR Commissioner Dawn Henry, lawyers for Diageo USVI and Cruzan said the companies are committed to working with authorities.   But they said mandating new technology to capture ethanol "would threaten the viability of aging rum on St. Croix." "This technology is untested and expensive. It would impact the quality of the rum and drive up the cost of making it," said the June 2 letter, which was sent to The Associated Press when the companies were asked for comment. Daley said residents want the rum companies to stay on St. Croix, where the industry employs about 125 people.    But they also don't want to live with the mold nuisance, which she says has roughly quadrupled home maintenance costs. "We are not anti-business. We just want them to take care of this problem responsibly," Daley said.

Celebrating 500 Years for the City of Santiago de Cuba

When the carnival begins in Santiago de Cuba, the whole city turns into one big party!

     When I was in Santiago de Cuba at the beginning of the month, there was a lot of activity getting the town ready for Carnival.  This year is the 500th anniversary of the town of Santiago de Cuba and one really big celebration is in the planning.   There were many streets that were blocked off and the booths, rides, and decorations were being set up.  I wish that I could have stayed for the event, but maybe another time.   The event is much like our own Fantasy Fest or Marti Gras, but it really has a deep meaning for the people of Santiago de Cuba this year.  500 Year Celebration of the City of Santiago de Cuba.

     The carnival of Santiago de Cuba is the largest, most famous, and most traditional carnival in all of Cuba, and is an explosion of color, contagious drum rhythms, and dance. It is also a time for Cubans to re-gather themselves and remember their history, community, and culture, and is often punctuated by the Cuban national holiday of July 26th.

 

    The second biggest city after Havana, Santiago is the most exotic city of Cuba with lots of different ethnic groups having settled here over the centuries, including African, Chinese, Indigenous, French Haitian, and Spanish.   The mixture of these cultures is shown in the richness of the music and dance, many forms of which originated in Santiago de Cuba, such as the Conga, Rumba, and Son (which later developed into what people call salsa today).   What most characterize the carnival are the congas, which can be heard in many different areas around the city. Also popular orchestras make their way to Santiago for the festivities. For the city’s inhabitants, as long as there is music to dance to, and plenty of beer, the carnival is a success.

     Traditionally Carnival in most Roman Catholic societies is a festival held immediately before Lent, and celebrated in February or March.  Santiago de Cuba.- Expecting to be declared  National Cultural Heritage, this city’s carnival will celebrate the 500 years foundation of that village and will be confirmed as the most popular ones in Cuba.  The traditional festivities will take place from July 20 to 27 and will rescue areas and fairs with the participation of congas, carnival parades and other centenary groups, group carriers of the popular culture.   

 

    One of the attractions this year will be the return of the rides and the competence of carriages to the La Alameda avenue, a place located by the bay where are concentrated the investments of the Paseo Marítimo, one of the most important works for the city’s 500th anniversary.   As usual, the festivities—with a total of 58 areas, 18 for dancing—will be preceded by the children and the aquatic carnivals presenting the continuity of these artistic expressions among the youngsters and the presence of the sea in the city’s life, respectively.

     Municipality authorities informed on the progress in the evaluation of the report presented to the National Council of Cultural Heritage regarding the declaration as part of those valuable spiritual and material treasures of the country.   They said the ceremony will take place at the Carnival Museum, located on Heredia street, thus recognizing a three and a half centuries legacy, renewed in the modern times and made an attraction for Cubans from other countries and visitors from the most diverse parts of the world.

Read more at: http://www.arteporexcelencias.com/en/news/2015-06-23/santiago-de-cuba-set-carnivals-celebrating-their-500-anniversary.html#sthash.fl8SrRj5.dpuf

    

Restoration is Visable Looking in Any Direction

     The most noticeable things in Havana today is a huge number of restoration projects.  They are every where that you look and very welcomed as you scan over the city.  Looking from the fabulous Bacardi Building toward the Havana Harbor, this becomes very evident.

Afrohead Rum Rolls Out Across the US

Harbour Island Rum Company has rolled out its Afrohead aged dark rum in more areas across United States.

Afrohead 7 Year and XO Expressions

     The small-batch rum will become available across the US.  Currently available in the Bahamas and Florida, the small-batch rum has now launched in Tennessee and New York, where it is available at selected bars, restaurants and off-premise liquor stores.

     Afrohead rum is made from sugarcane molasses sourced from the West Indies, in particular the Dominican Republic.  It is fermented using a yeast strand from Trinidad that is more than 100 years old, to give a “banana and toffee” base.  After distillation, the rum is aged in once‐used, charred Bourbon oak barrels and then transferred to Barbados for bottling.

     I have had this rum at the Rum Bar since late April and it has become an instant favorite among the customers here in Key West.

Sloppy Joe's Havana 2015

Sloppy Joe's Today, not the water system work being don here in Havana

     It was great to be able to return to Sloppy Joe's again after being there just after the Grand Re-opening in 2013.   Many of the original crew were still there and we were able to share some t shirts and other souvenirs from Sloppy Joe's in Key West. 

     Josie Russell owner of Sloppy Joe's in Key West renamed his own bar Sloppy Joe's in the 1930s at the suggestion of his friend Ernest Hemingway.

    Sloppy Joe's was Havana's most famous pre-revolutionary bars and a prime destination of American tourists, celebrities, and movie stars like John Wayne, Ernest Hemingway, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, and Greta Garbo and Clark Gable just to name a few.  Among Sloppy Joe's most famous attractions was the bar itself, stretching 60 feet in length.   It was immortalized in the 1959 movie "Our Man in Havana", starring Alec Guinness and based on the novel by British author Graham Greene - one of Sloppy Joe's former patrons.   Sloppy Joe's most famous attractions was the bar  which stretched some 60 feet in length.    It was immortalized in the 1959 movie "Our Man in Havana", starring Alec Guinness and based on the novel by British author Graham Greene - one of Sloppy Joe's former patrons.   Waiters dressed in black and orange uniforms served drinks and tapas to a mix of tourists and Cubans present for the grand re-opening, some of whom had waited years for the reopening of the historic watering hole.

Remaking of the Long Bar in 2012

     Sloppy Joe's Bar was founded by Spanish immigrant Jose Garcia, who made hay while the sun shown on the U.S. Prohibition era from 1920-1933.    American tourists flocked to Havana to drink and gamble to their heart's content throughout the era.   The bar was nationalized like so many other businesses in the early 1960s when Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces took power.
     The place still has the style and fine cocktails, food and service as it did in the days prior to the fire and the roof collapse some in the early 1960's.  While the clientele have changed in their dress, the atmosphere is still there from the days prior to the revolution.  It was so much fun to revisit the watering hole again.

Gosling Becomes Sponsor Partners in America’s Cup Yacht Series

     With the 35^th America’s Cup taking place in Bermuda in 2017, what better sponsor  partner for the event than the rum of the sailors and the “Dark and Stormy”, Gosling’s Black Seal Rum.   Castle Brands has secured 'official partner' status with the America's Cup yachting series for the Gosling's rum and RTD brands.  Gosling’s Rum and Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer will be the official rum and official ginger beer of the 35th America’s Cup in 2017, Castle Brands confirmed late last week. The series of races kicks off later this month in Portsmouth in the UK, before concluding in June 2017 in Bermuda.

      The company will produce packaging for Goslings Black Seal Rum and Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer that highlights the tie-up

More on the America’s Cup in Bermuda at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POw2wm4ze3I#action=share

     The history of Black Seal Rum® and the Gosling family began long ago.   Over the years Black Seal® Rum has become synonymous with Bermuda. It is an essential ingredient in Bermuda fish chowder, adds the island flavor to the Bermuda Rum Swizzle, and is the tempest in Bermuda's favorite cocktail the Dark 'n Stormy®.  In the spring of 1806 James Gosling, the oldest son of William Gosling, wines and spirits merchant, set out from Gravesend, Kent, England on the ship Mercury, with £10,000 sterling worth of merchandise, bound for America.
After ninety-one desperate days on becalmed seas their charter ran out, and they put in at the nearest port, St. George’s, Bermuda. And the rest, as they say, is history.  A delicious, deep, and dark history.

     James and his brother Ambrose rented a shop on Front Street in the new capital of Hamilton for £25 a year. The Goslings maintained a store at this location for 127 years.   The firm, known as Gosling and Son, was renamed Gosling Brothers. Three years later the first oak barrels of rum distillate arrived in Bermuda. After much experimentation in the blending process, the distinctive black rum destined to be Black Seal was formulated and offered for sale. 

     They didn’t call it Black Seal at first, in fact up until the First World War it was sold from the barrel, and folks brought in bottles for a fill up of “Old Rum”, so called because of its distinctive smoothness.  Eventually the black rum was sold in champagne bottles, reclaimed from the British Officer’s Mess, and the corks sealed with black sealing wax. Pretty soon people began to ask for the “Black Seal”. Many years later a play on words and images gave birth to the little, barrel juggling “Black Seal”.

     Nancy Gosling, President and CEO of Gosling Brothers Limited explains: “We are very proud of reaching 200 years as a family business in Bermuda, and it is imperative that we recognize all those who have helped to make that possible.”   It sums up by saying, “For 200 years now, this most special island has been our home. We want to thank all of you–young and old–for making it possible. Yes, we’ve seen a lot of changes here, but we’ve seen a lot of preservation, too.  Because when you have something unique, something remarkable, why mess with it?  That’s been our philosophy for seven stubborn generations.”

San Juan Hill Outside of Santiago de Cuba

View toward Daiquiri from the Top of the Tower on San Juan Hill

     Most Americans have studied the Battle of San Juan Hill in school, but come to the site of the event and see the wall the battle played out is absolutely amazing.  Standing in the tower at the peak of the hill, one can see the rough ground the American and Cuban forces came across to get to San Juan Hill is really amazing.   This is one of the places in Cuba that one needs to see if you get a chance.  Much of the early history of Cuba happened in this part of the island.  Anyone that is a history buff will be awed by all that has happened in and around this city.

 

 

American Soldiers at Daiquiri

    In May 1898, one month after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a Spanish fleet docked in the Santiago de Cuba harbor after racing across the Atlantic from Spain. A superior U.S. naval force arrived soon after and blockaded the harbor entrance.   In June, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps landed at Daiquiri Beach, Cuba with the aim of marching to Santiago and launching a coordinated land and sea assault on the Spanish stronghold. U.S. ground troops included Theodore Roosevelt-led

San Juan Hill Tower

“Rough Riders,” a collection of Western cowboys and Eastern blue bloods officially known as the First U.S. Voluntary Cavalry.   The U.S. Army Fifth Corps fought its way to Santiago’s outer defenses, and on July 1 U.S. General William Shafter ordered an attack on the village of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Shafter hoped to capture El Caney before besieging the fortified heights of San Juan Hill, but the 500 Spanish defenders of the village put up a fierce resistance and held off 10 times their number for most of the day. Although El Caney was not secure, some 8,000 Americans pressed forward toward San Juan Hill.

 

Entry to the Memorial at San Juan Hill

    Hundreds fell under Spanish gunfire before reaching the base of the heights, where the force split up into two flanks to take San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill. The Rough Riders were among the troops in the right flank attacking Kettle Hill. When the order was given by Lieutenant John Miley that “the heights must be taken at all hazards,” the Rough Riders, who had been forced to leave their horses behind because of transportation difficulties, led the charge up the hills. The Rough Riders and the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were the first up Kettle Hill, and San Juan Hill was taken soon after. From the crest, the Americans found themselves overlooking Santiago, and the next day they began a siege of the city.

La Rocca Morro Castle protecting the entry to Santiago de Cuba Harbor

     On July 3, the Spanish fleet was destroyed off Santiago by U.S. warships under Admiral William Sampson, and on July 17 the Spanish surrendered Santiago de Cuba to the Cuban and American forces.

 

Honoring Constantino Ribalaigua and La Floridita's Bicentennial



Toast at Constante's Mausoleum 2012

     At the grave of the Constantino Ribalaigua, the barman who served drinks for writer Ernest Hemingway was the setting Friday for an unprecedented toast with daiquiri prepared by United States and Cuban bartenders at Havana’s Colón Cemetery.   A dozen bartenders from both countries — which this week re-established diplomatic ties after half a century of enmity — gathered under a scorching tropical sun at the cemetery to honor Catalán barman Constantino Ribalaigua, known as Constante, who died in 1953.
 

     Four years ago Julio Cabreras with a group of American and Cuban bartenders along with a few rum enthusiasts also made the journey to Constantino Ribalaigua’s mausoleum to make an El Floridita Daiquiri and toast "Constante".   This too was a very moving experience that I’ll never forget.
 

     This years tribute began with a minute of silence in front of the mausoleum of Constante, who for 35 years owned the Floridita Bar in Old Havana, where this cocktail, created in Cuba, made of rum, lime juice, sugar and ice in the late 19th century, became famous.   “This is an incredible event, it’s very important for any barman from anywhere in the world to be able to be here with the person who immortalized the daiquiri and turned it into one of the most famous cocktails around the world,” U.S. bartender Christian Delpech told AFP.        Several bartenders prepared daiquiri rounds and toasted, in a tribute during which participants highlighted the fact that reconciliation between Washington and Havana will allow Americans to enjoy Cuban rum-based drinks, just as they did during the 1920-1933 Prohibition Era in the United States. 

     The homage to Constante's mausoleum marked the start of activities to celebrate the bicentennial of La Floridita, one of the bars preferred by Hemingway (1898-1961), who lived in Cuba for 21 years.   “I’m very happy, moved and honored to be here celebrating not only La Floridita’s 200th anniversary but to be at the grave of the most famous barman in Cuba’s history,” said U.S. bartender Ricky Gómez, of New Orleans, the son of Cuban parents.

     My visit to La Floridita just over a week ago was a very joyous one, allowing me to spend some time with a friend that I made on my first visit in 2012.   Alex mad me several fine Floridita Daiquiris and we enjoyed the time that went by far to fast.  If you get the opportunity, do stop by La Floridita during the 200th and enjoy one of the finest daiquiris that you will ever taste.