Don Q is Aiming to Elevate the It's Rum with Two New Launches

Don Q is gearing up to release two new rum expressions later this year, including a limited edition single barrel expression and a “sophisticated” spiced variant.

Don Q Signature Release Single Barrel

 This is the first single barrel rum from the brand.  Just 6,000 bottles of the Don Q Signature Release Single Barrel rum will be launched, with 3,000 4.5 liter cases dedicated to the US and Puerto Rico, and the remaining 1,000 destined for Europe.

Bottled at 40% abv, the rum has been aged for just over 10 years and is described as offering “a really wonderful woodiness, with tanins and sweeter notes” as well.

The launch is part of a planned series of releases beginning with the 2005 vintage, which will be followed by the 2007 single barrel variant next year.  “We love ageing and blending,” commented Roberto Serrallés, Don Q owner and master distiller. “This is the first single barrel expression we’ve released.   “We wanted to start playing around and having fun outside of our comfort zone.   “The single barrel is a beautiful light style rum.”

Don Q Barrel Aged Spice

Furthermore, the firm is also planning to bring out a spiced rum expression mid-2016, aimed as “elevating” the spiced rum category.

Titled Don Q Barrel Aged Spice, the expression has been designed to offer a “next step” to fans of spiced rum and will be a permanent addition to the brand’s portfolio.   The rum has been infused with “natural” spiced, including cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and tamarind.

“The spiced rum segment is growing and it’s an interesting category,” said Serrallés. “Everyone knows the big players in spiced rum, they know Captain Morgan.   “But where do spiced rum drinkers graduate to? Our rum will offer a more sophisticated version of a spiced rum – we want to elevate the category.  “We need to get away from pirates and sea monsters – we’ve talked too much about pirates and forgotten the fantastic properties of the rum itself.   “It has such an amazing taste profile that we think consumers who are interested in spiced rum are going to love.”

Read More at http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/don-q-aims-to-elevate-rum-with-new-launches/?article-source=newsletter&source=622&date=2016-02-10

Hopefully Only a Few More Weeks of Winter

    Really slow rum time this week, very little happening.  The weather here in Key West is finally beginning to warm up,  wind, overcast and rain is keeping me in the marina.   Hoping to see the winds die down and the temperature rise here very soon.  The sunset tonight was a bit colorfull initially, but completely disappeared before it hit the water.   Really looking forward to March and the beginning of Daylight Savings time and some better weather.  El Nino really sucks.

Hemingway Not Only Enjoyed His Cocktails, He Put Them Into His Writing

     Papa not only enjoyed a good cocktail ,  but also included many epic drinking episodes in his writing. In his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, 90 years ago this year.    The characters were seldom without an alcoholic beverage in their hands.     According to legend, he created his own eponymous variation of the classic daiquiri, which still appears on at the El Floridita where he created it, and in addition a potent champagne-and-absinthe blend called “Death in the Afternoon”.

     His writing seems particularly relevant today considering the recent rebirth of the cocktail-and that his style of drinking is finally back in vogue.   We as a country seem to be following in his footsteps: In 2015, according to the latest figures released by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States earlier this week, the United States consumed 215 million 9-liter cases of booze, which was up 4.9 million cases from the previous year.   If Hemingway lived today, he'd be found drinking with the people, throughout the United States in its many high quality craft cocktail lounges.

There are so many drinking scenes in his books that drinks historian Philip Greene wrote a fascinating Hemingway cocktail companion called To Have and Have Another, which came out in 2012.   "He wants the reader to feel what the character was feeling," explains Greene. "He's telling you something about the character by what he's drinking and where he's drinking."

     According to Greene, though he took Campari and his beloved Gordon's Gin and Rose's Lime Juice  along on an African safari, he wasn't afraid to try new things. "He's going to drink what the locals drink," says Greene. "I think he was an omnivore." 

     It didn't hurt either that Hemingway could hold his liquor for the most part. "He had a prodigious tolerance," says Greene, noting that many of the writer's contemporaries were lightweights. "Fitzgerald didn't have much of a tolerance. Ian Fleming didn't have much of a tolerance."   Hemingway was prone to fabrication, but one drinking yarn we know is true involves the legend of his downing 17 double daiquiris at Havana's famed El Floridita in a single session. 

There are a lot more stories you can read at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/06/ernest-hemingway-s-adventures-in-alcohol.html

US CONGRESS SCRUTINIZES HAVANA CLUB RULING

A Bacardi executive has testified at a US Congress subcommittee hearing as the group continues to fight what is calls a “sudden and unexplained” trademark ruling over Havana Club rum.

      Lawmakers are scrutinizing the decision to allow Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government to renew their Havana Club trademark in the US.   In January this year, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) granted French drinks group Pernod Ricard permission to renew it's Havana Club trademark in the US, where Bacardi has its own trademark for Havana Club rum.   Due to a trade embargo between US and Cuba, which has been in place since 1961 when the Cuban revolution led to communism, Pernod Ricard has been unable to launch Cuba-made Havana Club in the US.

     Bacardi has been selling its own brand of Havana Club rum, made in Puerto Rico, in the US since the mid-1990's.   However, Pernod Ricard owns the Havana Club trademark in the rest of the world as part of a joint venture with the Cuban government, which seized assets from the founding family of Havana Club during the revolution.   Bacardi has expressed outrage since the US Office of Foreign Assets Control issued its ruling last month, allowing Cubaexport, the Cuban entity that owns the US trademark registration for Havana Club, to renew its trademark in the US.   While Pernod Ricard cannot sell Havana Club in the US due to the embargo, it has previously owned a trademark for the brand in the country. But the US government rejected an application to renew rights to the mark in 2006 since its “contravened US foreign policy”.    As such, Bacardi claims the ruling has “reversed long-standing US and international public policy and law”.

     The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into the matter and recently called Rick Wilson, senior vice president for external affairs at Bacardi, to take the witness stand during its hearing.   “These decisions are unprecedented and shocking because they undo decades of United States law and policy by approving Cuba’s efforts to capitalize on, and traffic, in stolen goods,” Wilson said in his opening testimony.   “Courts in the United States have steadfastly held that foreign confiscations will not be given effect because such confiscations are ‘shocking to our sense of justice’.”

‘Confiscation at gunpoint’

     Wilson also argued that Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), which implement the trade embargo against Cuba, prohibit all transactions involving property, including trademarks, if the Cuban Government “has any interest”, unless authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. He said a loophole in the embargo was closed in 1998, allowing Bacardi and other companies to “ensure Cuba does not profit off of stolen property, especially through US trademark registrations and renewals”.   Of Cuba’s confiscation of the Havana Club trademark in the 1960's, Wilson said: “What occurred was a forcible confiscation at gunpoint. Pernod Ricard, knowing all of this sordid history, chose to invest with Cuba in this stolen brand.

     “For decades, the United States has prevented Cuba and its business partners from profiting off the United States Havana Club registration – it should continue to do so.”  House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatt said: “This week the IP subcommittee will examine the issue of confiscated property in Cuba.

     “The Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, has stolen billions in property, including homes and businesses, owned by Americans and American investors. Perhaps the most recognised case is that of the Arechabala Family liquor business, which had its trademark for Havana Club Rum seized by the Cuban government and then licensed to another company against the family’s wishes.

     “As the Obama Administration looks to improve relations with Cuba, important questions remain about how these claims will be satisfied.”

Read More at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/us-congress-scrutinises-havana-club-ruling/ 

Happy Valentine's Day

This is a day for lover's, I love my lovely wife and the fun of the Caribbean.   Don't forget you special person on this very special day.

Dessert Time with Bahama Bob's Coco-Nana Daiquiri

     When I think about a dessert cocktail, I think of something on the sweet side and maybe a little bit creamy.   Today I'll be playing with Bruno Mars' Selvarey Cocoa Rum and Bahama Bob's Banana Rum Liqueur to see what we can come up with.

     I've always liked a chocolate covered banana, so something along that line in a dessert cocktail should be really good.  Off the the "Floating Rum Lab" and see what I can come up with.


Bahama Bob's Coco-Nana Daiquiri

• 1 1/2 oz. Selvarey Cocoa Rum
• 1 1/2 oz. Bahama Bob's Banana Rum Liqueur
• 3/4 oz.  Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao

Place all ingredients into a shaker fill two thirds with ice and shake until chilled.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a spear of banana.

     The aromas of the cocoa, banana and the curacao makes your mouth water and small sips seem to keep on going like the energizer bunny.  Really fun long lasting dessert, great for an aft deck finish to a great dinner.  ;o)

Bartenders Debate Level of Responsible Service

"The best bartenders get a kick out of knowing they’re helping people have a good time – but what if it goes too far? Should bartenders be to blame if someone drinks themselves into injury or illness?"

     This is a troublesome issue for all of the bartenders.  There is a fine line between "buzzed and Blotto", sometimes it is a mater of one drink.  I feel that as a responsible bartender it is part of my job to keep an eye on the customers, but the final responsibility is in the hands of the patron to "Know when to say when".   I don't believe in shoving drinks in front of patrons one right after the other without being aware of their condition.  I also believe that as a bartender, I should make an effort to see that they get safely out of the bar and not behind the wheel of a car.

     In this article there is a good debate among barmen on the subject.

Know your limits

     “It’s everyone’s job to make sure the guests are happy and safe at the same time,” comments Kate Gerwin, general manager of HSL Hospitality and winner of the Bols Around the World Bartending Championships 2014. “First and foremost obviously the customer should know their own limits, however we all know that is not always the case. Bartenders should make safe service of alcohol a huge priority in day-to-day business and the owner of the bar should take a vested interest in the education of the staff about over-serving and the dangers and consequences.”

     But for others, the responsibility rests with those in a managerial position who need to step up to their line of duties. “Inevitably, the responsibility lies with the management chain – they are the licensees,” says British bartender and entrepreneur JJ Goodman, co-founder of the London Cocktail Club. “In the UK we have an inherent history of binge drinking, so customers aren’t very perceptive to being told they’re not allowed another drink. When that sort of situation occurs, someone more senior and experienced needs to come in to handle it and command control as quickly as possible.”

Diffusing the situation

     Similar snippets of advice surrounding this irrefutably sensitive subject are echoed throughout the industry. Accusing guests of being drunk is deemed as the biggest faux pas, and a sure fire way to escalate an already testing episode. Avoiding embarrassment, ascertaining a first name basis and gaining the aid and trust of any peers who may be present are all recommended methods when it comes to diffusing any drama involved with this task.

Staff training

It’s a statement that is evidently being taken seriously all around the world, as formal alcohol service training is becoming ever more paramount. Australia now requires staff at most venues to complete a Responsible Service of Alcohol training course before employment begins, while the National Restaurant Association in the US offers educational resources, materials and programs such as ServSafe Alcohol. With a holistic approach, the course offers risk management training on responsible alcohol service practices for all front of house staff – bartenders, waiters, hosts and even security and valets – all curated to “set them up for success”.

“Bartenders and servers of alcohol can face both criminal and civil charges related to serving alcohol,” reiterates Jay Lerdal, product manager, ServSafe. “Studying a responsible alcohol service program helps employees to train in areas that may be encountered when serving alcohol. This includes understanding alcohol law and responsibility, recognizing and preventing intoxication, checking identification and handling difficult situations.”

There is a lot more to read on this subject at http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/bartenders-debate-level-of-responsible-service/

El Dorado Introduces a New Wine Barrel Aged Series of 15 Year Old Rums

     Six special further-matured releases from Guayana's  El Dorado Rums, this is their 15-year-old rum finished for a year in lightly toasted casks which used to hold a variety of wines.   The final resting of the rum adds a very nice touch to the final expression.

     The six expressions make for a great collection.     They are each finished in a different wine cask.  They are Ruby Port Finish, Sauternes Finish, Dry Madeira Finish, Sweet Madeira Finish, Red Wine Finish and White Port Finish.     Each of these give the final product its unique flavors.

     The Sauternes Finish gives the El Dorado 15 Year Old Rum finished for more than a year in casks that used to hold Sauternes, a sweet French white wine from Bordeaux. The resulting rum is well balanced with hints of smoke.   

     The Madeira Dry yields an El Dorado, the award-winning 15-year-old rum has been finished for the final year in French oak casks that used to hold dry Madeira fortified wine. A spicy rum with notes of caramelized tropical fruit.

     The Dry Ruby Port is a limited-edition release of El Dorado 15 Year Old rum that has been finished for more than a year in casks from a single estate which used to hold ruby port. This is full of exotic spice, dried fruit and chocolate notes.

     All of these expressions have their own unique flavor and all aged for about an additional year in the barrels of the very famous wines.   These rums are not immediately available here in the United States, but can be ordered from "The Whisky Exchange"  a World of Fine Spirits, on line at https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/productnews .   They do ship to the United States for a fee.

 

“Customers Saved by Tiki Statue When Tree Crashes Through Restaurant”

There is something to be said for the safety that sitting near a Tiki statue can provide you.  Here is a story from Ventura, California how the Tiki saved the customers.

     The owners of a restaurant in Ventura, California, say a tiki statue saved four people when a 150-foot-tall palm tree came crashing through the roof during a day of powerful wind gusts in Southern California.

     An interior security camera captured footage of the tree falling through the roof of VenTiki Lounge Sunday in downtown Ventura, narrowly missing four people on the patio. The footage shows restaurant employees running into view as the tree snaps in two after striking the roof.  The tree was one of several knocked down in Los Angeles and Ventura counties Sunday due to damaging winds.

     Anthony Longoria is the head chef at VenTiki Tiki Lounge and Lanai.   "We will have 8 to 10 people up on the lanai on a busy night eating and had that had happened ... but it didn't it happened exactly the best way and when the tree came down and went down the railing it stopped 6-inches from the main gas line for the heater, so we got really lucky," said Longoria.

Read More at http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Tree-Falls-Ventura-Restaurant-VenTiki-Caught-on-Camera-367262011.html

Hanging at Your Favorite Pub can be Good for You

  "Regularly going to your local pub makes you happier, healthier and more sociable, new research from Oxford University has found."

     I really have to agree with their findings.  I know that I really enjoy dropping by the Hurricane Hole here on Stock Island after a day at work to chat with many of my friends and chill a bit with a nice cocktail.   I know that it makes me feel good and I enjoy the rest of my evening a lot better when I get back home.  

   “The Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University found that smaller “community style” pubs are better than larger city-center pubs for maintaining more close friends.   While people who regularly go to large pubs tend to have a larger social circle, they have fewer close friends than drinkers that frequent small local pubs, they found.  The study also makes a strong claim that goes against the controversial new UK drinking guidelines, saying that moderate alcohol intake has strong physical and mental health benefits.   “A limited alcohol intake improves well being and some (though not all) social skills, just as it has been shown to improve other cognitive abilities and health, but these abilities decline as alcohol intake increases beyond a moderate level”, a statement accompanying the report said.”

Read More at http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2016/01/going-to-the-pub-is-good-for-you-study-says/ 

     You get to decide for yourself, but in my opinion I believe that the study was if I may use a British term, "spot on".    I find it very enjoyable meeting with all of my friends that are regulars there as well as meeting so many visitors to the pub as well.  I keeps you from turning into a hermit and keeps you in the social world and hones your social skills as well.

     Give it a try, but keep an open mind and I feel like you too will find it very helpful as well.

Bacardi Not Taking Trademark issue Laying Down

"Bacardi has filed a Freedom of Information request to bring to light the rationale behind a decision to hand the Havana Club rum trademark to the Cuban government, giving Pernod Ricard the right to sell the brand in the US"

The handing back to Cuban government their "Havana Club"trademark is not sitting well with Bacardi to say the least.   “We are filing this Freedom of Information Act request because the American people have the right to know the truth of how and why this unprecedented, sudden and silent action was taken by the United States government to reverse long-standing US. and international public policy and law that protects against the recognition or acceptance of confiscations of foreign governments,” said Eduardo Sánchez, senior vice president and general counsel at Bacardi.”

     “When the highest and most powerful government agencies are not transparent about critical changes in policy, the public has the right and the responsibility to use FOIA requests and other tools at their disposal to hold the government accountable for its actions.”

     It seems that this is just the beginning of a long and drawn out fight again.   It took a Supreme Court decision to settle the dispute in 2005.   "In 1976, Cuba, which also continued to produce Havana Club, was able to register the trademark in the United States. But it lost the trademark in 2006 when it could not present the necessary license to the Treasury Department."

     When the embargo is finally lifted, this is going to slow the flow of the Cuban Havana Club Rum to the United States, although, they have also registered an alternate brand name "Havanista" as a stop gap until this dispute is finally settled.

Read More at http://www.havana-live.com/news/2016/02/01/bacardi-fires-latest-salvo-in-havana-club-rum-battle-with-cuba.html 

Quiet Evening Looking Out from Bahia Honda Marina

     Sometimes in the around sunset, I like to sit out on the breakwater and watch all the boats that are anchored out bobbing on the waters between Highway 1 and the old Bahia Honda Train/Auto bridge.  I find this to be one of my favorites just for sitting back and enjoying some chill time.

The Richland Rum Cocktail

     Looking for another nice simple aft deck cocktail for the evening.  Beautiful evening and I think that this idea I worked out yesterday will work for tonight.  It has a touch of sweetness and a nice dry finish with the subtle notes of the bitters and the rum lingering on the long finish.

Richland Rum Cocktail

• 2 oz. Richland Rum
• 2 Dashes of Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
• 1 tsp Agave Nectar

Place all of the ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cocktail cherry.

A Brief History of the Cocktail Cherry

     Today we cant seem to make a cocktail without putting "a cherry on top".  This is a tradition that started according to historians in the 1860's.    By the end of the century, it seems that the barmen were looking for something new, and the olive moved in.

     "Cherries were common from the 1860s to 1899 when olives replaced them.  According to an article from June 22, 1899, in The Racine Daily Journal, "In some of the swell uptown establishments the cocktail olive is getting in its work and bids fair to supplant the toothsome cherry with the public."

     So it's no wonder that good cherries were hard to find for decades. Modern American tipplers didn't rediscover Luxardo's garnish until 2004, when famed bartender Audrey Saunders received four jars of them to use in her legendary New York watering hole Pegu Club. Bartenders never looked back. If you planned to serve a cherry garnish anywhere in the five boroughs from then on, it had better have been a very good one.

     Maraschino liqueur, Luxardo's other signature product, has been around even longer, debuting in 1821-the year when Girolamo Luxardo and his wife, Maria, started the company. (The couple had moved to Zara a few years earlier from Genoa.) Zara was known for sour marasca cherry-based rosolio maraschino liqueur, but the Luxardo family came up with its own recipe and packed the concoction in a distinctive straw-covered bottle.

     This is the key ingredient that makes the El Floridita and the Papa Dobles Daiquiri's their special flavor.   It is a great addition to several other cocktails as well as a greaat ingredient for giving your new development recipes a little bit of a special flavor.   "The Luxardo brand is the gold standard here and always has been," wrote David Wondrich in his 2007 award-winning book Imbibe!

Read More at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/this-is-the-cherry-on-top-of-your-drinks-cabinet.html

Think You Got it All? How About a "New Mixologists Box"

“Fashion design company Ralph Lauren has launched a limited edition ‘mixologist box’, complete with an embossed crocodile leather mixology book, priced US$4,995.”

Here is the rest of the story on this very unique gift or something for your place.

Designed as a “compact desktop bar”, the Ralph Lauren Vanderbilt Mixologist Box is made up of three compartments and a drawer containing a range of bar accessories designed by Ralph Lauren Home.

The box, which is made from rosewood, features a 24% crystal ice bucket, a custom made Laguiole corkscrew, a silver-plated cocktail shaker, a Boston strainer, cocktail picks, holder, ice tongs, bar spoon, jigger, a cocktail knife, a Maple muddler and a hickory wood cutting board.

Just 100 are available, each featuring a numbered hand-polished nickel plaque with ‘Ralph Lauren Limited Edition’ engraved on it.

Demand for luxury cocktail hampers seems to be on the rise. Last year, Rolls-Royce launched a limited edition bespoke cocktail hamper worth more than a BMW 3 Series.

Read More at http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/ralph-lauren-unveils-4995-desktop-cocktail-kit/

No Name Pub “A Nice Place if You Can Find It”

     Wednesday Marta and I were looking for something different to do, the seas were still too rough to head out in the "camper", so we jumped into the car and headed up to Big Pine Key.   at the traffic light we headed to the north and after winding around the city streets for a few miles we ended up on No Name Key.  With a little more effort, we located the "No Name Pub.   

     This is a very colorful place filled with a very colorful history not to mention their food is absolutely wonderful.  It is a beer and wine place that has such an  eclectic feel to it and nothing but a fun place to just be.

     The history of the No Name Pub goes back to 1931 when we were a general store and bait and tackle shop. We remained that way until 1936 when the owners added a small room on to the main structure which became a restaurant and the Pub was born.   Our early customers included people from all walks of life, world travelers that arrived from the mainland via ferry and of course, the local Fisherman. The late 1930s brought an interesting twist to No Name Pub history. In an effort to increase business, the upstairs storage room was converted into a Brothel. While popular with many, the venture failed after several years as the fisherman were reported to be better looking than the ladies.

     The 1940's saw the end of the Brothel and beginning of a real Keys landmark. Travelers (we had few tourists back then) and locals alike began to discover this quirky out of the way place. The ladies would do their shopping in the general store as the men would browse the bait and tackle shop, then kick back and have a beer and sandwich in our eatery.

     By the mid 1950s, the general store and bait and tackle shop closed and the Pub became 100% bar and restaurant. No Name was added to the Pub name and we became the No Name Pub … and we quickly became a Keys hangout.

     Our honky tonk atmosphere of beer drinking, shooting pool and great food became known from Miami to Key West . Crowds often grew so large that the interior would get so full of smoke and crowded, that customers would spill out into the backyard where dice, crap and card games would eventually break out.  The old timers say the place never got raided because the Sheriff ran the dice games.

     1960 brought about another addition for the better to the Pub.  It was during this era that our famous pizza was born. Two great cooks from Italy brought their recipe with them when they worked here.  "Over 50 years later, we still use the same great recipe. When the cooks left they wrote the recipe on the kitchen wall so we would never forget."

     The 1970’s and 80’s became a rowdy time of our history.  Jimmy Buffett’s “Why don’t we get drunk and screw” played on the juke box while people would drink, eat and dance to excess in the Pub.   There was a lot of illegal money passing through the Keys back then and everyone loved to spend it.    They had so much money in fact they started hanging it on our walls; and another tradition was born.

     As the new millennium arrived the rowdies grew up and the No Name Pub became a place once again where people from all walks of life could enjoy great food, cold beer and good conversation. Our juke box is gone and the walls are covered with a few more dollar bills and we are one of the last great places with that old Florida Keys atmosphere. “A nice place if you can find it.”

     If you are willing to venture off US 1 and risk the chance of getting lost, you will have a really time and a great meal including some of the best pizza anywhere.

The Black Barrel Cocktail

     Here I am again on the aft deck in the mood for a new evening cocktail.  I'm in the mood for good rum, Mount Gay Black Barrel I see on the shelf and maybe some of that Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao will blend nicely.  It needs a little something more, Fee Brothers have a great selection of bitters, an I think that this cocktail is calling for a little orange flavored bitters.

     This has made my evening really complete and I'll enjoy mine while you get yours and we can raise our glasses to a wonderful evening.  



Black Barrel Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz. Mount Gay Black Barrel
• 1 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
• 1 Dash of Fee Brothers Lemon Bitters

Placer all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice.  Shake until Chilled and strain into an old fashion glass filled with fresh ice.   Garnish with an orange zest.

Bahama Bob's Top Rum Picks

     I'm very often asked what is my favorite rum?   I usually respond with something like I really don't have one, that's because I have a list that are really my favorites.   There are so many rums out there that are really incredible that it is really impossible to choose.

     What I have done is went through in my mind, if I had to head into a fall out shelter what rums would I absolutely have to have?   This is my 50 Rums List
in alphabetical order and doesn't reflect which ones are better in my mind than the others.   I am including a few white and flavored rums as well, because I like cocktails as well as just sipping rum.

Afrohead Premium Aged Rum

Angostura No. 1 (Original and New Expressions)

Angostura 1919

Appleton Rare Blend

Bacardi Ron Solera

Blackwell Jamaican Rum

Brinley’s Gold Coffee Rum

Brugal Extra Dry

Cockspur 12 Year (V.S.O.R.)

Diplomatico 2000 Single Vintage

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

Don Poncho Origenes 18 Year Old

Don Q Gran Anejo

Doorly’s  XO

El Dorado 12 Year Old

El Dorado Rum Cream

Flor de Cana 18 Year Old

Gosling Black Seal

Kirk & Sweeney 18 Year Old

Kirk & Sweeney 23 Year Old

Koloa Dark

Mocambo 20 Year Old

Matusalem Platino 

Mount Gay Black Barrel

Mount Gay XO

Pampero Aniversario

Pilar Dark

Plantation Trinidad Vintage 2000

Plantation Pineapple (Stiggin’s Fancy)

Plantation Grande Reserve Barbados 5 Year

Plantation Trinidad Overproof

Pusser’s Navy Rum

Rhum Barbancourt 15 Year

Real McCoy 12 Year Old

Ron Abuelo Centuria

Ron Abuelo 7 Year Old

Ron Barcelo Gran Anejo

Ron Botran Solera 1893

Ron Cartavio XO

Ron Centenario 12 Year Old

Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Solera

Selveray Cocoa

Seven Fathoms

Siesta Key Beer Barrel Age Rum

Siesta Key Distiller’s Reserve

Siesta Key Toasted Coconut

Smith & Cross Navel Strength Rum

Wray & Nephew Overproof

Zafra Master Blend 21 Year Old

Zaya Grand Reserva

      This is my list, but I feel like I can live with this list and enjoy the party forever.  ;o)

Remembering the Boca Chica Lounge

Boca Chica Lounge in the 1980's

     Through out the seventies and the eighties when the bars closed down in Key West, the late night workers crossed the Cow Key Channel Bridge and about 3 in the morning they started the party at the "Boca Chica Lounge".   This was a no hold barred heavy drinkin', partyin' and fightin' bar much like the ones that were brought to light in the movie Road House.  Complete with the chain link fence protecting the bar.  Here are some of the memories from friends that lived here during the bars hay days.

      For the 35-year-old Rick Berard whose family has owned the Boca Chica for more than 25 years, in the early morning hours was a haven for people who work in other clubs.  When Key West bars close at 4 a.m., the Boca Chica Lounge would fill up with bartenders, waiters and waitresses, motel desk clerks and cab drivers. The drinks are cheap. The disc jockey rocks out from midnight to 7 a.m. and the chain-link fence on the wall and the bunk bed on the dance floor sparkle in the flashing lights.

Chicken Wire around the Band in Road House

      Former Sheriff  Rick Ramsay was the lone road deputy for the Lower Keys that night, Phelps said, and was dispatched to subdue a "300-pound man" who had busted up the place fighting.  Once there, Ramsay purportedly tricked the man into handcuffing himself, according to Phelps' tale.  "We used to say that you never worked a shift on the road until you rolled in the mud and the blood at the Boca Chica Lounge," former Sheriff Bob Peryam said. "We were always the least-armed people when we went there."   The bar in its heyday, the 1980's when drug smuggling peaked in the Keys was frequented by shrimpers, smugglers, thieves and drug dealers, according to Peryam. Its nickname was the "knife and gun club, It was the roughest bar I've ever seen, let alone been in, It was one of our busiest places. It is iconic, but not in a good way."

     My friend Jill remembers the place well, "Oh ya! The first time I walked in I took all my gold off.   The bar was behind a chain link fence and some one thru a bottle at it.    Wicked smokey.   “Was called the knife and gun club, if you didn't have one, rumor had it, just ask at the door”.  It was crazy and opened 24 hrs."   

This is the place today all 3,000 Square Feet of it complete with the sign

     “While no records were found specifying when the Boca Chica Lounge went out of business, anecdotal accounts put its demise about the time the new law was in effect, said DeFoor, who added that the lounge's owner bitterly fought it.”   

     When Key West bars closed at 4 a.m., the Boca Chica Lounge began to fill up.  The drinks were cheap and the disc jockey rocks out from midnight to 7 a.m, a chain-link fence on the wall and a bunk bed on the dance floor sparkle in the flashing lights.   Like so many other legendary watering holes in the keys, the Boca Chica Lounge was one of the most notorious anywhere.   This place was truly a place for the people of the night, and perfect for those who made a living in Key West's service industry, giving them a place to go after work.  Just a few hundred yards from the past the Cow Key Channel Bridge, the old place still stands and is for sale today, complete with the distinctive sign still standing.   

     You can still by the way find a t-shirts with the old sign on the chest at https://longlosttees.com/shop/boca-chica-lounge/