Maggie Campbell: A Master of American Rum

Maggie Campbell

     Maggie is the head distiller and president of Privateer Rum Company.   Wondering what she was going to do with her University of Colorado philosophy degree, took a family trip to Scotland, where she visited a local whisky distillery.   She said that “It opened my eyes that this is an actual job people do.”

     She saw spirits producers, a serious and driven group with fastidious attention to detail and a reliance on chemistry as her people. After visiting lots of distilleries, working as an assistant and receiving a diploma in craft distilling technologies from the Siebel Institute , she landed her current role at Privateer Rum in Ipswich, Mass.

     “As someone who never set out to make rum, it has been amazing,” the 33-year-old says. Rum is global, multidimensional and so very different from other spirits categories.  All the rums she makes are unfiltered and unsweetened, and each, she vehemently believes, needs to be accessible. “The point is to have people drink them,” she says. 

Privateer Rum

     Boston has a long and historical connection to rum, and like many of the colonial distillers from the same area, Maggie is trying to do it her way and not just another copy of the Caribbean Rums.   “We want to capture the North Atlantic maritime style, with its great meso-climate for aging, including the humidity swings that affect how it develops and evaporates, and the push and pull of the oak.” Temperature-controlled fermentation near Beantown is a breeze, retaining delicate aromas and super unique expressions.

     Our founder’s ancestor, the original Andrew Cabot ,1750-1791, was a merchant, rum distiller and successful American privateer during the American Revolution. His fleet totaled more than twenty-five ships including the True American, for which our rum is named.   We carry on this spirit of New England independence and gritty determination by dedicating ourselves to making only the finest rums possible.    

     Maggie Campbell is a prime example of American Rum makers with the grit and drive to do it her way and not compromise her goals and quality of her rum.

Hemingway Rum Company Bottles First Bottling Pilar Blonde in Key West Yesterday

     An exciting day at the Hemingway Rum Company yesterday.  We Bottled our first bottles of rum.  This has bee a 4 plus year project from the start of building the distillery and today it was culminated when the first bottle of Key West Pilar Blonde rum came off of the end of the bottling line.





     The Government hoops we had to jump through were cleared and we started distilling the rum in , but Irma brought the operation to a screeching halt with the damage to the plant and especially the bottling line.  We have continued to distill since October and today all of the final government approvals were given and we were able to finally have rum in bottles that was made here in the Key West Plant.

     When the bottling of the dark and the blond expressions is completed, you will finally be able to by Key West Pilar Rum at the tasting room in the distillery.

Eastside Distilling Introduces Their Coffee Flavored Rum

     Portland-based spirits producer Eastside Distilling has launched a coffee-flavored rum, called Hue-Hue,made from Arabica coffee beans grown at the Finca El Paternal Estate in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, where the expression takes its name.  The coffee is then roasted by Portland Roasting Company, and cold-brewed by Eastside. It is then hand-blended with silver rum and a trace amount of raw Demerara sugar.

     Bottled at 70 proof (35% abv), Hue-Hue is described as having the “full flavor and richness” of cold-brew coffee, without the “syrupy sweetness“ of coffee liqueurs.  The bottle design is inspired by Guatemala’s burlap coffee sacks and represents the coffee’s entire roasting history.

     Mel Heim, master distiller for Eastside, said: “Our contemporary imagining of coffee rum as a hip incarnation of Pacific Northwest ‘cold brew’ is a premium spirit that quickly rose to be the number one seller by volume in our tasting rooms.”   “I think that people will see Hue-Hue on the shelf and be attracted to its uniqueness. When they experience it, I think they will convert to Hue-Hue as their coffee spirit, the same way they’ve converted to cold brew as their coffee of choice.”

     Hue-Hue is available in Oregon, with plans for distribution outside of Oregon later in 2018.

The Beauty of the Caribbean From the Air

     With Spring Break about to start here in Key West, I dream of my many flights over so many beautiful islands in the Caribbean Sea and all the fun and relaxation I have always had when I go there.  Oh well, May is coming soon and a week in the Caribbean and good food and great rum.

Havana Club Introduces Whisky Cask Finished Rum

     Pernod Ricard has released the third member of its limited-edition Havana Club Tributo Collection.  This is a rum that was finished in smoky whisky casks.   Havana Club Tributo 2018 is the third expression in a series of annual releases that pays tribute to the different elements of the Cuban rum production process.

     The 2018 edition has been crafted from blended rums drawn from 60-year-old casks and part-finished in barrels that had previously held smoky malts.  The result is a rum with a “subtle yet distinctive smoky note” brought about by the additional casks in the aging process.  Havana Club Tributo 2018 is presented in a wooden box, crafted from white wood, to the role of the oak in this year’s expression.  The new expression was launched at the Cigar Habanos Festival in Cuba this week, but there will only be 2,500 bottles globally.

 

     Asbel Morales, Havana Club’s maestro del Ron Cubano, said: “The Tributo 2018 edition is a testament to the craftsmanship at Havana Club distillery, and we celebrate the expertise and passion of everyone who carefully monitored every stage of the distillation, maturation and blending process.”   Nick Blacknell, global marketing director at Havana Club International, added: “We are confident that Tributo 2018 will appeal to whisky and rum connoisseurs alike looking for high quality and authentic drinking experiences”.   Bottled at 40% abv, Havana Club Tributo 2018 is available in 21 markets for an  for around $487.00 a 700ml bottle.

     This release follows the 2017 edition of Havana Club Tributo Collection, which was created from a blend of hand-selected base rums and a decades-old ‘aguardiente’. 

Wild Fermentation Is the Sexiest and Least Understood Part of Spirits Making

Rums Raw Materials Where Wild Yeasts can be Found

     It's one of the most divisive areas in spirit making. Fermentation, by either wild or with industrial yeasts, has become synonymous with the battle between all that is natural, and the convenience and consistency of man-made machination. 

For some, the thought of using "industrial" yeast cultures to ferment spirits is truly faking it.    They claim that adding these yeasts, deliberately bred to impart desired flavors to spirits, is a betrayal of the concept of terroir - the concept that spirits should taste of the place the sugarcane is grown.

     Others claim that the risks involved in allowing "natural" yeasts to carry out the ferment are unacceptable, and can lead to faulty or weird spirits. They scorn the idea that native yeasts are part of terroir, arguing that most wild ferments are carried out by commercial strains resident in the distillery. 

Comercialy Produced Yeast

     We sometimes forget that, like cheese, spirits are a microbiological product. The Molasses and other materials get all the glory, but that isn't very fair.  Spirits are a product of fermentation.   The process by which yeasts turn sugar into alcohol and yields energy.   Afterward, there's a second bacterial fermentation, called malolactic fermentation, that exists in most spirits. This adjusts their acidity and makes them more stable.

     Yeasts are tiny. We can't see them, and the only evidence of their activity is a steady stream of small bubbles of carbon dioxide rising to the surface of fermenting wash. But what they do is astonishing.   They transform simple, sweet-tasting sugars into something much more complex, a liquid that has the potential to be profound, and which, with its alcoholic content that after distillation will become your favorite spirit.

     Freshly harvested sugar cane or molasses contain pretty much all that is needed to make a great wash. They have enough sugar for yeasts to make enough alcohol to keep the wash stable, and enough acidity to make it taste fresh and preserve it.  

     Active dried yeasts, a midcentury modernization of 19th-century pure starter cultures, took off soon thereafter, especially among New World distillers. They took a lot of the risk out of fermentation and, in the New World, where spirit production was accelerating, the demand was for clean, attractive spirits commercial yeasts promised distillers a much clearer route to this goal than relying on the raw materials alone.

     I'm glad that wild fermentations are more common these days, and that there is a link between the organisms that carry out these fermentations and the farms that produce the raw materials.  But I'm also grateful for the sophisticated microbiological work carried out by yeast researchers, resulting in interesting products, such as specialty yeast strains and even cultured non-Saccharomyces yeasts for those who want wild ferment character without the risk. Both are necessary, and in the right hands can help make more interesting spirits.

Everyone Has at Some Time or Another Jumped on Those Two-For-One Cocktail, But Are These Promotions Irresponsible?

     A lot of bars and pubs offer these two for one deals Here in Key West to get people in the door, some places are handing out coupons for these specials in front of their bar.  Are offers such as two-for-ones or happy hours a good way of drawing consumers to your bar?  Or are they just attracting cheap, over drinkers rather than cocktail connoisseurs?  Many of the industries tend to have opposing opinions.   This practice is looked at as being irresponsible and encouragement to drink too much.   Many of the liquor promotions can make for a controversial subject matter.   Drinks offers range from short-lived price reductions to buy-one-get-one free drinks all night long, providing cheaper alternatives for consumers who might usually opt for a night in.       However, more health-conscious consumers are becoming more and more discerning about what goes into their drink and are deemed responsible enough to make their own decisions regarding alcohol consumption.

     Does cheap alcohol in bars and pubs encourage consumers to drink more, or do they drink the same amount regardless of price?  I was glad that the bars that I worked in did not have two for ones or happy hours, because in general, these promotions did not attract the customers that tipped their bartender and often were drinking too much and causing problems compared to the customers that come in during the regular price hours.  Most times you get a better quality cocktail at the standard price.

     You can read several opinions on the subject at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/02/are-two-for-one-cocktail-deals-irresponsible/ 

Why Whiskey Drinkers Should Look at Trying Rum

Good Candidates for Whiskey Substitution

     If you’re a whiskey drinker, that is looking for a little bit more from his cocktails you might want to substitute a rum of the same age as the whiskey you’re are using to make those wonderful whiskey cocktails.  With the help of a knowledgeable rum barman you will be really surprised at how good these really are.   Rum has a natural sweetness that whiskey lacks and allows you to sweeten the cocktail up without the addition of sugar to the mix.

     Rum and whiskey share a parallel history both in the American Experience as well as abroad. Boston area of New England was one of the largest producers of rum in the world in the late 1600’s.  This was in part due to the “Triangle Trade between the US, Africa and Barbados and other British colonies in the central Caribbean. At the same time, Whiskey was being made by farmers utilizing their leftover corn. When the American Revolution went into full swing, the molasses became hard to get a hold of because of the British Blockades of American ports and many of the distilleries switched over to producing whiskey.  Soon, whiskey became the most popular spirit of the colonies.

   Whiskey drinkers in general don’t understand the flavor of the two spirits are very similar.   Although rum and whiskey come from different raw materials they both are fermenting a sugar source that will be aged in American oak barrels that were very often originally used for aging of whiskey. Both spirits exhibit flavors of vanilla, toasted and charred oak, and, in some cases when charred barrels are used you pick up notes of smokiness.   Both spend from three to seven years in the barrel and the ethanol is being exposed to the wood yielding a very similar maturation process.

     Many of the traditional cocktails like the Old Fashioned, Manhattan or even a Sidecar can be given a new life by interchanging whiskey and rum. These drinks will still share a lot of the same flavors you know and love, while adding some new dimensions to the flavor profile.

Trash in, Trash Out, it is Not Just True With Computers

Large Production Fermenter

     What are some of the factors that you have to be aware of when you are making rum?   First of all, you have to be concerned with the preparation of the fermentation vessel and all of the equipment that is being used to make the "wash".  Dirty utensils and fermenters will introduce unwanted bacteria and wild yeast strains all of which can taint or ruin your fermentation.   What you use can also effect the final product as well.  Low grade molasses, the type of sugar, water that is tainted with chemicals are all factors in a good fermentation.

200 Year Old Fermentation Tanks

     A good full flavored wash is the product of careful measurement of the ingredients and choosing the ingredients that will all work well together to make the fermentation active and pure.  There are a number of by products that can come out of the fermentation that are no going to taste good or even leave you rum cloudy.  Molasses or Cane Juice are going to give you the best tasting rums, rums made from processed sugar will yield alcohol, but they will be more of a neutral spirit, vodka, rather than a flavorful rum.   Fermenting a cooler temperatures will also effect the flavor and give you a higher yield of alcohol that warmer ones.

Pitching the Yeast

     The choice of yeast will also be a huge factor in what you end up with as a final product.  There
are a huge number of types of yeast from bread, wine, whiskey, rum, and many more to choose from.  The other option is to culture your own strain of yeast.  All of these will work, but you need to do some experimenting with the different strains to get what you are looking for as a flavor profile.  Some of the yeasts are "supercharged" and can produce up to 12 or 15% alcohol in as little as 48 hours.  Others are slower and are more about producing a wash that will give the final product a specific flavor.

     These are some of the most important factors in making rum, because what you start with has a huge effect on what you end up with.  Starting with low grade materials will yield alcohol, but very little flavor and this is fine if you just want a neutral spirit.  If you want a great tasting rum, you must pay careful attention to your beginning, in other words the fermentation.

Drinking Alcohol More Important Than Exercise to Living Past 90

Clinic for Aging Research and Education in Laguna Woods, California

      RAISE A GLASS TO THE golden years.   Making it past 90 years old may boil down to drinking a couple of glasses of alcohol a night, according to a study on members of the oldest demographic in the U.S.   The 90+ Study, started in 2003, focuses on the fastest growing age group in America - the "oldest-old" - to determine what habits lead to quantity and quality of life, according to its website. This year, researchers at the Clinic for Aging Research and Education in Laguna Woods, California, focused on what food, activities and lifestyles are commonly featured among those living longer.   Analyzing more than 1,600 nonagenarians, the study results showed that people who drank two glasses of beer or wine a day improved their odds of living longer than those who abstained by about 18 percent.

     Dr. Claudia Kawas, a neurology specialist and head of the 90+ Study at the University of California, presented her findings at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual conference in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 17.   "I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking improves longevity," Kawas said in her keynote address.

     Exercising regularly and partaking in a hobby for two hours a day were also associated with longer lives. Surprisingly, people who were overweight, but not obese, in their 70s lived longer than normal or underweight people did.  "It's not bad to be skinny when you're young, but it's very bad to be skinny when you're old," Kawas said at the meeting.

Cheers to life, seriously.   When it comes to making it into your 90s, booze actually beats exercise, according to a long-term study.  The research, led by University of California neurologist Claudia Kawas, tracked 1,700 nonagenarians enrolled in the 90+ Study that began in 2003 to explore impacts of daily habits on longevity.

     Researchers discovered that subjects who drank about two glasses of beer or wine a day were 18 percent less likely to experience a premature death, the Independent reports.    Meanwhile, participants who exercised 15 to 45 minutes a day, cut the same risk by 11 percent.   “I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking improves longevity,” Kawas stated over the weekend at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Austin, Texas.

     Further study is needed to determine how habits impact longevity beyond people’s genetic makeups.

Read More at http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-drinking-alcohol-living-past-90-20180220-story.html

Barbados: The Birthplace of Rum

     Another Island that I haven't visited in quiet some time is Barbados.  I have a lot of very fond memories of this Island.  It was where I was offered the chance to judge rum at the Caribbean Food and Rum Festival.  It is also the home of some of my favorite rum distilleries, like Foursquare Distillery, Mount Gay, West Indies Rum Distillery and of course St. Nicolas Abbey.

     Rum's history is very deeply lives on this little Caribbean island and is a beautiful place to come and learn about it.

St. Nicolas Abbey Plantation Distillery

Virginia Distillers Association Advocates for SB803

If passed, Senate Bill 803 is set to breathe new life into Virginia's distilled spirits industry

     Senate Bill 803 proceeds through the Virginia General Assembly ranks as state legislators continue to evaluate whether or not they want to foster the Commonwealth's burgeoning distilled spirits industry. Virginia is a control state for distilled spirits, which requires the state's distilleries to operate as government ABC stores. This means Virginia distilleries must sell their products using the state-imposed markup structure while shouldering 100 percent of the operational costs for a distillery store. SB803 will allow Virginia distilleries to keep the state-imposed markup for product that they sell onsite at distilleries, and as a result never moves through the state fulfillment system.

     As of last week, the bill passed the full Senate floor, and will now proceed onward to the House for crossover. "Support from the Senate for commonsense legislation to advance fair policy for Virginia distillers, who are also Virginia farmers, Virginia employers in rural communities and drivers of Virginia's tourism has been tremendous," said Virginia Distillers Association (VDA) Government Affairs Director Curtis Coleburn.

     SB803 Patron Senator Bryce Reeves identifies with many of the unique and excessive challenges faced by Virginia distillers. "We should be doing everything we can to promote and reward small businesses and their operators in Virginia - SB803 does just that. It allows distilleries to keep more of their well-earned proceeds," explained Senator Reeves.

     Distilled spirits are the only consumer good where our state government is an active market participant. In addition to the state-imposed markup which averages 69 percent but can be as high as 93 percent, Virginia adds on a 20 percent excise tax to all distilled spirits sales. Virginia has the second highest excise tax for distilled spirits in the nation, at 20 percent of the retail shelf price ($30.88/gal for distilled spirits for a bottle that retails for $30.59 excluding Virginia sales tax). On a per gallon basis, this is more than 19 times greater than the state excise tax on table wine ($1.51/gal), and 117 times greater than the state excise tax on beer ($0.26/gal). To better understand the economics of distilling and selling spirits in the Commonwealth, CLICK HERE for an overview. SB803 will allow distilleries to keep the state-imposed markup (averaging 69 percent but as high as 93 percent) for all sales at their distilleries; allowing them to reinvest in their businesses.

    The markup formula how the state sells product is the same whether product is sold at distilleries, or at local ABC stores. Subsequently, distillery operators shoulder 100% percent of the expenses for operations (e.g. employees, overhead, credit card processing machines, etc.). In exchange, distillery store operators receive a commission of 8 percent of sales for product sold at distillery stores. That commission was formerly 15 percent, but was reduced to 0 percent, then 8 percent in 2015 by ABC. As a result, distillery stores render a higher rate of return to the Commonwealth at 40.52 percent vs. 35.03 percent for the state's own government ABC stores." See p. 34 of Virginia ABC's 2017 fiscal report for further information. 

Read More at http://www.virginiaspirits.org/virginia-distillers-association-advocates-for-sb803/

In 1933 Congress Strikes the First Blow in The Fight to Kill Prohibition

     A lot of people feel that prohibition just appeared, it didn’t, it was a long time coming and it took a long time to appeal it.  I found this to be an interesting article worth reading.  How it came and went should be of interest to anyone that enjoys the freedom of choice here in America to have an alcoholic beverage.

     On January 20, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbade, "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors". It came into force exactly a year later, with the National Prohibition Act - usually known as the Volstead Act - setting out the detailed guidelines.  Prohibition had not come out of the blue. The Temperance Movement had been building strong support among the many churches since the early 1800s. Massachusetts was the first state to introduce anti-alcohol legislation in 1838, but it was short-lived. Maine did so more successfully in 1848.

     Prohibition was not a success.  Organized crime set up large smuggling operations across the Canadian and Mexican borders, as well as managing illegal shipping routes from the Caribbean. Domestic bootleggers began distilling vast quantities of homebrew, and medicinal and denatured alcohol were cut and washed for resale - sometimes with fatal consequences. All these products were pumped out through mob-controlled speakeasies and illicit drinking dens. In the space of only a few years, prohibition had given a new breed of gangsters undreamed of wealth and geographic reach. From this solid foundation, organized crime then diversified into narcotics, gambling, prostitution, and finance.

     Law enforcement agencies and organized crime gangs battled it out on the streets of American cities. The state's highpoint came in 1932 when Eliot Ness and his Untouchables from the Bureau of Prohibition succeeded in securing Al Capone's imprisonment for income tax offences. However, by this stage the tide had turned, and the whole violent experience of prohibition had killed off much popular support for the Temperance Movement.

Read more at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/20/day-1933-congress-strikes-first-blow-fight-kill-prohibition/

What Kind of Drinker Are You?

     This is an interesting article that I ran across today.  I often question myself about this very question.  I seem to have different answers at different times in my life, but you need to read this article and see how it fits into your lifestyle.

     Emmanuel Kuntsche and Sarah Callinan are alcohol policy researchers at La Trobe University in Australia.   They explain even those who aren't dependent on alcohol should know their type.   Your reasons for drinking influence your physical and mental health generally.   It's easy to see alcohol consumption being a result of thousands of years of ritual and a lifetime of habit.   But have you ever stopped to consider why it is you choose to drink?   Knowing what motivates people to drink is important to better understanding their needs when it comes to encouraging them to drink less, or in a less harmful way. 

     Personally, everyone can come up with many reasons why he or she is drinking, which makes a scientific understanding of the reasons difficult.   But there is something called the motivational model of alcohol use, that argues we drink because we expect a change in how we feel after we do.   Originally developed to help treat alcohol dependence, the ideas described in the model led to a new understanding of what motivates people to drink.   More precisely, the model assumes people drink to increase positive feelings or decrease negative ones.   They're also motivated by internal rewards such as enhancement of a desired personal emotional state, or by external rewards such as social approval. 

      This results in all drinking motives falling into one of four categories: enhancement (because it's exciting), coping (to forget about my worries), social (to celebrate), and conformity (to fit in). Drinkers can be high or low in any number of drinking motives - people are not necessarily one type of drinker or the other.   All other factors - such as genetics, personality or environment - are just shaping our drinking motives, according to this model. So drinking motives are a final pathway to alcohol use. That is, they're the gateway through which all these other influences are channeled.

1. Social Drinking

To date, nearly all the research on drinking motives has been done on teens and young adults.   Across cultures and countries, social motives are the most common reason young people give for drinking alcohol.   In this model, social drinking may be about increasing the amount of fun you are having with your friends.   This fits in with the idea that drinking is mainly a social pastime. Drinking for social motives is associated with moderate alcohol use.

2. Drinking to Conform

When people only drink on social occasions because they want to fit in - not because it's a choice they would normally make - they drink less than those who drink mainly for other reasons.   These are the people who will sip a glass of champagne for a toast, or keep a wine in their hand to avoid feeling different from the drinkers around them.   In the last couple of years, programs like Hello Sunday Morning have been encouraging people to take a break from drinking.   And by making this more socially acceptable, they may also be decreasing the negative feedback some people receive for not drinking, although this is a theory that needs testing.

3. Drinking for Enhancement

Beyond simply drinking to socialize, there are two types of adolescents and young adults with a particular risky combination of personality and drinking motive preference.   First are those who drink for enhancement motives.   They are more likely to be extroverted, impulsive, and aggressive. These young people (often male) are more likely to actively seek to feel drunk - as well as other extreme sensations - and have a risk-taking personality.

4. Drinking to Cope

Second, those who drink mainly for coping motives have higher levels of neuroticism, low level of agreeableness and a negative view of the self. These drinkers may be using alcohol to cope with other problems in their life, particularly those related to anxiety and depression.   Coping drinkers are more likely to be female, drink more heavily and experience more alcohol-related problems than those who drink for other reasons.   While it may be effective in the short term, drinking to cope with problems leads to worse long-term consequences. This may be because the problems that led to the drinking in the first place are not being addressed.

Why It Matters

There is promising research that suggests knowing the motives of heavy drinkers can lead to interventions to reduce harmful drinking.   For instance, one study found that tailoring counselling sessions to drinking motives decreased consumption in young women, although there was no significant decrease in men.   This research stream is limited by the fact we really only know about the drinking motives of those in their teens and early 20s.   Our understanding of why adults are drinking is limited, something our research group is hoping to study in the future.

     Next time you have a drink, have a think about why you are choosing to do so. There are many people out there having a drink at night to relax. But if you're aiming to get drunk, you have a higher chance than most of experiencing harm.   Alternatively, if you are trying to drink your problems away, it's worth remembering those problems will still be there in the morning.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5409171/What-kind-drinker-YOU.html#ixzz57d9piVo6

Dos Maderas Luxus Rum Brand Renews Support to Help Save 3,000 Baby Turtles

Dos Maderas Rum Helping Baby Turtles

     Caribbean rum brand Ron Dos Maderas Luxus has renewed its collaboration with the Billion Baby Turtles campaign in a bid to help save 3,000 baby turtles from extinction.   Dos Maderas rum is supporting the Billion Baby Turtles campaign, a program by SEE Turtles, which has the support of SOS Nicaragua, works to protect baby turtles, which when fully grown play a fundamental role in the maintenance of the marine ecosystem of the Pacific coastal region, including coral reefs and seagrass meadows.

     The survival of the different species of turtle in these waters is in danger due to the poaching of their eggs, which are sold illegally on the black market, or the illegal use of their shells to make diverse objects.   Money donated to the campaign goes toward the protection of nesting beaches through organized beach patrols, ensuring that baby turtles are able to cross the sand and reach the sea without incident.

     Luxus, the top rum in the Dos Maderas range of rums produced by Williams & Humbert, is aged for 10 years in the Caribbean and five in the company’s Jerez winery in ex-20-year-old Don Guido Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks.   The range also includes Dos Maderas 5+3, which spends five years aging in the Caribbean and five years in Jerez, and Dos Maderas Selección, a blend of rums from selected casks of Dos Maderas 5+5 and the Caribbean rums used for Luxus.

Luxus is also the name of the first turtle adopted by the brand in 2014 in collaboration with ICAPO (Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative) with a donation being made for the adoption of Hawksbill turtles in danger of extinction.

Hatchings Headed to the Sea

     “This collaboration with the campaign Billion Baby Turtles originates from the desire of Bodegas Williams & Humbert to create closer ties between the region from which its range of rums originates and in which these species, which play such an important role in conserving the environment, are in danger of extinction,” the producer stated.  So far, the Billion Baby Turtles campaign has saved over a million turtles in danger of extinction, with more than 500 volunteers participating in over 4,000 conservation patrols and over 10,000 students receiving training in the subject.   The Dos Maderas brand’s support will help support the protection of 3,000 baby turtles in danger of extinction.

Yesterday We Had a Holiday, Presidents Day, or Was it?

George Washington

     Presidents’ Day, officially, George Washington’s Birthday, in the United States, celebrated the third Monday in February, originally to celebrate George Washington and Abraham Lincolns’ birthdays.   The day is sometimes these days is understood as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents.  The real question is what is this holiday officially?

     The origin of Presidents’ Day lies in the 1880s, when the birthday of Washington—commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first President of the United States was first celebrated as a federal holiday.  In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved many federal holidays to be celebrated on Mondays. The change was designed to schedule certain holidays so that workers had several long weekends throughout the year, but it has been opposed by those who believe that those holidays should be celebrated on the dates they actually happened.   During debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington’s Birthday be renamed Presidents’ Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington, February 22 and Lincoln, February 12.  Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday.  Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. After the bill went into effect in 1971, however, Presidents’ Day became the commonly accepted name, due in part to retailers’ use of that name to promote sales and the holiday’s proximity to Lincoln’s birthday. Presidents’ Day is usually marked by public ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.

2005 Finish Finition En Fût Du Château La Tour Blanche

     This wonderful expression, after spending 8 years aging in the traditions of  HSE Rhum, this 2005 vintage spends an additional 1 year maturing in Château la Tour Blanche casks.   One of HSE’s more unique expressions is particularly lovely, is the HSE Chateau La Tour Blanche Finish.   After eight years of aging in American oak barrels, it spent an additional year maturing in barrels that formerly housed Chateau La Tour Blanche, the famous Bommes-based dessert wine.

Master Taster’s Note

     The color is a classic golden amber, with a mild aroma of oak, caramel, brown sugar and a hint of dried apricot.   The flavor profile is marked by dried apricot, a hint of orange zest, black pepper, white wine, cane sugar, tropical fruit, even a hint of Moscato.   “the expressive bouquet delicately also projects acacia honey and passion fruit notes.   A few seconds of aeration awakens the scent of dried apricot and fig enhanced by a hint of gingerbread. The flavor has a captivating roundness and sublime sweet notes of dried fruit and Muscato.  Followed by an aromatic orange peel rounds it off beautifully. An extraordinary experience that lovers of unique products will adore.” This exquisite expression of AOC Martinique is Bottled at 41 % ABV.

Dreaming of Getting Off or the Islands Again.

     It has been over a year since I've bee off of the island and basking in the Caribbean sun on a different tropical island.  I still have to wait until May, before we take off for a week in Grand Cayman and hanging out with so many friends there.  By the way, I don't count the day trip to Havana, it was over before I really knew that it had begun.  I had a great time, but it was a quick "wham - bam - thank you - ma'am" type of trip.   I can't wait to behanging out on those beautiful Beaches and feeding the Frigate Birds.

Looking at the Way Havana Has Cleaned Up Since 2012

2012 Downtown Havana

2018 Old Havana

     One of the really interesting things about wandering through
the streets of Havana and down into the historic districts is seeing how the locals actually live and interact with the tourists in Havana.  You hear about the abject poverty, but I don't see any more of this in Havana that I do in Miami.  Yes there are what look like homeless on the streets that are trying to hit you up for a hand out, but there no more of them than I see everyday here in Key West.

2012 El Capitolio

2018 El Capitolio

     I find most of the neighborhoods to be very clean and well kept.  The Cuban people are a great group and are proud of their heritage.  A lot of the media coverage seems to be as slanted as the media in the rest of the world.  With the return of tourists to Cuba, there is a noticeable change in the "eye-appeal" of the city with many of the old buildings that were dirty and falling down 5 years ago are totally restored today.  El Capitolio, and the National Theater are two examples of what I'm referring to.

2012 National Theater

2018 National Theater