MAKING YOUR OWN RUM
(BLENDING, THAT IS)

While in the UK, I worked briefly with two organizations who were pursuing their own brands of rum. As with many industries, some distillers have extra capacity for production. They will create and sell to others, including some competitors, products with specified qualities. The rum may then be bottled and sold as is, or multiple rums blended and then sold. The new signature product is unique, even though created by others. In the case of the two outfits above, they were blending their own; they have tasters assisting them to target their nose and taste goals (I was given the opportunity to participate, a most humbling honor) and will bottle the final result under their own label. Interestingly, they were both obtaining multiple rums at significant discount to create their final product. We discussed at length how to accomplish this - fascinating stuff on the business end of rum!

The UK Experience 11/25/07

Everything you ever have heard about British civility is understated. We found UK citizens in the greater London area to be universally polite, charming, helpful, and delightful. This carried over to the panel of judges selected for the tasting competition. While cultural differences existed between us, and sometimes became evident in the judging, they were discussed and argued with professionalism and humor. Personally, I am going to push for another category of rums (sorry, Ian!): Rums of the Americas. Such rums with their sweet, but not overpowering, taste notes are probably best judged separate from drier rums.
Best bars I visited? Ian Burrell's Cottons in Camden, and Richard Woods' Floridita Bar in Soho. Visit them on the web. Every patron I saw - and I looked - had a great time while assisted by well-trained staff. As for pubs: The Grenadier Pub, built in the 1600s. Super food, great drink, and you can't beat the history.