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There are many rums in the world. Probably about 1,000 different rums, give or take. Some are good. Some are swill. Some are fantastic.
And some are really, REALLY hard to find. Such as Mount Gay Tricentennial, by many rum lovers considered to be the Holy Grail of rums. A limited release made in 2003 to commemorate the distillery's tricentennial (yes, they've been making rum since 1703), only 3,000 bottles were released, each in a beautiful numbered bottle in a plush box. Most rum drinkers will never get the chance to taste this rum.
So when my friend Popcorn texted me several months ago asking if I'd consider going in on a bottle of Tricentennial, my jaw dropped. His friend up north had found a bottle of it, after several years of searching, and had talked the guy down in price to $1,400. (The original retail price was around $220, I believe.) And they wanted to share the rum (and the cost) with some friends and rum lovers. Though $233 for a sixth of a bottle of rum is almost impossible to justify intellectually, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And throwing caution and logic to the tropical winds, I said fuck it...I'm in.
Thus were the Knights of the Rum Table born. Popcorn, myself, the guy who found the Tricentennial, and three of their friends. All of who would be in Key West for the annual Parrothead celebration. So each of us ponied up our share, and the waiting...and anticipation....began.
After many debates about the best setting for the tasting, we settled on having it at Popcorn's place. Privacy and intimacy won out, and this also prevented unwanted intrusion or accidents by interlopers. When you pay this much for rum, you can damn well decide to be exclusive about it.
In addition, a friend of the buyer's got glasses specially engraved for the event, with the names of the Knights and the number of our bottle (783) etched into six glasses. The buyer also had six vials to which he would dispense the holy liquid, for each of us to do what we would with. We'd taste it, of course, but we also planned on keeping some on hand for future indulgences. And we planned on bringing other rums for the tasting. And of course, yours truly decided to take care of the snacks. I was gonna make a bunch of stuff, but after a busy week of work, I simply bought a couple different hummuses, chopped up some veggies for them, added some pita crackers, bought a couple of nice cheeses and crackers for the cheeses, and added some blue corn tortilla chips to go with my homemade black bean and corn salsa. Which everyone loved and wanted the recipe. (Which I got years ago from a member on here, incidentally.)
Yesterday was The Day.
Many photos were taken. Many toasts were made. Many rums were tried. And much debate ensued. And a little rum was even spilled. Hey, it happens.
And so I got to try Tricentennial. And I have to tell you, it's damn, DAMN good rum. Is it better than Pyrat Cask, which we all agreed was the best rum we'd had to that point? Split decision. 4 said the Tri was better, while 2 dissented. I was one of the 2. But I prefer sweeter rums, and Cask is definitely sweeter than Tri. This does not mean Tri was not good. It was flippin' fantastic. But more of a traditional rum than Cask. More fiery. More rummy.
But, the obvious question remains: is it worth $1,400 a bottle? On a purely emotionless level, when just evaluating the taste of the rum, the answer is probably no. But when you factor in the whole experience, the fact that we have gone where few rum drinkers have gone before, and the fact that we have sipped of the Holy Grail of rums...well, just as I did several months ago, you have to throw logic right out the window. So yeah, it was worth it. I don't regret it for a moment. And I would absolutely do it again. If you love rum, and you get a chance to try some Mount Gay Tricentennial, by all means, do it. But do it with friends. The experience will be that much better.
Some non-Tricentennial notes....
We debated Zacapa 23 vs. Zacapa XO. Specifically, is there that much difference between the two, and is the difference worth the huge price jump for the XO? Consensus among us was no, and no. And that you get far more bang for your buck with the 23. Though the XO is still delicious. We tasted them side by side, and while some of the group couldn't tell the difference, the two bartenders in the group (Popcorn and myself) proved our superior palates as we were able to discern the subtle differences between them. Which we proved by tasting them blindly, side by side, much to the surprise of the others.
We tried a white rum by Vizcaya that was actually worth sipping, which can't be said for most white rums. In my life, this was only the second such white rum, the first being Oronoco.
We debated the differences between Mount Gay Extra Old, their seventeen year blend, and Mount Gay 1703, their thirty year blend. Half the group preferred the younger and cheaper Extra Old, with one guy saying he didn't like the 1703 at all. I was in the other camp, liking them both, but preferring the 1703.
We tried a couple of rums from a distiller that one of the group knew, that the distiller had privately provided him with specifically for the tasting. Both quite excellent.
And we tried a rum I had picked up in Miami a couple of weeks ago on a whim, Kaniche XO, from Barbados. And were all pleasantly surprised that this rum that none of us had heard of was utterly fantastic. And at only $30 a bottle, quite a steal. Sometimes blind luck does deal you a good hand. Or in this case, a nice bottle of rum.
Now, of course, I need to retrieve my various foodstuffs, beer, and rum from Popcorn's place, before the temptation of my share of the Tricentennial gets too much for him. Because I like him, and I'd really hate to have to beat him to death with a bottle of crappy Bacardi.
And some are really, REALLY hard to find. Such as Mount Gay Tricentennial, by many rum lovers considered to be the Holy Grail of rums. A limited release made in 2003 to commemorate the distillery's tricentennial (yes, they've been making rum since 1703), only 3,000 bottles were released, each in a beautiful numbered bottle in a plush box. Most rum drinkers will never get the chance to taste this rum.
So when my friend Popcorn texted me several months ago asking if I'd consider going in on a bottle of Tricentennial, my jaw dropped. His friend up north had found a bottle of it, after several years of searching, and had talked the guy down in price to $1,400. (The original retail price was around $220, I believe.) And they wanted to share the rum (and the cost) with some friends and rum lovers. Though $233 for a sixth of a bottle of rum is almost impossible to justify intellectually, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And throwing caution and logic to the tropical winds, I said fuck it...I'm in.
Thus were the Knights of the Rum Table born. Popcorn, myself, the guy who found the Tricentennial, and three of their friends. All of who would be in Key West for the annual Parrothead celebration. So each of us ponied up our share, and the waiting...and anticipation....began.
After many debates about the best setting for the tasting, we settled on having it at Popcorn's place. Privacy and intimacy won out, and this also prevented unwanted intrusion or accidents by interlopers. When you pay this much for rum, you can damn well decide to be exclusive about it.
In addition, a friend of the buyer's got glasses specially engraved for the event, with the names of the Knights and the number of our bottle (783) etched into six glasses. The buyer also had six vials to which he would dispense the holy liquid, for each of us to do what we would with. We'd taste it, of course, but we also planned on keeping some on hand for future indulgences. And we planned on bringing other rums for the tasting. And of course, yours truly decided to take care of the snacks. I was gonna make a bunch of stuff, but after a busy week of work, I simply bought a couple different hummuses, chopped up some veggies for them, added some pita crackers, bought a couple of nice cheeses and crackers for the cheeses, and added some blue corn tortilla chips to go with my homemade black bean and corn salsa. Which everyone loved and wanted the recipe. (Which I got years ago from a member on here, incidentally.)
Yesterday was The Day.
Many photos were taken. Many toasts were made. Many rums were tried. And much debate ensued. And a little rum was even spilled. Hey, it happens.
And so I got to try Tricentennial. And I have to tell you, it's damn, DAMN good rum. Is it better than Pyrat Cask, which we all agreed was the best rum we'd had to that point? Split decision. 4 said the Tri was better, while 2 dissented. I was one of the 2. But I prefer sweeter rums, and Cask is definitely sweeter than Tri. This does not mean Tri was not good. It was flippin' fantastic. But more of a traditional rum than Cask. More fiery. More rummy.
But, the obvious question remains: is it worth $1,400 a bottle? On a purely emotionless level, when just evaluating the taste of the rum, the answer is probably no. But when you factor in the whole experience, the fact that we have gone where few rum drinkers have gone before, and the fact that we have sipped of the Holy Grail of rums...well, just as I did several months ago, you have to throw logic right out the window. So yeah, it was worth it. I don't regret it for a moment. And I would absolutely do it again. If you love rum, and you get a chance to try some Mount Gay Tricentennial, by all means, do it. But do it with friends. The experience will be that much better.
Some non-Tricentennial notes....
We debated Zacapa 23 vs. Zacapa XO. Specifically, is there that much difference between the two, and is the difference worth the huge price jump for the XO? Consensus among us was no, and no. And that you get far more bang for your buck with the 23. Though the XO is still delicious. We tasted them side by side, and while some of the group couldn't tell the difference, the two bartenders in the group (Popcorn and myself) proved our superior palates as we were able to discern the subtle differences between them. Which we proved by tasting them blindly, side by side, much to the surprise of the others.
We tried a white rum by Vizcaya that was actually worth sipping, which can't be said for most white rums. In my life, this was only the second such white rum, the first being Oronoco.
We debated the differences between Mount Gay Extra Old, their seventeen year blend, and Mount Gay 1703, their thirty year blend. Half the group preferred the younger and cheaper Extra Old, with one guy saying he didn't like the 1703 at all. I was in the other camp, liking them both, but preferring the 1703.
We tried a couple of rums from a distiller that one of the group knew, that the distiller had privately provided him with specifically for the tasting. Both quite excellent.
And we tried a rum I had picked up in Miami a couple of weeks ago on a whim, Kaniche XO, from Barbados. And were all pleasantly surprised that this rum that none of us had heard of was utterly fantastic. And at only $30 a bottle, quite a steal. Sometimes blind luck does deal you a good hand. Or in this case, a nice bottle of rum.
Now, of course, I need to retrieve my various foodstuffs, beer, and rum from Popcorn's place, before the temptation of my share of the Tricentennial gets too much for him. Because I like him, and I'd really hate to have to beat him to death with a bottle of crappy Bacardi.
I'm also a tiny bit jealous. Or maybe a lot jealous.
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