Rum’sploration : Barceló Imperial Onyx

This is the last of my Barceló buy form a while back. This bottle didn’t languish on my bar waiting its turn. No. This bottle somehow got stashed away in an alternate location, completely forgotten about, and rediscovered as we were tidying up before the big move. It’s kinda nice to find this bottle, though. …

Rum’sploration : Hamilton Single Cask Port Mourant

This is a bottle I was definitely not expecting to get on my bar. Lucky for me, my better half was traveling to a southern state while I was at sea and brought back a few goodies for me. This was high on my “please please please” list because I like Demerara rum, I like …

Whiskeylust : Knob Creek 12

Oh man, I’m rolling out the same old trope today with this bottle. The Knob Creek 12 joined my bar probably four years ago now (back when we lived in Guam) but I never got around to opening it up. I’m a fan of what KC does but with all the goodness that was in …

Rum’sploration : Crab Island Rum Añejo

Just about a year ago, my wife and I traveled halfway around the world to visit Puerto Rico for a friend’s wedding. Of course, I took advantage of the situation and picked up a bunch of rums I don’t have access to elsewhere (especially not in Japan) and have finally gotten to a point where …

Rum’sploration : XXX/ Five

Oh, man. Talk about a blast from the past. I’m finally getting around to opening, drinking and writing about my bottle of XXX/ Five that I picked up when it was initially released about four years ago. I saved it for no reason- it just kept getting put on the “open next” list and never …

Rum’sploration : Pusser’s Deptford Dockyard Reserve

This was a random pickup that just so happened to look good at a good price at the right time. I enjoy Pusser’s even though they get a good amount of hate in the rum world. I won’t dive deeper into that here, you can do your own research. But I’m often intrigued by their …

Rum’sploration : El Dorado 8

Not all rums are made to be sipped neat over the course of a couple hours. El Dorado 8 exists, in my opinion, to meet the Demerara needs for a wide variety of cocktails. I know it works great in a grog (that’s where most of this bottle went) but can it function outside of …

Browsing Botanicals : Bols Genever

I’m not sure this fits in the “Browsing Botanicals” category of posts and yet here we are. I’ll be honest, I don’t see myself going though enough genever to come up with its own theme. That’s attributed to the fact that there aren’t that many out there. At least not in the places I’ve lived …

Browsing Botanicals : Senjyo Sakura Gin

Sakura season is maybe the most beautiful time of year … anywhere. The Northeastern U.S. may argue that point for their autumn season, but the delicate beauty of the sakura is hard to beat. It’s no surprise that a gin distillery in Japan used the sakura blossoms in their gin and it should be even …

Rum’sploration : TCRL Flying King

Let me lay down the law right off the bat: we’re heading into mixing rum territory today and it’s important to get that known right up front so there are no misunderstandings about this review. I will be reviewing this rum based on its mixing merit and not whether it’s a neat sipper. Now that …