Zack Brinley: Hi Jim. Thanks so much for the note and for your support of our rum! "Capn Jimbo's... Rum Project" is a very very cool site and rum source!
By now you are aware that I often confront distillers with my usual questions about additives - does their "rum" contain artificial or natural flavors, sugar, caramel (not coloring) or worse? Most wise distillers/marketers know when to shut up. Heaven forbid the peeps actually know what they're drinking.
But a few honest distillers, especially those who have nothing to hide are quite forthright and informative. These include Richard Seale, The Lash, and a few others.
And now, Brinley.
I emailed Brinley with the following question:
Fair question. and notice that, as always, we did not request a freebie. To my great surprise I received a reply - not from the usual, short-skirted flack - but from Zack Brinley. How bout dat! I quote:Hi, and congratulations on your new Shipwreck. At The Rum Project - perhaps the web's largest independent, non-commercial rum website - your Brinley Rums have always been some of our favorites.
My question:
Your website states that Shipwrecked contains "...natural orange, vanilla, nutmeg, clove and other spices" - does this mean that these components are entirely natural in the sense that the actual spice or fruit is used/infused, or do you use either natural and/or artificial flavorings/spices?
So... did he answer the question? You bet yer butt, he did. Brinley's uses pre-blended extract/flavor from natural extracts from vanilla, orange and nutmeg. In sum, Brinley uses natural extracts, and adds them in a fashion to preserve their consistency.Zack Brinley: We are using natural extracts for our vanilla and orange and natural nutmeg. We are not physically infusing the vanilla bean or orange pulps or nutmeg in St Kitts but have a natural flavor group that perfects each batch of flavor and gives us a large batch of pre-blended extract / flavor.
This helps keeps the consistency of each small batch tasting and looking the same. Although, from time to time, I have seen some spice sediment in the bottom of our bottles. It's a delicate balance of filtering the final product, but keeping the flavor in the bottle! .. Hope this answers your question.
Another note: Brinley makes clear that some of the bottles do retain a bit of sediment, as too scrupulous filtering might "affect the flavor". I love these guys, and without prejudice can say we have raved over every Brinley's Gold product we've experienced - the Coffee, Vanilla and Shipwreck. Next up...
Coconut. Stay tuned...
