I don't wanna get off on a rant here...

[Beukeboom]

...but I am finding out that trying to get premium rums here in Tallahassee is an almost impossible task.

The local chain, ABC Fine Wine and Spirits, does not normally carry premium rums other than an El Dorado 15 and Ron Abuelo Centenario.

The fanciest store in town can get you a $500 Frank Sinatra Century limited edition Jack Daniels presentation set or a $3000 bottle of Napoleon cognac but not a $85 bottle of Ron Quorhum 30-Year or a $95 bottle of Diplomatico 2001 Single Vintage.

I'm a rum lover in a whisky and wine world.

There's a country song in there somewhere.

Tallahassee has a market for fine wines. And with all the surrounding countryside bourbons, whiskies, and scotches (is that even a word?) are in great demand. Doesn't hurt when the legislators are in town 'cause they buy up a lot of that stuff as well.

But rum?

College students LOVE the stuff...as long as it's Captain Morgan, Cruzan, Malibu, Bacardi or some other el cheapo bottom-shelf brand...especially if it's got some sort of sweet flavor...cherry, banana, mango, passion fruit, bubble gum, whipped cream, ad nauseum. And with two major colleges in one town a lot of that garbage gets sold.

But a bottle of Appleton Estate Limited Edition 30-Year Old Rum?

Not a snowball's chance in...well, you know.

Not blaming the store themselves...they're handcuffed by the way the state of Florida forces them to order...a three tier system. Basically just a little bit better than the archaic Machiavellian system in Mississippi but a long way away from whatever they have in Louisiana where it seems you can find most any rum...even at a convenience store where one normally buys gas, lottery tickets, and bad chicken salad sandwiches. Plus in the state of Florida there is what one local liquor store owner calls "the CVS of liquor stores", Total Wine & More which, as was explained to me, gets set up to be the exclusive seller of various brands thereby shutting out all smaller chain stores as well as Mom & Pop liquor stores.

And you cannot order rum to be delivered to your home in Florida. Nope. That's a felony in the state. Both on the buyer and seller.

Okay, I'm no Dennis Miller and I don't turn a phrase particularly well but this rant has been building up inside me and this seemed the place to release it.

Thank you for allowing me to release a little frustration.

I feel a bit better now.

Now where did I set down my rum & coke [zero]?

[edgarallanpoe]

Well, not sure what your personal stash is like but I can tell you that some spectacular rums can be had for far less than you are looking to spend. Here is what I would do in your shoes. Gather up the basics of great rums...Barbancourt, Appleton XO, etc.. They should be widely available to you and are spectacular rums at bargain basement prices. *Especially* if you are mixing and not sipping.

Next, see what you have available to you. Does the ABC store around you have a catalog or online database for you to check out?

[Beukeboom]

I have bottles of those brands already. I wanted some premium rums for a celebration of some really good things...unrelated...happing to me and a friend of mine. Just can't get what I want around here.

[edgarallanpoe]

And the ABC store doesn't have a catalog you can look at for a special order?

[Beukeboom]

And the ABC store doesn't have a catalog you can look at for a special order?

They do have an online ordering system but still do not offer the premium rums I wish to get (Ron Millonario, Rhum JM, Diplomatico 2000, El Dorado EHP Single Barrel, Ron Centenario, Opthimus, et al). The best they have on their online list are ones I already have or have tried (Appleton 21, Facundo, El Dorado 15 & 21, et al). To order it has to be shipped from store to store. They offer many more choices in premium and ultra-premium bourbons, whiskies, scotches, cognacs and wines. Want a $3K bottle of Remy Martin Louis Xiii Cognac? They can get it. $500 bottle of Jack Daniels Sinatra presentation? They can get it. Bottle of Ron Millonario? Nope. Clement XO? Nope. Dictador XO? Nope.

Mid-range and premiums rums are not a big seller here as well as elsewhere. From a business standpoint I can understand it not making sense to buy a case of something that's just going to sit on the shelf and not sell. In regards to rums the consistent sellers are the cheaper rums especially Capt. Morgan, Bacardi, Malibu, and Cruzan (not necessarily in that order). Which obviously explains why in all the stores I have been those brands occupy the most shelf space. Specifically the lower shelves where they are at eye-level and easy to grab.

In order to have a chance of obtaining the rums I wish to purchase I would have to travel to large cities like New Orleans (which I only get a chance to do once a year when visiting my sister-in-law in nearby Biloxi, MS) or Miami, Atlanta, et al (which I never get a chance to do).

Thus with the existing Florida statutes and the fact that I cannot afford to travel, I am resigned to the fact that sampling new and unusual rums will be limited to what I can find in my region of residence which is the Florida panhandle area. Thus the places I can normally check periodically would be Tallahassee, FL, Panama City & Panama City Beach, FL, Apalachicola, FL, Thomasville, GA, and Dothan, AL. At some point my wife and I might be able to spend a long weekend in St. Augustine, FL and if that is the case I should be able to check out a limited number of stores there as well as Jacksonville, FL (which would allow me to check out Total Wine & More which might have some of which I am looking for as well as a bottle of Hancock's President's Reserve bourbon to give as a gift to my sister-in-law -- but that's a long story unrelated). Research is necessary to determine which stores would offer a better chance of finding the harder-to-find rums and to eliminate the stores that mainly have the standard brands.

Also now that I have a little more info I can check out a couple of places in and around New Orleans that I did not know about last year. So next year when my wife and I visit her sister I might be able to find what I am looking for and then some.

Basically my rant was more about the limitations placed on the consumer as well as the retailer in Florida. With most products (books, music, cleaning supplies, clothing, shoes, et al) you can find it locally, but if not the store usually can order it or you can order it yourself online for home or store delivery. But for alcohol that is not an option in the state of Florida. What I do not understand is that a statute was passed a couple of years ago allowing residents in the state of Florida to order wine to be delivered to home addresses but not alcohol. I fail the see the difference in ordering wine and ordering alcohol. They placed specific guidelines and criteria to prevent minors from ordering AND receiving (ex. -- a valid FL ID must be presented when the order arrives and is signed for). It's politics.

[edgarallanpoe]

I hear you, we have the same problem here in PA. We are in the process of privatizing our State Liquor stores but that will take some time. You are 100% right about it being political. The big boys pay off the politicians and the politicians restrict the free market in order to appease their contributors. It's complete bullshit.

An example...

The PA state store carries booze from Smooth Ambler, a very well respected maker of whiskey. SA also decided to get into bottling some rare rum. You would think that I could get a bottle of that since they already do business with the company. You would be wrong.

[Beukeboom]

Ironically I found a bottle of the Ambler rum at a little liquor store in Apalachicola, FL. Don't know how they got it. None of the larger stores around here carry it.