An even more brilliant new section: Uncommon Styles

[Capn Jimbo]

When is a style not a style?


I'm so glad you asked. Dave Broom - and he knows more, honestly and competently - about spirits than the rest of us combined: says there are four basic styles. Jamaican, Demeraran, Cane Juice, and Cuban. I added a fifth, Barbadian, based partially on profile and partially on tradition and history.

At a point, Sue Sea and I came very close to finding a sub-style called Dominican. These feature a corky, musty quality that I've noted fairly consistently over the net-years. In other words, a possible style based on a distinctive characteristic.

Then we ran across Scarlet Ibis Rum - a small batch, copper pot-stilled rum aged 3 to 5 years in small casks, and bottled unfiltered at what must have been close to cask strength, 98 proof.

It wasn't that it had a distinctive characteristic (corky) like the possible Dominican style, but that it had aspects of (almost) all of the other styles. Smooth like Barbadian or Cuban, aromatic like Jamaican, medium to full bodied like Demeraran, and at times even a dry, Cane Juice aspect. Sue Sea and I could simply not agree.

It was JaRiMi who settled the matter when long ago he swore that there was a distinctive Trinidadian style, an assertion with which I couldn't quite agree, simply because there really weren't all that many old and classic Trini rums to try.

Fortunately, Scarlet Ibis Rum was one of them. Made by the famous Caroni distillery (now defunct) in an absolutely classic manner, using traditional copper pot stills, et al. Top drawer from concept to fruition, but sadly no longer really available.


Bottom line:

The four or five basic styles are basic, common and imperative to know and understand. Still there are a few exceptions, not least Scarlet Ibis Rum, which is one of the finest rums we have ever tasted.