Burr: sure is cold in Miami!

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Capn Jimbo
Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
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Burr: sure is cold in Miami!

Post by Capn Jimbo »

And I thought the weather was cold...

I like the Burr Brothers - well actually father and son - but I think they'd actually like being called brothers. All old guys - like Robert and I - like being thought of as younger. And name the son who doesn't wanna be the equal of the old man.

At least I hope so.

The Burrs are really a pretty good crew. Their Coral Gables based tastings are a ton of fun and even a little educational. Not real tastings, but it is possible to get a dram of something that intrigues you afterwards. Nice noshies too. Accordingly, I've always linked Bobby's site, advertised his events and even attended a few. Good on them.

Still, when I absented myself from the Shillery of Rum it quickly became apparent that Robert felt obliged to stand by his man, namely the Preacher. No surprise in that - at least at that time - he was a major contributor and participant at the Preacher's site.

I thought things would change after his rumoured falling out with the Prophet over bad haps at Burr's Miami Renaissance rum fest. Now it was Robert who seems to have exited the Ministry. And became an "Examiner of Rum" at a website called "examiner.com" - a place for self-appointed experts to hold forth.

Neat. And a nice job he did of it - within the perspective of posting pretty pictures and distiller ad copy in the usual "it's all good" style of any promoter worth his salt. Now take note that the various "examiners" postings are open to public comment.

Enter moi.

I'd noted that Burr meticulously linked all the usual rum websites, and even linked independent reviews of some of the rums. Uh, except mine. Still holding a grudge, I thought. But I thought I'd test that, so took advantage of the public comment section and posted a few reviews, plus the usual link.

No problem. Or so I thought.

Recently I visited his Examiner of Rum page covering a new South Beach caipirinha-based mixed drink and posted a comment about the Brazilian history of the caipirinha and the classic recipe.

Within hours I got a terse email entitled "nix the inappropriate comments", and an equally terse messege:
Jimbo,

Please refrain from posting inappropriate comments on my examiner pages.
I immediately replied "Sure. Could you be more specific?", and am now awaiting his answer. In the meanwhile, I returned to the Examiner pages and discovered that all our reviews (overwhelmingly positive) had been deleted.

Talk about cold in Miami! Get out the woolies.

Apparently "inappropriate comments" means"ALL comments, idiot.", lol. We'll see what he says. But being The Compleat Idiot I am, I thought gee, maybe my reviews were not ass-kissingly, 1000% percent favorable enough for "it's all good" Burr, so naturally I decided to try an experiment. I posted this review on Pusser Blue Label, one of my all time faves...
At The Rum Project, Sue Sea and I have also reviewed Pusser's Blue Label, a truly great rum within all the style categories. This is not an easy rum to sip, but it is well worth the effort and fairly represents the long history of authentic British Navy Rum served to British sailors for over 100 years.

As some may know the "daily tot" was a tradition on British ships until 1971! We highly recommend this rum - it is authentic and also a great educational experience. The formula is/was a British secret and is allegedly a blend of five rums from British Carribean sources.

For our review:
rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?t=85
Seriously, my lips are brown! Can't get any more favorable than that, nicht vahr? Even an "it's all good" promoter could hardly find fault with this extremely favorable post that supports his own distiller inspired copy.

What will happen? Does "inappropriate comments" mean "all comments, idiot!"? Will the Examiner of Rum respond to my courteous response to his email? Will the Burr Brothers ever relent and grow a pair, well actually a quad?

Stay tuned...
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Capn Jimbo
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Survey Sez....

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Survey Sez....

Surprisingly I received a fairly prompt reply to my missive:
Ed banned me from posting last May after I attended his Rum Fest in Chicago. He said I threatened his life. That's when I knew he was whacko.

Two weekends after Rum Renaissance, his "Rum Fest" in Chicago attracted 72 paying guests. He was so embarrassed.

26 rum judges took a vote and decided unanimously that they did not want to participate in his competition again, so they're organizing their own.

Please do not post comments on my examiner pages.
This made things abundantly clear:

1. Burr wishes to clear the decks insofar as his absence from the Shillery.

2. Burr considers anything and everything that I could possibly post - however positive and fawning - as inappropriate. To the good Burr Brothers I am the equivalent of a rum leper. Cross the street.

3. The Burr's will continue in a fashion which is eunuchly theirs.

Last the "test comment" I posted for Pusser's (see above) - almost cloyingly postive and fawning in true "it's all good", ass kissing fashion - was deleted. It would appear that the Burr's are really the Hatfields while I remain...

The (real) McCoy.

But take it from me, the Burr Brothers are good and well meaning folk. They simply can't help it if they are forced to be ever smiling, "it's all good" promoters who know what on which surface their rum is buttered. Accordingly, their role as "Rum Examiners" is limited to parroting distiller ad copy. Not that that is all bad, indeed...

"It's all good."
RT
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Location: Erie PA

Post by RT »

It seems there are two kinds of websites in this world...

One kind is maintained by curmudgeons and retirees with too much time on their hands...

And the other kind is maintained by people who are selling something. Sometimes, exactly what they are selling is not immediately obvious.

Why is it that that many of those "seller" types do not like us curmudgeons? After all, beneath our facades of irreverence, we are still consumers. And many of us know almost as much as they do.

Is it because they can't control us?

Keep up the good work.
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
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