Which would you use as a mixer?

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Dai
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Which would you use as a mixer?

Post by Dai »

I need to buy another mixer as my eclipse is running low.

Thought I'd try something different. Thinking of Appleton Estate VX or Chairman's Reserve both have tidy write-ups as mixers. If it were you which would you go for.




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Capn's Log: Both Trader Vic and Donn Beach would advise you to use a 17 year old Jamaican for mixing, lol. Extreme? Yes. But it has been well said, that the better the rum you use, the better the drink. Unless you want to mix with Appleton's Estate, the VX is a terrific choice. But let's see what the crew thinks...
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Post by da'rum »

Either one of those used as a mixer would produce similar results. I'd orobably choose the Appleton for no particular reason though.
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Post by da'rum »

What's your normal cocktail Cuba libra? Dim and rainy? That would influence my choice, I'd natch the rum to the mixer yoz most often use.
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Post by Dai »

Cuba libre, rum'n'coke what ever you want to call it. trying Appleton 12 with coke just to get an idea of what Appleton is like with coke. might go with Appleton vx.
My normal mixer rum is Eclipse or a Havana Club Especial. Just thought I'd do something different.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Bartenders would agree...


The VX. If you like Eclipse, I believe you'll like VX just as well, if not better. As has been noted here and elsewhere, VX can pass for both a sipper and a mixer, and at prices that make mixing it reasonable. The combination of the rich Jamaican aromatics provides a notable rum component that more than fulfills any requirement for a gold mixer.

OTOH if all you're looking for is the alcohol component, try Everclear, lol...
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Post by Dai »

Bottled it Jimbo went for the Appleton Reserve instead. Now you are suppose to be able to mix and drink it straight. It was only £2.50 more than the VX a no brainer really. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Ouch?!


Both the V/X and the Reserve (and the Extra 12) have been reviewed:

V/X: "...a brilliant mixer/sipper, "6.5"
http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?p=1883

Reserve: "...unidimensional, "5"
http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?t=71

To be fair, the Reserve may meet your tastes as a mixer, if you're into heavier tones. It will be notably different from your Eclipse. It's never really sold well, and is outsold by far by the VX, and even by the Extra.

Please let us know your experience...
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Post by sleepy »

I generally use either Flor de Cana 4 or Doorly's 5 for mixing. Both solid, minimally adulterated basic rums that sell for ~$20/1.75l.
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Post by Dai »

For a mixer I usually stick to what they have on offer in the various supermarkets.
Hence my choices so far, the reserve I bought through massterofmalt as I wanted to try some samples I also bought (as samples) Mount Gilboa, mezan, Mezan Guyana Uitvlugt 1998 Rum, Pusser's 15 Year Old.

Otherwise would of stuck to buying the VX in the supermarket.
I'll let you know how I get on. For now it's back to sipping Appleton 12.
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Post by Dai »

Capn Jimbo wrote:Ouch?!

To be fair, the Reserve may meet your tastes as a mixer, if you're into heavier tones. It will be notably different from your Eclipse. It's never really sold well, and is outsold by far by the VX, and even by the Extra.

Please let us know your experience...

Just enjoying my first glass of the Reserve, Quite nice better than I thought it would be. Since this rum is relatively cheap I think it will become one of my main stay rums since it can be sipped (which I'm doing now) and mixed without breaking the bank.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Good news!


Glad you liked it but the $64,000 question is this: so how does it compare to your Eclipse that you intended to replace?
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Post by Dai »

Capn Jimbo wrote:Good news!


Glad you liked it but the $64,000 question is this: so how does it compare to your Eclipse that you intended to replace?
I think it's better than the Eclipse. This can be sipped on it's own or with an ice cube depending on your preference. I have not tried to mix it yet, later tonight but if it's anything like the 12 year old it should be very nice indeed.

Taste comes across as caramel with a slight spice to me which suits me to a tea.
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Post by Hassouni »

Mixer totally depends on the cocktail, as we all know here, rum ranges from Batshitcardi Shitperior to Wray and Nephew just in the white category.

I make a lot of rum cocktails, and especially Tiki drinks, which are of course the mainstay for rum variety, and they typically call for, at minimum (what I use in parentheses):

Light Spanish style (Palo Viejo or the much easier to find Flor de Caña Extra Dry)

Dark Spanish style (Arthur Alleyne's, which I discovered when Jimbo placed it in the Cuban style, and I tend to agree)

Dark Jamaica (Appleton Extra or S&C, or a mix. Pusser's would work too I guess, so might Myer's)

Drinking-strength Demerara (Lemon Hart 80, what's left of it)
Demerara 151 (Lemon Hart 151)

Barbados (less common) (Eclipse, or I suppose any Seale's product)

White agricole (Dillon)

Aged agricole (Barbancourt 5 star, though, maybe I should get a bottle of 3 star for that)

Keep in mind both Smith & Cross and especially Scarlet Ibis were created as high-quality mixing rums. They're on the pricey end for that, but they excel at it.

With the exception of the aforementioned S&C and SI, all of these are sub $25 rums for me, and most are much cheaper. If i wanted to cheap out on Jamaican, I'd do Pusser's or Myer's (both of which are around the same price at my favorite boozeria).

For those in the the UK and elsewhere in Europe, Wood's 100 Demerara is a real corker and a good value. You have a lot of options there, Skipper, OVD, who knows what else, but it's more than the US gets!

In the US, Lemon Hart 80 (now discontinued) bashed the younger El Dorados over the head with real piratical kill-devil rum character. The new bottling of 151 diluted down to 80 proof (or 114, or 100, at your discretion), is still much better than, say Ed5, and if diluted to 80 proof, only marginally more expensive.
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

As for the revised Lemon Hart 151...


Let's face it. This rum of yesteryear is no more, and is not the original formula of many, many years ago. It's like the new Thunderbird compared to the original. Let me list some alleged characteristics:

"Hints of burnt caramel, dark fruit and ripe banana are a preview to the heavy, complex taste with layers of cinnamon, dark raisin, dried apricot and baked apples".

Now consider another description:

"Rounded rich nose of ripe banana, molasses, lime, and a touch of cashew. Continuing into the palate - ripe, notes of banana, grass, nuts and sweetness, with a long, long finish. Punchy but classy, the best overproof on the market".

Pretty similar eh, except for one thing. The first description is of the old Lemon Hart, while the second? Dave Broom's description of the "best overproof in the market", 120 proof and selling for less.

I'd consider tossing the Lemon Hart 151, unless you have a hart on for E-150a coloring in an untested, unreviewed, new formula, more expensive mixer. Next up?

How I really feel, lol...

World class, 5-star Wray & Nephews Overproof.
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Post by Hassouni »

I dunno, I've tried the old and new LH151 side by side, and they're really close, and I imagine in a cocktail they're not very distinguishable.
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