Caribaya 151

Barbados: the defacto home of the original reference classic rum as we know it. God bless the Queen! And Mount Gay!
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mamajuana
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Caribaya 151

Post by mamajuana »

I recently became aware of a rum known as Caribaya 151. This is a rum from Barbados. It is said that is is the "salt loaded breeze and the long hours of warm sun that mellows and matures Caribaya 151" this golden 151 rum that is noted as a product of Barbados.

The nose on this golden 151 is very mellow with no alcohol scent on the the nosing. Rather subdued indeed.

The initial tasting offers a rather smooth rum with caramel as its main and only flavor. Mixed or watered down you just get caramel.

This rum would appear to be as Ed Hamilton's Jamaican offerings to hide its true virtues behind sophisticated caramel color alteration. The heavy caramel coloring actually subdues the scent of the rum. But even more here adds to the flavor so that it tastes like caramel no matter what you choose to mix.

This is not an aged rum in any sense simply had caramel added. This is the same method that Ed Hamilton also employs also hides its terrible nose on his Jamaican and 151 offerings. While his offerings have somewhat more flavor than this one, they still use caramel additives. It seems better to just buy plantation over proof as it tastes much better and seems to be better aged, and is cheaper.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Mama, do you have the bottle?


I was very curious about this one, as I've never heard of it. As far as source, although I found one reference to this rum as from Puerto Rico, the great consensus appears to be that it is from the Virgin Islands - which means either Diageo or Fortune as the creators.

Caramel "coloring", as you noted, is just as abused as sugar, with a number of distillers using not actual coloring (which is extremely concentrated, burnt to black and very bitter) but rather using dark brown, extremely sweet food grade caramel - which has exactly the qualities you outlined (it can be considered a form of sugar).

Can you check the label for origin? Thanks...
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Post by mamajuana »

Yes, The bottle states that it is a "product of Barbados" that's actually why I bought it. They probably change rum sources as often as their under pants on this one though. This one was not really sweet but a definitive caramel bomb. Bottle is about 1/3 full still.


This is the producers website:

http://www.star-indust.com/rum-caribaya.php


Not sure if they are owned by a larger company or not. The bottles are rather simple and have not been updated in many years. The TTB filing for the 151 is so old you cant even pull up the label anymore.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Mama, thanks for the link...


I was able to enlarge the label, which does indeed state "Made with Barbados rum". Remember too that "produced in" is NOT the same as "distilled in". It appears this promoter purchased some bulk from an actual Bajan distiller, and then were free to modify or not prior to bottling.

You have a hydro, yes? Can you run a test? In any event I have complete trust in your palate, and would assume this rum may well be sugared and perhaps flavored - most of this line is).




*******
http://www.star-indust.com/pdf/Cariabay ... heet-3.pdf
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Post by mamajuana »

Yeah, I'll run one this weekend. My Hydro cylinder actually broke a few weeks back so I need to get another this weekend. I'll note I was very sick the next day after drinking this rum, I was in bed for an entire day.
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Post by mamajuana »

Just an update here. I did not feel I was getting a consistent result at this ABV with the cheaper 3 hyrdo set, the hydro for testing this percentage seemed to rest at 3 different spots. So I took another look at the updated sugar info for guidance and ordered the more expensive high precision Hydro's you suggested and expect them by the end of this month.



I got the

30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%

I thought about 20-30% and 10-20% but did not spring for them maybe I should have, as they take some time to arrive. Thoughts on the lower end ones? Have you ever needed them?

You also mention calibration for the Hyrdo at these higher percentages for more accurate result. What is the suggestion here?
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