quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Why? No demand. If they had a bottle of good rum, it would sit untouched for weeks or months at a time.

Yup. And I'm reminded of the show Bar Rescue. He would light up the bottles that been sitting in the bar and see all sorts of dead insects floating inside. I would rather settle for a drink that is in high demand so I can have a better chance of getting fresh stock.

I've never worked in a bar, but I have spent a lot of time in them. I have never heard rum ordered by name, just "rum." Not saying it doesn't happen, clearly it does. But it happens rarely. Bars stock many different varieties of whiskey (at least some do) because people order them by name, even if they don't have any clue what they are ordering.

It's all good. F***k paying $750 for a bottle of rum. Like to see some of these Rum "con is sewers" do a blind taste test and then I'd be a believer. Of course, my taste buds might just suck, I like all rum.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Why? No demand. If they had a bottle of good rum, it would sit untouched for weeks or months at a time.

Yup. And I'm reminded of the show Bar Rescue. He would light up the bottles that been sitting in the bar and see all sorts of dead insects floating inside. I would rather settle for a drink that is in high demand so I can have a better chance of getting fresh stock.

Hard Liquor lasts at least 7 years (if not much longer) before degrading. Rum is quite popular here in South Florida and many people drink it and order it by brand.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I was stationed at RR for a couple of years in the late 1950s...
The 4-star was a myth...

Yeah, but the myth was still going strong back in the late 90s / early 2000s...

It was the grail, the un-obtainium, Quatro-Star!!!

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
We packed every available space in our F-14 with the rum and eventually flew back to Oceana VA via Key West. I drank that 3-star stuff for several years afterwards (and I drank rum a lot back in those days).

Exactly how much free space is there in an F-14?! I assume you weren’t packing entire cases, but loose bottles seems like a potentially bad idea. (Not that you said it was a good one.)

Next question - did you actually break any regulations doing that, or is it just something the Navy never considered? You know - sailors packing liquor.

-Rob

As I recall, inside each case had four smaller "4 packs" of rum bottles - the cockpit of the F-14 was quite roomy and had a 'turtleback', a space behind the rear seat which we stuffed, in addition either side of each cockpit. Being the RIO, I had the lions share of it with me in back, although the pilot had several 4-packs up front. We stuff all of our personal gear / clothing into some of the lower equipment bays so the rum could stay in the pressurized cockpit, although we used some spare clothes as cushion for the bottles too.

As we were going from the US to the US, nobody seemed to care at all - Not saying it was the smartest idea ever, but in the Navy the logic was / is "if there isn't a rule saying you CANT do it, it must be OK to do it."

I'm not really a rum drinker, however I do like some of the products produced by Cruzan from St. Croix, USVI.

My daughter used to live there and I have visited their distillery on a number of occasions. They make the rum at St. Croix and then ship it to Puerto Rico for bottling and production of their mixed drinks. I was especially fond of a coconut drink they produced. Can't always find it here in the booze store, but when you do, you've hit the mother lode.

In some respects watching them make rum is somewhat like viewing the making of sausage!

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
That reminds me, I have one bottle left of Ron Del Barallitos 3 star that's unopened that I've had for years in the liquor cabinet from a trip from PR, I need to open it and enjoy it.

Karma?

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:


Hard Liquor lasts at least 7 years (if not much longer) before degrading.

Hey Jimmyu, I hate to pile on like this, but I can't resist. Looks like your knowledge of liquors is only exceeded by your aircraft takeoff abilities.

Recently in the news I've seen reports of 200+ year old scotch being auctioned off. I have no bourbon that old, but I do have several bottles of 16 year old A. H. Hirsch bottled about 1990. And don't forget the sole bottle of Pappy that's 20 years old at bottling back in 1997. I'm thinking none of it has gone bad, nor will it until right after its been consumed.

Now on to the Rum thing. This thread started with discussing mixing purportedly good rum with adulterants. One of the problems with rum is that most who drink it want it mixed with trash like Coke, etc. Those mixers are generally agreed to be flavor changers or masks. I don't spend much time in bars these days (my failing). But back in the day, anyone heard to order a drink full of other stuff was to be disregarded. Put much of that in your gut and you will soon be hugging the porcelain.

While I did spend some time working for an importer (Schenley Distillers), I don't recall anything I'd call premium rum. Could be our failing, but my guess is no one wanted to spend much more than the cost of bar rum for a really good reason. It was already full of sugar. You have my permission to get as wasted as you wish on rum, but you don't need that. There is a thriving aftermarket for premium spirits. If there really is a brand or bottling you enjoy, buy it yourself. Don't expect a bartender to stock it unless you visit regularly (like once a week or so) and then pay his markup.

He will be your debt for your educating him on the finer brands and moving his customers over to them. Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:


Hard Liquor lasts at least 7 years (if not much longer) before degrading.

Hey Jimmyu, I hate to pile on like this, but I can't resist. Looks like your knowledge of liquors is only exceeded by your aircraft takeoff abilities.

Recently in the news I've seen reports of 200+ year old scotch being auctioned off. I have no bourbon that old, but I do have several bottles of 16 year old A. H. Hirsch bottled about 1990. And don't forget the sole bottle of Pappy that's 20 years old at bottling back in 1997. I'm thinking none of it has gone bad, nor will it until right after its been consumed.

Now on to the Rum thing. This thread started with discussing mixing purportedly good rum with adulterants. One of the problems with rum is that most who drink it want it mixed with trash like Coke, etc. Those mixers are generally agreed to be flavor changers or masks. I don't spend much time in bars these days (my failing). But back in the day, anyone heard to order a drink full of other stuff was to be disregarded. Put much of that in your gut and you will soon be hugging the porcelain.

While I did spend some time working for an importer (Schenley Distillers), I don't recall anything I'd call premium rum. Could be our failing, but my guess is no one wanted to spend much more than the cost of bar rum for a really good reason. It was already full of sugar. You have my permission to get as wasted as you wish on rum, but you don't need that. There is a thriving aftermarket for premium spirits. If there really is a brand or bottling you enjoy, buy it yourself. Don't expect a bartender to stock it unless you visit regularly (like once a week or so) and then pay his markup.

He will be your debt for your educating him on the finer brands and moving his customers over to them. Good Luck.

Opened bottles of hard liquor generally last at least 7 years, like as in a bar (opened bottles). Like as in bars that can't stock decent rum, perhaps you've read what the thread title is about?. We're not talking about Uncle Louis liquor cellar storage with unopened bottles of spirits. If a bar can't sell a bottle of rum in 2 years, something is SERIOUSLY wrong. A bottle of premium rum is less than $40,and most of the ones mentioned here by many of the members are $20-25 a bottle, unlike some Scotches and Cognacs that can be very expensive. Hard liquor does not get better or age the longer it sits in the bottle, unlike wines and things of that sort. People used to laugh at premium bottles of Tequila until 10 years ago. There are premium bottles of rum that people pay the money, but the premium bottles of rum are $20-40, compared to Bacardi crap. Just like there are premium bottles of Vodka, made out of potatoes. Heck, the Ron Del Barrilito 3 star rum, which has been raved about by half a dozen members in this thread is $32 a 750ml bottle.

Here in South Florida rum flies off of the shelves at bars......not everyone mixes it with coke. Perhaps rum is not a big seller in a bar in Kentucky, but any decent bar ought to be able to sell a $20-40 bottles worth of rum within 2 years. Most of sigforum members live in metropolitan areas. Mojitos are extremely popular.....some rums on the rocks.....etc.

Is Louis XIII worth the price? I've tried it and certainly don't think it is. Same with Johnny Walker blue swill (gold is much better tasting and cheaper from them). I'd rather have a Glennlivit 16 year scotch over both of them at a heck of a lot less money(or even the 12 year)...…

I'm no expert on liquor but I surely, have tasted some very expensive ones,and end up with dozens of bottles of expensive liquors for free. But I surely know rums and have sampled darn near all brands of rum, been to both the Bacardi and Cruzan factories, have bullshitted with the owner of Bacardi on several occasions considering he has a sportfish and I bump into him at marinas here and there. The one thing you have to hand to the Bacardi brothers, is their marketing firmly put rum in the mainstream across America. I have a dozen different rums in my liquor cabinet right now, among a lot of other stuff. Premium and expensive don't have to go hand in hand.....Tito's vodka is considered premium at $20 a 750ml and if the bar you went to only had Popov vodka, you'd be pretty disappointed. Just as any rum drinker is when a bar can't stock 2 different $20 bottles of rum only a single $10 bottle of Bacardi light.

With liquor, premium tasting and expensive don't usually or necessarily go hand in hand. But we're talking about rum, a mainstream liquor, not some weird crap like Campari or Harvey's Bristol cream. There is NO reason a bar can't stock a couple of bottles of good $20-30 a bottle rum.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x,

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

We eventually found the factory, were told that they only had 1-3 stars available, and bought several cases of 3-star directly from the packing area

I guess this stuff wasn't available then:

https://rondelbarrilito.com/ou...cts/5-stars-presale/

I buy the best bottles of Tanduay I can find when in the Philippines. I am hoping to find a bottle of 20 year old next time. I get the 12 year old when I can.