In a spirits world that’s all the time looking for the following neatest thing, the rarest bottling, the impossible-to-find expression, it’s one thing that also, one way or the other, stays one thing of a secret: the Rhum Agricole of the French Caribbean: the rum distilled from pure sugarcane juice that’s simply concerning the rarest, most beautiful rum you could find anyplace.
However within the US, it’s largely an afterthought, with only a handful of producers exporting to America and shopper consciousness nonetheless extraordinarily low.
After all, that’s largely true of all rum — agricole or in any other case. Few respect simply how advanced, layered and vibrant the world of Caribbean rum is — nonetheless lulled into the misperception that it’s a spirit resigned solely to cocktails and Solo cups.
Plainly, the best rums are on the degree of (or, if you’d like our opinion, exceed) the best scotches. It’s that straightforward. They’re extra romantic, extra advanced and extra fascinating, whether or not you’re having fun with the very best of Barbados and Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Guyana, Grenada and Panama.
The truth its that rum is essentially the most various spirit on this planet, with almost each Caribbean nation placing its personal spin on the spirit, with completely different soils, completely different stills and a universe of pretty aged expressions.
The misperception is one thing we’ve been working for years to vary. And in the event you go to the island of St Barth for one extraordinary week in November, you get a deep-dive.
It’s referred to as the Caribbean Rum Awards, and it’s the one occasion of its variety on this planet: a weeklong pageant celebrating ultra-premium rum joined by a global blind-tasting competitors that includes the highest-quality producers.
It’s an opportunity to attempt rums you merely received’t discover anyplace else, and positively not in the US, take pleasure in grasp courses and immerse your self into the world of Caribbean rum.
This 12 months, it’s again once more for its seventh version, operating from Nov. 11-17 on the Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth, Resort Le Barthelemy and Les Ilets de la Plage motels.
The occasion, offered by Wimco St Barth Properties and Tradewind Aviation, has develop into a staple on the St Barth calendar, with its distinctive mix of tastings events, rooftop occasions, rum pairing dinners, cigar tastings and seaside cocktails.
It’s set on the Rosewood Le Guanahani St Barth, the Le Barthelemy Resort and Spa and Les Ilets de la Plage, a trio of world-class luxurious resorts that exemplify St Barth’s model of French Caribbean cool.
“That is an occasion that’s all concerning the world’s best rum, delivered in a format that the novice and the connoisseur can equally respect,” stated Alexander Britell, editor and writer of Caribbean Journal and founding father of the occasion. “Take the very best rums on this planet and essentially the most glamorous island within the Caribbean and you’ve got a fairly hard-to-top mixture.”
Wish to study extra? Go to the Caribbean Rum Awards.
You could find ticket information right here.
— CJ
