Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/735312
Montanya Rum is handcrafted in Crested Butte, Colorado, not from molasses, but fresh, pressed sugarcane juice cultivated from family growers and a family-owned mill in Louisiana. These enormously classy rums are similar in style and grace to the famed rhum agricoles of the former French colonies in the Caribbean. Montanya Distillers sources its high-grade, non- GMO sugarcane from a family co-op in Louisiana near Lake Ponchartrain. After harvesting, the sugarcane is milled on the single-estate farm and the expressed sugar syrup is taken to Colorado and the high-altitude distillery. The all-important spring water is drawn from an aquifer 350 feet below the West El Mountain range of the Rocky Mountains. The raw, fresh-pressed sugarcane is mixed with the spring water and slowly fermented using naturally occurring airborne yeast. Afterward, it is twice- distilled in the facility's open-flame alembic copper pot stills. "We closely attend to every step of the process, from choosing the Portugese alembic pot stills to sourcing our sugarcane from family farmers in Louisiana, to hand- selecting the Colorado whiskey barrels in which we age our rums," states Karen Hoskin, co-founder and President of Montanya Distillers. The range of exceptional rums includes crystal clear Montanya Platino Rum (SRP $25.99), which is aged for 12 months in American white oak barrels used previously to age Colorado whiskey. The oak-induced color is then gently filtered out. This award-winning spirit has a silky, lightweight body and a bouquet redolent of biscotti, cardamom, cream soda and vanilla bean aromas. It is an ideal spirit to feature in a rum cocktail. Montanya Oro Rum (SRP $29.99) is also aged for 12 months in American white oak barrels. Its deep, reddish/cop- per appearance is enhanced through the addition of a small amount of caramelized wildflower honey from the mountains surrounding the distillery. It has dreamy, bakery-like aromas and features the robust flavors of caramel, dark chocolate, toffee, coffee and savory red chilis. Limited release Montanya Exclusiva (SRP $59.99) is an Olympic-caliber, museum-grade rum aged for 30 months in American oak barrels. The rum is then transferred for an additional six months to French oak casks used previously to mature Sutcliffe Vineyards' Cabernet Sauvignon and Port. Worthy of serving neat in a snifter, Exclusiva is amazingly delicious. MONTANYA DISTILLERS WWW.MONTANYARUM.COM Montanya Rum october 2016 / the tasting panel / 105