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CATEGORY REPORT English Harbour Antigua Rum Aged 5 Years The humidity and heat of the Caribbean cause spirits to reach their maturity much faster than in the more temperate climes of Scotland and Ireland. The ideal illustration of this is English Harbour Antigua Rum, an award-winning rum from the historic Antigua Distillery in the West Indies. Obviously crafted with a snifter in mind, the luxurious pot-distilled rum, aged ive years, drinks like it has spent the better part of two decades in oak. It has a deep amber hue, a velvety, medium-weight body and an enticing bouquet of brown sugar, bananas, vanilla, citrus and maple syrup. Its array of aromas translates beautifully to the palate, with the added lavors of caramel, dark chocolate and honey. The longer the rum breathes in the glass, the more lavors it reveals, which creates an excellent reason to kick back after dinner and savor this Antiguan gem. Anchor Distilling Company Kirk & Sweeney 12 Year Dominican Rum Go ahead and mix this new añejo rum into a cocktail if you must, but recently introduced Kirk & Sweeney 12 Year Dominican Rum is a classy and elegant spirit ideally sipped neat after dinner. Named for a Prohibitionera rum-running schooner, the spirit is handcrafted in the Dominican Republic from locally grown sugarcane and matured for 12 years in charred American white oak barrels. Kirk & Sweeney is a bona ide gem. The 80-proof rum has a deep mahogany hue, silky, medium-weight body and a wafting bouquet of honey, coffee, cocoa and herbaceous cane aromas with subtle smoky notes. The entry is soft and cool and then it gradually expands and ills the mouth with the barrel-induced lavors of vanilla, toffee, honey, dark chocolate, dried fruit and baking spices. The rum inishes long and lavorful. Appropriately, the rum's packaging is as beautiful and its contents. 35 Maple Street 78 / the tasting panel / january 2013 transferred to seasoned cognac barrels for an additional year of aging. The mahogany hued rhum has a delectable palate of chocolate, ig, ripe plums, amaretto and red wine that slowly fade into a memorable inish. Clément USA Gosling's Family Reserve Old Rum Crafted at Bermuda's oldest surviving business, Gosling's Family Reserve Rum is made from a premium blend of continuous- and pot-distilled Caribbean rums, the same blend of rums as the famous Gosling's Black Seal, but barrel aged considerably longer. Extended aging imbues the rum with a dark mahogany appearance, luscious character and complexity reminiscent of a well-aged malt. In keeping with its storied past, the Family Reserve is marketed in a hand-numbered champagne bottle sealed with black wax. It's easy to appreciate why Gosling's is the national spirit of Bermuda. Castle Brands Plantation 3 Stars Few brands better illustrate the tremendous appeal of white rum than this ultra-sophisticated offering from Pierre Ferrand Cognac. The "3 Stars" refer to the famed bastions of Caribbean rum— Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados—from whence the irm obtains its spirits. The rums selected are pot-distilled from local sugar cane molasses and matured in small oak barrels. Afterwards, they are shipped to Cognac Ferrand, where they are transferred to small oak cognac barrels for further maturation in the estate's cellars. Its aromatics alone qualify the rum for sainthood. Cognac Ferrand Prichard's Fine Rum Our country has had a long association with rum, and Prichard's is the closest representation of a traditional American rum that exists. Handcrafted in Kelso, Tennessee, it's made from sugarcane molasses from Louisiana, limestone-iltered spring water and ive-times distilled in a copper pot still. To increase the inluence of the wood, Master Distiller Phil Prichard ages his rum in small, charred American white oak barrels. This American amber classic is highly aromatic and brimming with the tempting lavors of honey, spice, vanilla and malt. Prichard's Distillery