750 mL, 40% alc./vol.
$38.00 at the distillery. See webstore for shipping options.
Medium-bodied rum. Robust for spirit-forward drinks.
Bronze medal winner at the 2024 Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition.
Twice-distilled pot-still rum aged at least one year in 200 litre ex-bourbon barrels and darkened with caramel colouring. Batch 3003 / 3004 out currently is a 50:50 blend of 2 year old and 4 year old rum.
Double pot distillation is a traditional way of making spirits. The method is slow and inefficient, but is still widely used today because it creates flavourful spirits that age well. Caramel colouring has little flavour and is almost always mixed into brown-tinged spirits to adjust colour (more in the next section below).
The Double-crested Cormorant was chosen for the label because it’s dark, gloomy appearance matches the colour of the rum. The artwork is a lightly edited picture taken on Miscou Island, NB. Used with permission. General information on Double-crested Cormorants can be found at All About Birds. Information on species occurrence and distribution can be accessed on eBird.
Mark : PA, aged.
What are black rums?
While base spirits can acquire varying degrees of colour from barrel aging, “black” is used explicitly to describe rums that are heavily darkened by caramel colouring.
Caramel colouring is a strong colouring agent produced by cooking sugar almost to the point of burning. It’s used in almost every brown-tinged spirit on the market to suggest longer aging. Contrary to how it sounds though, caramel colouring is not sweet and has little flavour. The amount used in black rums, however, gives a slight bitter taste that is characteristic of the spirit.
Black rum is a well established spirit category today because of its long history. It was discovered early on that darkened spirits were more appealing and sold for more money. The planters had ample access to sugar and took full advantage. Rum-making manuals like Pairault’s “Le Rhum et sa fabrication” sometimes have recipes for preparing caramel colouring as an integral part of rum-making. Furthermore, the author describes how producers would even vary the amount of caramel colouring depending where the rum was being shipped. The rum was coloured prior to entering casks.
Congratulations on winning an award at the Spirits competition. Your rum has a distinct flavour and mixes well with cola.