English Harbor Aged Rum, Antigua

Well it's not often that I review rum, but as Fall turns to Winter and masks itself as Summer, I find myself sitting by a roaring fireplace more and more.

We had good friends over to the house just last night in fact! One of them, Jay, is as much of a cigar fan as I am and we both had Cuban Cohiba Esplendidos. Of course, that was when the rum came out and the conversation became even more relaxed.

English Harbor Rum is quite new to the rum scene; whereas some Cuban distilleries can trace their history back several centuries, EHR created it's first dark rum in the 1950's, and only started importing to North America in 2004.

And praise has fallen upon them! Two double-gold awards at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2004 and 2005 and, IMHO, worthy of those honors.

English Harbor, 5 year aged rum, Antigua
40%, $31 (BCLCB), **very good value**

• pale caramel/amber color
• moderately intense nose of caramel, heather, oak, vanilla, apples
• moderate+ intense flavors that mimic the nose... palate starts with the caramel apples, oak/vanilla/heather and slight peaty-acidic finish

This rum almost drinks like an Irish whiskey: think Tullimore Dew rather then a Bushmills. That touch of sweetness isn't overpowering, but rather compliments the slight orchard fruit and herbaceous floral notes. A wonderful pairing for a medium cigar, it may pale beside a robusto or even slightly overpower a mild cigar such as a Davidoff.

Pair it with Cohiba or Macanudo. With food you ask? Try any slightly sweet dessert with nuts; Arabic desserts such as Halva with cheese, pistachio biscotti, almond gelato, etc...

Cin-cin! Slainte!