By
George Brozowski
When
I received this bottle of Brugal Añejo Rum
it somehow triggered a long lost memory from my misspent youth.
Back then I was 20 years old and living in Alexandria, Louisiana,
don't ask why, but I was. I only lived there for a year because
I just couldn't take the heat. On top of that the humidity
was so intense I swear I was never dry. Fortunately, I met
a willowy 18 year old girl with short red hair and ended up
having one seriously hot summer. Her name was Annie Jo and
she spoke with a faint Cajun drawl that I just couldn't get
enough of.
One
night, after a bit of necking in the back seat of my Dodge,
we began to chat and I turned to her and asked her how in
the world she got the name Annie Jo which, by the way, I thought
was really cute, and fit her perfectly. She laughed and then
explained that her drunken sailor of a father named her that.
A
sHe was a merchant marine and was generally out to sea more
than he was ever at home and actually her mother preferred
it that way. Turns out he had a proclivity towards rum, lots
of rum and very frequently. He didn't much care for the white
rums and his favorite rum was a brown Anejo and the brand
really didn't much matter to him as long as it was an Anejo.
Daddy was a Cajun with a deep drawl which is more than likely
how she came to talk the way she did. He didn't speak a lick
of Spanish even though at times he fancied himself a conquistador.
The only Spanish word he knew was Anejo and he mispronounced
it as Annie Jo and so he named his daughter after his favorite
drink. We both laughed and got back to making out.
Enough
of that nostalgia, let's get back to the business at hand.
Rum is distilled in 59 countries across the world. It all
started back in ancient China or India, no one is really certain.
Today the most and generally the best rums come from the Caribbean
and South America with around 70 brands coming out of the
Caribbean. Brugal is imported from the Dominican Republic
and they have been distilling rum there since 1888. This bottle
of Brugal Añejo is encased in yellow
rope reminiscent of a woman's shapely leg sheathed in a fish
net stocking. I guess I really can't stop thinking about Annie
Jo.
It
is a blend of rums aged 2 to 5 years in American white oak
barrels. The color is a golden amber and the immediate nose
is of sweet syrupy molasses followed by notes of caramel and
hints of vanilla that eventually settles into a laid back
oak and a hint of leather aroma.
Straight
up its engagingly sweet and spicy but not too sweet nor too
spicy consequently making it nicely balanced. It finishes
on an oaky note with just enough pepper to make it interesting.
The finish is short and sweet not too long, and again just
about right.
On
ice it mellows out nicely and becomes a decent little sipper
with just enough interesting flavors to keep me drinking it.
Mixed with coke and lime it parties quite nicely. Throwing
in a bit of grapefruit and orange shows just how sociable
this Añejo can be as it mixes agreeably
without losing its distinct taste profile.
In
the neighborhood of $20.00 per bottle its price point is just
about right. It's not a great rum and it's not a bad rum but
it is in fact a very, very good rum well worth $20.00.
Here
a fine way to mix up Brugal Añejo Rum.
Enjoy!
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Airmail
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Brugal Añejo rum
.75 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. honey syrup
1 oz. proseccoIce cubes
Procedure:
Combine rum, lime juice, syrup and ice in shaker.
Shake. Strain into a coupe glass and top with prosecco.
Garnish
with a drop of Angostura bitters to lime wheel.
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