Antilles Treasures

One might wonder just what the title has to do with rum. I think the old adage
that a picture is worth a thousand words can apply here;  

Our English Harbour Flight

My son and I are on a quest to taste and own some of the worlds “First Class”
rums. Once they are ours we build a rum flight from other rums in the same
family and then placing our tray tables and seatbacks in an upright position,
prepare for our staged flight to first class.  

Our original “First Class” flight was more of a sailing as the rum family was
Pyrat. We consumed Pyrat Pistol, XO Reserve and their high ticket Cask. But we
are now off track.  

Here is the gist of things;
We just returned from a trip to ST Maarten and while there I happened to come
across a very special bottle, one that in fact completed the next flight which
is part of one of our favorite rum families. I located a bottle of English
Harbour 1981 the flag ship of the EH fleet. There was no bickering about the
bottle price. I simply asked how much, found the price acceptable and it made
the journey back to the states with us.  

When we returned to the states our son picked us up at the airport, after the
traditional greetings of hugs and fist bumps, the very first question out of his
mouth was did you bring home any rum. I of course told him no..my intent is for
this to be a gift for him.
While unpacking we handed him a well wrapped package, as he unwrapped it you
could see the excitement of an eight year old boy at Christmas come across his
face. He indeed is now the proud owner of one of his top four “First Class”
rums a bottle of English Harbour 1981.  I think we made his day…  

Ehglish Harbour 5 year

The next day we were on a mission to build and enjoy our English Harbour Flight.
While he was removing the wax and cork from the 1981, good ole dad was lignin up a set of three glasses each. We started with a short pour of English Harbour (EH) that is aged 5 years. A very good representative all on its own of the EH family. so we have lift
off and can now recline seats, drop those tray tables and push the call button for the stewardess, sorry, flight attendant to bring us our first round.  While sitting in the coach section we ordered a sample round of EH5.  It is a very smooth blend that is great neat or with a bit of ice.  For purposes of this flight it was consumed neat.   We let the
flavors sit on our palates, breathed in the alcohol flavor and swallowed this
wonderful nectar. Next we let it mellow a bit on our taste buds and enjoyed the
lingering flavor that it left while excitedly discussing what we thought and how
much we were looking forward to the next stage in this flight… 

 We finished with big smiles knowing that our next stop will be business class to sample the EHR10.   

English Harbour Reserve (a 10 year blend)

Drink number two is from what remains of a bottle of English Harbour Reserve aged 10 years. This is a very high quality rum in its own arena that could be the top of many rum flights but it jus so happens that we found its bigger more mature brother while on vacation so for this flight gets to sit in the business class section.  As you can see by the picture, we very much enjoy EH10 and sejoyed this sampling quite a lot.  
Before anyone asks..Yes, there is a noticeable difference between the 5 year and
10 year versions, one that is worth the cost difference. 

While tasting this
one, we noticed quite a bit less alcohol vapor up front but smoother flavoring than
the previous drink, this one did finish with a bit more of a hint of freshly toasted coconut that lingered for quite some time. Second stage is complete now so we pushed our way forward from business class into the first class section, hoping that there are no TSA agents that will make us return to our seats.  Settled in we are now ready for the in flight feature…  

English Harbour 1981

The third set of glasses were aligned and dad passed the honor of the pouring
responsibilities to the man that now owns this bottle of ambrosia…he steps up to the bar and begins to carefully pour two very even samples.   

We by this time are quite enthused to partake in the full effect of this beautifully crafted
marvel. First we take in the aroma…the up front alcohol flavor that is in the
younger bottles is all but gone. Next we gingerly sip a bit and let it tickle
the taste buds, careful not to over stimulate our palates. Then we breathe in so we can mix a touch of air with the rum…bringing an explosion of flavors that only a perfectly blended bottle of well aged rum can produce. We could taste a hint of smoke and leather from the oak barrels that had given character to this fine potion. This fine blend is one that had been aged long enough that
if it were a person it could vote. 1981 had little to no alcohol burn, this is
the smoothest rum I have ever tasted…by a long shot! There is a hint of toasted
coconut at the end that leaves a pleasant reminder that there is still more rum
left in the bottle and left both of us wanting more.  Yes, the 1981 is a quantum leap above the EH Reserve 10 year, as it had better have been with the heafty price tag that accompanied this precious jewel.  

We enjoyed ourselves so much that we even did a head to head comparison of the Pyrat Cask and the EH 1981. Lets just
say that 1981 was a banner year and left the cask in its dust.  

Two down and now still hunting MT Gay’s Tri-Centennial and a particular very old
Pusser’s brand bottle.  

When submitting your taste buds to rum flights…always reward them with the “First Class” upgrade…salute!!!

Capt’n Rouge has been sitting in his terrarium looking at his tropical calendar and marking off the days until his next adventure.. Watching the seasons change and sitting and pondering when the fog in his head that is daily life would lift and he would take dead aim at thinking about his next trip. As the days have slowly passed Rouge just hasn’t had the expected level of excitement that usually accompanies a planned and already totally paid for vacation.

Rouge drifted by a mark on his calendar that said only 45 days until he boards the giant cigar tube with wings and spends the day riding it as he is propelled thru the atmosphere at 600mph. Day 45 means its time to get his glow on! Our scallywag Anole likes to tan before he spends time in the tropical sun, even this late in the year.

Usually laying in a tanning bed with little plastic lenses covering ones eyes, soaking up electrically generated vitamin D, is what makes Rouge’s brain shift gears and focus on his “vacation”. It could be the new rum infused misting machine that Rouge’s caregiver installed in the terrarium that has delayed the firing of his vacation synapses because the electric boost of vitamin D has done nothing more than make sure that Cappy’s okole doesn’t get burnt in the Caribbean sun.

Today as the countdown hit 10 days until the top comes off of Rouges home and he hitches a ride to first Charlotte and then on to ST Maarten, Saba, Anguilla and maybe even ST Kitts, there was a jolt that went thru Rouges system. For the first time in preparing for this trip cappy is in full bore vacation mindset. Woo hoo.

This is a bit of a late start so there is still lots to do but the fog of daily life is lifting as Rouge eyes his countdown like it was a fresh mosquito pupu platter that had made the fatal mistake of visiting the good Capt’n s quarters looking for a meal.

Fortunately this trip is to places that Rouge is familiar with so packing is a no brainer…some flip flops, couple swim trunks for the “public” beaches and a pair of shorts or three. Pick out a few AT logo wear shirts and a couple of ball caps along with some crazy patterned boxers and shove them all in a bag grab the Maui Jims and go!

It is almost that simple. Rouge will be hosting a get together in which some of the AT photo art will make an appearance and possibly even a second gig while on island so there will be a suitcase full of AT goodies to pack too. Of course there is the camera equipment and laptop as this is a “working” vacation. Looks like Cappy needs to shift into overdrive and get a move on! Welcome back Capt’n Rouge…we missed you!!!