An Amazing Rum Spawns A Terrific Bourbon

Photo by me. Yeah, I forgot to take my stepladder out of the picture. What of it?

There are certain spirits that are so mind-blowing and make such an impression that years later, you remember where you were the first time you had them. Such is the case with yours truly and Barrell Craft Spirits’ “Tale Of Two Islands” rum. A nifty 8 year old Jamaican pot still number, which Barrell had previously released as Batch 001, it was now finished in casks that had previously held an unidentified, decidedly peaty Islay whisky. Big, untamed tropical flavors and baking spice and oak, just what you’d expect from a top-notch Jamaican rum… but with totally unexpected peat and smoke gradually coming to the fore as each sip slid throatward, and lingering long after the swallow. I tried it with my pal/enabler Philip Duff at the dearly departed bar at the NoMad Hotel around 2018 and immediately set out to find a bottle. Which wasn’t easy because the damn thing was produced in minuscule quantities and had sold out basically everywhere. I later scored not one but two bottles on the secondary market, and am guarding them both zealously.

The next best thing to Tale Of Two Islands rum is Tale Of Two Islands bourbon, finished in the same casks that held the rum and before it the Islay whisky. Is it good? Well, you’ll just have to read my latest for ForbesLife and find out, won’t you. Link is right -> HERE <- !