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A 12-Year-Old Nicaraguan Rum that’s so damn good you’ll be begging Dubya to let you fly to Cuba for a cigar to go with it.

I was down in Costa Rica recently on a surf trip and we missed a turn one afternoon and ended up in the sportfishing mecca and run-down port town that is Golfito. Being late in the day, we pulled into a nicer hotel (in Costa Rica, that means we paid $50) with a nice-looking bar attached and decided to call it a night. Moments later, we were bellied up to the bar and staring at what is absolutely the best selection of rum I’ve ever seen. I mean, these guys had rum on the menu that I’ve still never heard of. Asked the bartender what her favorite was, and a minute later I had in my hand a nice-sized snifter of 12-year old Flor de Ca?a. The rest of the night consisted of a bottle of the stuff, a rather large Cuban-made Cohiba and a long sit-on-the-porch spent staring out at the ocean whilst trying to keep my eyes focused and determine exactly how many boats that little panga in front of the hotel had morphed into.

Most American bars are sadly devoid of anything that approaches a real rum. Most Americans think that, if you want to have good rum in your rum and coke, then you order Malibu instead of Bacardi. WRONG. I wouldn’t go so far as to call either of those beverages rum. They’re the stuff you make rum and cokes with, that’s all. Real rum, real good rum, has a character on par with the finest of the fine high-end bourbons. A real rum is as complex as cognac, ballsy as bourbon and interesting (I would say intriguing if it didn’t make me sound like an ass) as any a?ejo tequila. Really good rum is not sweet. Really good rum hits you up front with a strong oak two-by-four, smells like the hull of an 18th century wood-hulled rum and spice-smuggling pirate ship, and then lays back and takes the edge off the cigar jammed between your teeth with it’s soft caramel edge. A real rum makes you think of the tropics and all the trouble you’re capable of getting into while in the tropics.

Flor de Ca?a is a real rum. A really good rum. I like it with 2 ice cubes in a small cognac snifter. As of this date 2/7/05, I have not encountered a better rum. And it ain’t all that expensive either. 90 points. Would be 110 if I could buy Cuban cigars in the US.

Also comes in a 7-year and a 15 year. The 7 year is extremely good as well. I’ve not tried the 15-year yet, but would be willing to bet that it would cause unexpected and violent, though subtly pleasant, orgasms.

Addendum, 1/6/07
Well, as it turns out, there happens to be an 18 year version of this sumbitch. I got a bottle for Christmas! Woo hoo!!

While I didn’t quite splatter my undies with the 18, it was damn nice (notice past-tense here– bottle’s gone). In fact, it was un-fucking-believable. But the 12 was un-fucking-believable too. In fact, I can discern little difference between the 18-year and the 12-year, while the difference between the 7-year and the 12-year is night-and-day. The 18 is a little mellower, a little more caramel-infused oakiness. All-in-all, a rum worthy of a pirate like me.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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