We’ve been reviewing rum from Central America and Mexico on this Luxurious Latin America weblog for shut to twenty years now, so we’ve tried a number of them within the pursuit of analysis. There as soon as was a time when their wasn’t a lot to speak about when it got here to Panama rum, however that has modified loads previously decade. One which has made nice strides in getting the native scene observed is Grander Panama Rum, accessible in a number of totally different choices for sipping or making cocktails.
You’ll be able to’t at all times choose a spirit by the bottle it’s in, but when there’s a hefty glass bottle that’s doesn’t look like the entire motive for an inflated value, that’s a great signal. The inward sloping bottles that Grander Rum are available are heavy glass with some heft, ones the place you may really feel the branding as a part of the bottle past simply the label, making a great first impression.
This rum has pedigree too, utilizing a grasp distiller who is known within the nation. I discussed it earlier on my round-up of good rum from Panama that you will discover at that hyperlink, however I had restricted time to strive issues throughout my final go to to there and didn’t get to that one. Fortunately I had the possibility whereas within the USA not too long ago, so I can now discuss it with some authority.
I’ve been attempting two variations of the many decisions they produce and hope to widen the scope subsequent time I’m in Panama. First somewhat again story concerning the firm, then I’ll share my tasting notes from a number of periods of having fun with this Panamanian rum.
Grander Rum is Making Their Mark
To start with, after they say it is a Panamanian rum, they imply it by means of and thru. Native sugar cane, distilled there, aged and bottled there. The one ingredient that’s international is the used bourbon or sherry barrels it’s aged in, which is widespread for many premium rum manufacturers. (You don’t discover a number of oak timber within the tropics, so even within the colonial days, the barrels got here from elsewhere.)
There’s extra of a connection to bourbon than the barrels although. Founder Dan DeHart got here from Kentucky and labored within the bourbon trade earlier than touchdown in Panama. He was a latecomer to rum and thinks that a lot of the US inhabitants is simply too, not realizing that the good things is able to sip neat, on par with Scotch and bourbon.
He based the corporate in 2015, utilizing established distilleries and a grasp distiller that knew what they have been doing in order that it might hit the bottom operating. Within the time since, their merchandise have gotten excessive person rankings and received awards, particularly their 8-year and 12-year variations, among the former packaged as single barrel choices.
Advanced Trophy Launch Aged Rum
In the event you’re somebody who loves sipping high quality rum and is regularly perusing the cabinets for one thing new so as to add to your assortment, the identify of this one implores you to create space within the residence bar for it. The Grander Rum Trophy Launch deserves its moniker. Trophy Launch is a premium Panamanian rum constructed from a mix of fastidiously chosen rums aged roughly 8 to fifteen years.
Mixing variations with such various ages requires ability, expertise, and a little bit of artwork to get proper and in my view, they grasp distiller undoubtedly obtained the mix proper with this one. It’s a particular sipping rum for certain, designed to focus on depth, steadiness, and maturity.
From the primary sip and end, it’s clear that it is a top-shelf spirt that’s not simply utilizing fancy bottling or intelligent advertising to provide it cachet. It has all of the anticipated parts of caramelized sugar, vanilla, and some sprinkles from the spice rack, however it comes throughout as having way more depth in its flavors and balanced depth than its under-$60 price ticket would indicate. There’s nothing “pruney” or cloying about it, the rum equal of a well-fitted customized go well with the place nothing seems misplaced.
Trophy Launch bottles could change from one buy to the following as a result of these are constructed from barrels deemed as excellent, with growing old time of 8 to fifteen years. There’s a restrict to every launch, so removed from 900 to 1,650 bottles.
That you must watch out with this one although: it’s 50% alcohol (or generally extra) however it it doesn’t style a full quarter stronger than your common rum. So go slowly and savor it.
El Toro Rum
This was one of many stranger rums I’ve tasted within the sense that it mellowed out after some time like many wines will do. Once I first poured it and took a sip, I discovered it too astringent for my style, a bit bitter and with a really heavy whiff of alcohol within the nostril. After I let it sit for some time in an open glass and got here again to it, all these notes have been noticeably dialed again a great bit, although there was nonetheless a stronger burn on the end than I would really like.
Style is a really subjective factor with aged spirits although, whether or not it’s bourbon, Scotch, or rum. Some folks love heavy rums from Jamaica or Barbados, others desire the smoother butterscotch highland variations from Guatemala or Venezuela. I’m nearer to the second camp in my preferences, so I didn’t like this one as a lot because the Trophy Launch model.
The perfect analogy I can provide is that it tastes like a Cuban rum to me, one thing like Havana Membership, which is smart when taking a look at who made it. The grasp distiller Francisco “Don Poncho” Fernandez, who has his hand in additional than half the rum manufacturers from Panama, together with this one, is from Cuba initially. So if that island’s rum will get you excited, this can be an excellent match.
All that is smart, in fact, since most Panamanian rum is distilled and aged at sea degree, like Grander Rum is. For the reason that growing old course of is fast, the spirit absorbing the traits of the wooden a lot quicker, regardless of the liquid is growing old in goes to have an outsized influence on this local weather.
Finally I began mixing El Toro into cocktails and it actually shined there. I didn’t have the ambition to make pina coladas, however after I made a batch of Darkish and Stormy cocktails with ginger beers, this felt like an ideal match. It goes for $40 at Walmart in U.S. states the place it’s accessible and might be much less in Panama, so that you received’t really feel responsible utilizing this with a mixer.
Different Grander Panama Rum Choices
Not very many individuals drink white rum straight, but when that’s your jam, take a look at the Grander Cane Harvest. I haven’t tried it, however the firm says it’s “a extra structured and character-driven model than most white rums, with actual weight, texture, and depth.” They level out that, “It’s additive-free,” which I suppose is an try and separate it from the awful manufacturers we should always keep away from anyway. I’m guessing this makes a significantly better cocktail than drek like Bacardi.
For aged choices, they make an 8-year- and 12-year small batch mix, plus Toasted Oak bottlings constructed from rum aged in a second barrel after once more for years. One other is completed in rye whiskey barrels as a substitute of bourbon ones, imparting the spirit with an entire totally different taste profile.
Then there are extra restricted launch and single barrel variations you may strive, particularly in case you have a while in Panama to calm down and sip some high quality rum.
See extra on the official GranderRum.com web site. You should buy from them direct should you don’t discover it in an area retailer — relying in your state legal guidelines in fact, that are a patchwork mess within the USA, sadly.
Assessment and pictures by editor Timothy Scott, a spirits fanatic and frequent rum reviewer.
