Seemed like old times to have a rum brand showing off their spirits at The Kon-Tiki in Oakland lats night. Kon-Tiki alum Chris Lane was set up to show off the lineup of Haitian rums coming from High Road Spirits.
All are produced with Creole Column Stills, so they’re a little lighter than some Haitian spirits and all are issued at 43% ABV. The aged rums are produced from a low yield varietal named Madame Mueze and aged in new French Oak and ex-Cognac barrels. There is no artificial coloring, flavoring, or added sugar.
San Zanj: this is an unaged expression that’s a mix of rum and clairin from three Haitian producers and tasted great. This is easy to sip and has a wonderful mix of traditional sugar-cane based clairin flavors but tempered a bit by molasses-based rum. Very similar to the Equiano I wrote about a few days ago and worth seeking out.
AK Zanj: this cane juice rum is aged between 3-5 years and is the entry-level aged product. It is intended to be a cocktail rum.
AK Zanj 8 year and 10 year: Both are quite nice sippers, with the 10 year being a little better. Some nice barrel notes and not much of the Clairin flavor you see in the unaged expression. Overall these two are so similar that it seems that one is pretty redundant.
AK Zanj 15 year: the spicy notes from this incredible expression were impressive to me and fairly unique and really worth exploring. There are savory notes with a finish that is dry and nutty. I really loved this.
Rum tastings like this can be invaluable to trying something new and learning about new styles of rum. At The Kon-Tiki these tastings can also be applied to your Expedition rum list as well.
