Tag: LouisianaRum

I picked up these two Louisiana rums at a grocery store around the corner from our hotel in the French Quarter. I was so impressed a bottle of the now-discontinued 504 Silver from Louisiana I wanted to try some other brands.

Both are 80 proof pot still rums made from sugar cane juice and bottled without age in a barrel (edit: Bayou is made from molasses, Sweet Crude from sugar cane syrup). The overly heavy grassy notes you sometimes see in cane juice rums aren’t present, though the softness I found in 504 or in the Cacachas I’ve tried isn’t there either. Both are clean with mild flavors and a bit of astringency. Nothing particularly special other than the idea of having a rum made in America and using cane juice rather than molasses, and the promise that a rising tide of rum production in Louisiana will lift all boats.

Both were similarly priced, though the Bayou White seems a little richer than the Sweet Crude.

One of the things I made sure to do in New Orleans was get signed up with the New Orleans Rum Society from the Black Duck Bar on the second floor of the Palace Cafe. There’s no cost to sign up and you get a checklist of 37 rums to purchase and taste, and when you complete the list you get your name on the plaque on the wall.

For my first rum I wanted to do something local so chose an aged expression of Old New Orleans Rum. I found this to be quite delicious and plenty flavorful even at 40% ABV. And this pour was really cheap, $6!

Even better is that members get a free pour of the rum of the month, which was the new Mister Fogg Navy Rum when we visited in October. I didn’t love this rum when I bought a bottle a couple months ago but it was pretty nice during our Jazz Brunch visit. We really enjoyed our brunch, by the way, as the Palace Cafe’s food and Dixieland jazz really worked great for a hangover Sunday.

There is a selection of over 130 rums here, so there’s plenty of different brands and styles to choose from when you complete the list or decide to choose your own adventure. If I was a local I’d be able to knock this out in a few fortnights but it’ll be a while in tourist mode. Still, something cool to check out next time you’re in NOLA.