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Till only a few months in the past, the Jamaican rum fanatic favourite Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum was accessible practically all over the place. Just lately, nevertheless, the long-lasting yellow and inexperienced bottle has mysteriously disappeared from many liquor retailer cabinets.
Wray & Nephew Overproof has a singular place on the planet of spirits. It’s one of the common rums in Jamaica, nevertheless it’s additionally fairly aggressive. It’s bottled at a staggering 63% ABV and filled with intense taste.
“One among its fundamental hallmarks is that it has these massive, daring, sort of funky flavors and aromas pointing in the direction of issues like tropical fruits, and overripe bananas,” says Arminder Randhawa, the content material creator behind the rum and cane spirit-focused channel The Rum Revival.
So the place did the entire Wray & Nephew go? Based on an announcement from J. Wray & Nephew Restricted, the present scarcity is because of unexpectedly heavy rainfall on the distillery. The abundance of rain has made it extremely troublesome for the distillery to correctly eliminate its waste, so manufacturing has slowed significantly. To alleviate this drawback, a brand new waste disposal facility is presently being constructed. As soon as it’s up and operating, we must always begin to see Wray & Nephew Overproof again on cabinets shortly thereafter.
Dwelling mixologists and rum followers aren’t the one ones affected by the scarcity, bars have needed to adapt as effectively.
“We have been compelled to adapt a variety of our recipes, and make tweaks and changes to account for the distinction in profile,” says Adam Sandroni, the bar supervisor at Check Pilot in Santa Barbara, California. “This has change into one thing of a routine in a post-Covid world with provide chain disruptions being the norm slightly than the exception, so we have gotten fairly good at adapting on the fly and discovering new spirits to fill within the gaps.”
Fortunately, Wray & Nephew isn’t the one heavyweight Jamaican rum available on the market. There are a handful of different rums, from Jamaica and different nations, that current related, high-octane flavors.
“Some [rums] can come off smelling candy to typically peppery,” says Tony Prosper, the bar supervisor at Cococabana, a Caribbean-style cocktail bar in Oceanside, California. “I might say ‘funky’ has been used to explain the odor. I’ve even heard individuals say it provides off a gasoline odor.”
Till we will simply discover Wray & Nephew once more, listed below are our favourite punchy, high-octane rums which have simply sufficient funk to scratch the identical itch.
Rum Hearth
Hampden Property Rum
Amongst rum lovers, Rum Hearth has developed a cult following. Distilled on the Hampden Property distillery, Rum Hearth is 63% ABV and utterly pot-distilled. Amongst all Jamaican options, it has probably the most intense flavors and aromas. Rum Hearth just isn’t for everyone, however those that are into it, find it irresistible dearly.
“[Rum Fire] has this sort of harsh, plastic, diesel sort of be aware,” says Randhawa. “You get a variety of that on the nostril, like some very nice fermented grilled pineapple. As soon as you place it in cocktails, there is a radical transformation. Abruptly all these juicy, technicolor, tropical fruit flavors come out,” he says.
Monymusk White Overproof
Monymusk Rums
If Rum Hearth presents a extra intense sipping expertise, Monymusk gives a barely extra light different to Wray & Nephew. It’s nonetheless a 63% ABV unaged Jamaican powerhouse, however simply not fairly as tough across the edges.
“Monymusk overproof white rum is milder within the ‘funk’ division, with a little bit baking spice and fewer of the overripe fruit tones,” says Sandroni. “It’s additionally smoother, even on the high-proof stage, so it really works as extra of a ‘toe within the water’ for the Jamaican overproof white class.”
The Funk
The Funk
This pot-distilled Jamaican rum presents a traditional Jamaican rum taste profile that includes acquainted notes of ripe tropical fruit and a little bit of earthiness. Nonetheless, this rum is bottled at 50% ABV, making it a bit gentler than a few of the different options.
“This [lower proof] makes it good to make use of as a base for a cocktail for the reason that proof is available in a extra approachable vary for most individuals versus the 126 proof the opposite unaged rums are hitting,” says Sandroni.
Attempt The Funk in a Daiquiri or Mojito to provide these traditional cocktails a bit extra of a kick.
River’s
Antoine distillery
Grenada’s River Antoine distillery, the place River’s rum is produced is nearly like a window into the previous. It operates the identical manner because it did within the mid-1800s. The copper pot stills are heated by wooden hearth and the recent sugarcane used to make River’s is milled utilizing a water wheel.
“River’s is a very old fashioned agricole type rum,” says Sandroni. “It leans much less into the tropical fruits and extra into the recent reduce grass and sugarcane notes.”
River’s has a distinct total taste profile than Wray & Nephew, however at 69% ABV, it’s extraordinarily daring, with a definite briny funkiness.
Physician Chook
Two James distillery
Imported and bottled by Two James distillery in Michigan, Physician Chook is a little bit of an outlier on this checklist. It’s the one barrel-aged rum and is bottled at 50% ABV. This offers it a little bit of a softer profile with slight hints of vanilla and baking spice to stability out the extreme funky notes.
Physician Chook’s extra tempered aromas have made it a preferred software for bartenders. “That is one in all my favourite rums apart from Wray & Nephew,” says Prosper. “It has a candy odor to it, however has a really robust earthy style.”
Paranubes
Paranubes
Though Oaxaca is finest identified for mezcal manufacturing, this Mexican state is dwelling to a handful of rum distilleries. Paranubes, like most Oaxacan rums, is distilled from freshly pressed sugarcane as an alternative of molasses. In Mexico, these spirits are sometimes called aguardiente de caña.
However don’t let the bottom ingredient idiot you. Paranubes is as wild and punchy as any of the rums on this checklist. “The scent of the spirit is initially very funky in one of the simplest ways with some ripe banana and spice. The flavour profile may be very heat to start out, and finishes with a traditional grassy vibe,” says Prosper.
Worthy Park Overproof
Worthy Park Property
Worthy Park’s new overproof providing is exclusive in that it’s a mix of molasses-based rum and recent sugarcane distillate. “There’s a milder aroma that leans much less into ripe fruit and has extra minerality and grassy notes,” says Sandroni. “It performs extra like a rhum agricole than a standard Jamaican overproof.”
Regardless of mixing up the bottom components a bit, this rum nonetheless has a variety of the trademark Jamaican tropical fruit funk to it. “I usually affiliate Worthy Park’s rums with the signature banana be aware. And I feel this undoubtedly has that,” says Randhawa.
