Cockspur Bajan Crafted Rum 12

Wine information: Cockspur rum was founded by Valdemar Hanschell in 1884. He was of Danish descent and came to Barbados via the Virgin Islands where he had worked for several years in the ship brokerage business. Settling in Barbados, which had become one of the biggest shipping ports in the Western Hemisphere at that time, he founded a ship chandlery, supplying to visiting ships - ropes, sails, salt, fresh fruit, meat and of course rum. Through the years, business thrived and so too did the popularity of Cockspur rum. He took on a partner, expanded his trade into exports and became Hanschell Larson. Cockspur became known internationally, continued to grow and through a later merger, Hanschell Inniss was formed. That company still blends and bottles Cockspur today at the West Indies Rum Distillery. The origins of rum on the island reach back to 1637, when Dutchman Pieter Blower brought in the first sugar cane plants from Brazil. By the 1640s sugar plantations and factories were developing and molasses – the cane juice residue – was being distilled into a spirit known as ‘kill devil’. Made in simple pot stills, adjacent to the wind driven sugar mills on each plantation, ‘kill devil’ helped to make the planters wealthy. They sold it to taverns and ships, and by 1650 over 200 thousand gallons of the fiery liquid were being produced. The first recorded use of the name ‘rum bullion’ appears in 1651 by an unknown visitor to Barbados and shortly after it was abbreviated to ‘rum’. Hence Barbados is generally regarded as the birthplace of rum. Cockspur Bajan Crafted Rum 12 is the premium Cockspur rum and contains the oldest rums from the Cockspur reserves at the distillery outside Bridgetown. Aging the best rum takes time, intuition and skill. Every year, a few select barrels of rum, from locations known only to the Master Blender, are laid aside to give the smoothness and colour a great rum should possess. They sleep under his watchful eye for many extra years until he decides the rum has been perfected according to the founder's original blend. Cockspur 12 is a deep, rich red / copper colour and is aged in American ex-bourbon barrels, and shows the character of bourbon and single malt scotch, yet with rum attributes. It is a creamy molasses-based rum that has been column distilled. On the nose there are notes of orange, caramel, vanilla, toffee, and spice notes of nutmeg, star anise, and allspice. There are also bourbon oak and banana aromas. It is velvety smooth, rich and mature on the palate. It is deep and rounded with woody, vanilla notes with some spiciness leading to a long, warm dry finish. Cockspur 12 Rum is an excellent sipping rum served neat, on the rocks with a splash of water or with club soda as Master Distiller Rhett Harris likes to drink it.

 
   

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