No Longer Just For The Family
 TheFloatingRumShack.com first encountered Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve 12 year old at this year's RumFest. It's already been mentioned in our review as being something special - my personal rum of the show (for what that's worth). It's been available in the UK since July 2009 and RumFest was targeted as its official launch to the wider UK market. Don't let that fool you though - it's already out there in a number of bars and so some lucky people have had access to it for a while.
Let me take you back to RumFest... visualise if you will. It's Sunday morning - we've been drinking rum for a very large part of Saturday and whilst we had an early night, the Sunday morning is all about getting over the first shock of neat spirits on the tongue and getting down the to the business of tasting. Rum Sixty Six is not the first stand of the morning - there's been a few before that. I don't like to criticise a brand - I'll always try it neat, even if it's a mixing rum and so not at it's best neat. So, in my eye's there's no real bad rums as such, but there are a lot at a certain level - perfectly acceptable, drinkable, but not stunning. So when I tell you that Rum Sixty Six was one of those double take moments, then I hope you'll believe me. I wasn't really expecting a lot, despite the nicely presented bottle (more on that later) and I'd almost discarded the plastic thimble sized cup, when the double take happened. Wow - just how much higher than the bar did that taste jump? Taste buds clamour for attention and the penny drops!
 The part of me that had started to wander to the next stand snapped back and I have to say I became a fan - right there and then. I hope the moment registered on my face - it wouldn't surprise me if it did and I hope that the owners of The Bajan Trading Company Ltd. saw many people react the same way. Fortunately, I had Stephen Wallace all to myself for a while and I got the chance to hear all about Rum Sixty Six and the story behind it.
Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The name is not a reference to England's one and only glory moment in football (thank goodness!) - It refers instead to the year that Barbados gained its independence.
I try not to get carried away with presentation, but this really is a nicely presented rum! The black label works well with the golden colour of the rum. The shape of the bottle and the positioning of the label and print work well - it looks the part and does make me think of whisky bottles although I can't quite put my finger on why.
Rum Sixty Six is a product from the Foursquare Rum Distillery family. Foursquare is a name that I heard of quite quickly in the early days of the rum journey that Pauline and I have embarked upon. I can't say that I've made a point of tracking down the expressions that they produce, but I do know that Foursquare are busy beavers - with a lot more brands hailing from their premises than I ever imagined. Richard Seale is the current master distiller and it's been a family owned business for five generations. Foursquare are a company that need to be talked about in more detail and so I'll save that for a later piece.
Incidentally as I type this, Pauline has just come back from her night out and in typical style helped herself to a swig from my glass (of Rum Sixty Six) - 'that's really nice!' she affirms and then wanders off. In a stroke the tot I had to assist my memory is severely decimated! Hmmm...
Anyway - I digress. This is marketed strongly as a tropical aged rum. It's been well recorded on our website, that the effect known as aging - i.e.; the interaction between the barrelled spirit and the wooden barrel which is a function of time - is well known to happen at as much as two to three times faster in the Caribbean, because of the ambient temperatures than it would in northern Scotland for example. Rum Sixty Six is aged at Foursquare Rum Distilleries, in the parish of St. Philip Barbados for 12 years. During that time the rather scary fact that the evaporation or 'angels share' (which is only natural from wooden barrels) claims just about half of what was originally laid down! They must be happy angels in the Caribbean.
Rum Sixty Six is a blend of rums distilled from fermented mollasses using column or "Coffey" and pot stills. It's transferred into small American white oak, once used bourbon casks at a strength of 65%ABV and then left to age for eight years. About then a sampling takes place and those with potential are identified, separated and reduced to nearly bottle strength (i.e.; just about 40%ABV) and allowed to mature for a further four years. Richard has identified twelve years as being the timescale in which the best can be achieved - more time doesn't equal improvement and perhaps can encourage a detriment in quality. It's a small batch that's laid down to start with (112 barrels) and so it has the feel of craftsmanship, rather than mass production. A high quality product.
The information kindly supplied by Stephen Wallace, a cousin of Richard Seale and joint owner of The Bajan Trading Company Ltd. tells us that Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve, is genuinely that - an allocation given exclusively to the British branch of the family, which emigrated in the 1960's. I'm glad that it's no longer kept just for the family - it's so good it really should be shared.
 Since its release, Rum Sixty Six appears to have been received extremely well. Awards have followed and I'm sure it's just the start. An RRP of £29.99 and a growing list of outlets in both on and off sales will surely mean that with market presence, the accolades will continue to follow. At RumFest it was voted best rum in a blind tasting by Gifted Rums. As I'm lucky enough to know the people behind Gifted Rum's - both Robert Burr senior and junior and I know that they are hugely experienced rum fans - for them to give this acknowledgement, then you just know it's something special.
There's going to be more information on the Rum Sixty Six website [http://www.rumsixtysix.com/] soon - so please check it out if you have a moment. The company brochure is also rather easy on the eye and very evocative - click [here - it's a large file to download!] to take a look for yourself.
Currently available in bars in London, Manchester and Liverpool - a list can be found below. It's also available via The Whisky Exchange, Gerry's Wines & Spirits and Royal Mile Whiskies (both Edinburgh and London), although the number of outlets is growing, so by the time you read this, it's probably out of date and so you might be best served in contacting The Bajan Trading Company directly at
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for an up to the moment list.
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-10786.aspx - currently listed at £29.49.
Bars etc.
London
- Barrio North, Islington
- Callooh Callay, Shoreditch
- Harlem, Westbourne Grove
- LAB, Soho
- Match Bar EC1, Shoreditch
- Match Bar W1
- Milk & Honey, Soho
- Quo Vadis, Soho
- The East Room, Shoreditch
- The Player, Soho
- Trailer Happiness, Notting Hill
Everywhere Else!
- San Carlo, Manchester
- San Carlo, Liverpool
- The Lowery Hotel, Manchester
- Corbiere, Manchester
- Bar Lounge, Chester
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