A Spiced Rum In The Navy?
 Lamb's Spiced Rum: An expertly blended spirit drink of authentic Caribbean golden rum. Smooth flavour with a hint of cinnamon, lime and vanilla. That's what is written on the bottle and when you take a sip, there is no mistaking it. In my (limited experience), I can't think of another spiced rum with a flavour like it. The cinnamon really comes through and despite myself I really love it.
Lamb's have a history of producing a Navy rum that dates back to 1849. It's one of the quartet that seem to occupy the back bar of just about every pub in the whole of the UK. You see it everywhere! I can honestly say I don't know of any of my friends that drink it and I don't want to upset anyone (particularly the nice people at Halewood International who kindly sent me down samples of their latest products), but it really does feel like an old persons drink. It could just be the never changing look of the bottle. Perhaps it's to do with the ex-Royal Navy sailor, who's more familiar with the regulation 'tot' that rather famously ended on the 31st July 1970. Perhaps it's just because I was a bit scarred once by a Navy rum and I've always been looking to try something else in preference. I can't tell you, but what I can say is that perhaps the team behind Lamb's were feeling the same way: Lamb's Spiced Rum is a bold move away from the norm and what's more, I reckon they have done really well.
I can also tell you that the other half of TheFloatingRumShack.com (Pauline) is a proper fan - she's loves cinnamon. We have a little routine that we like to work through when we get a new rum to try. It's always a little in a glass, neat to start with. I'm not sure that this was really designed as a sipping rum, but after a couple of small sips, it's going down very nicely thanks very much. Our routine moves through to the addition of different mixers and thanks to the little booklet picked up at RumFest, we have a suggested drink to try; a Chilled Gecko no less, which is obviously in reference to the rather nice imagery on the front of the bottle.
If you knew nothing about the Navy rum, then I can only image what you would think about the Spiced rum. You'd be thinking, hexagonal bottle - nice, different certainly (unique?). You'd see a nice collection of colours working well together. Perhaps if I was being slightly critical, then I think that the shade of the golden rum should be a little stronger to work a little better with the green's and silvers. Maybe the whole combination is a little 'pale'? Anyway - it's not about my critical eye, it's what the consumer would think when they stand on their side of the bar and look at the drinks on offer. In general, I'm impressed and the lovely, previously mentioned Gecko is stunning, attractive and just a little bit cool in my humble opinion. Our travels have taken us to the tropics many times and I still love the little fella's running around keeping the insect population down!
So: "How on earth does this fit next to a Navy rum?"
Good question. I think there is an obvious need to ensure that the customer base doesn't dwindle away and so the need to innovate is a strong driving force at Lamb's. Apparently they have done their research (in fact an 18 month R&D program) and they are sure that in general there's a lot more interest in golden and spiced rums these days. They are also targeting a 25-35 year old bracket of both men and women. Style is important and this feels like a winner to me. And to think I almost passed by the Lamb's stand at RumFest in my desire to see all the 'new' rums on offer [tut! shakes head at the thought!]. Ironically, the Spiced rum and the newer White rum really did deserve more than a moment of investigation and I'm so glad that I did. Sue Beck at Halewood was generous with her time, even though the first thing I probably said was 'I don't like Navy rum' or something along those lines... The Spiced rum is a fairly new product (April 2009) and unfortunately I've been sitting on this piece since late October! My sip at RumFest was enough to convince me to bring it to the reader's attention and so I hope that you'll find a moment to try for yourself.
As a product, it's described as a subtle blend of quality, pure Caribbean rum. Pot distilled Demerara rums from Guyana and column distilled golden rums from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad come together in Lamb's Spiced. The resulting blend has been infused with natural spices and flavours of cinnamon, lime and vanilla. With an eye on quality, it's blended in small batches to ensure a consistent flavour profile. It's not overly sweet and is claimed to be a balanced drink which can be drunk on its own, over ice or as an ideal cocktail base. I personally can't disagree with any of the claims. The other important thing is that this is a proper, full strength rum at 37.5% ABV.
 What if you want one yourself? I can see it's on The Whisky Exchange for £16.99 [click here for details] - the price putting it right in line with Sailor Jerry and the often (price) reduced Morgan Spiced. I've spoken before about Sailor Jerry and said that it's a bold flavour. I was recently reminded of Morgan Spiced, when a friend brought a bottle around and I was struck by how mild it was - a very soft, smooth taste to be sure, but nothing quite as dramatic as Sailor Jerry and now Lamb's Spiced! SJ is not vying for the same flavour profile - it's different and it's perfectly possible to have both in your booze cabinet: they would be serving different functions.
Going back the the Chilled Gecko, the mix is very simple but rather nice:
- 50ml Lamb's Spiced Rum
- 2 Large wedges of fresh lemon
- 75ml Cloudy apple juice.
Build over cubed ice, squeeze the lemon wedges over the finished drink and serve in a high ball glass.
Pauline has been wheeling out the mulled wine as at the time of writing - it's a bit chilly in the UK, snow abounds and it's pretty much any excuse in her case - the important thing to note is that a spiced rum has featured in the mulled wine experimentation, instead of the usual brandy (which was due in a large part to the fact that the brandy had run out!). I can see that the Lamb's Spiced rum would end up working really well in this case.
So in summary: Congratulations to Lamb's - it's a winner. I really can see this being a success as long as the marketing push continues, the great unwashed need to know all about it. I'll do my best to spread the word, but I'm just one man! Sue - if you're reading this, I hope that 2010 will bring a sponsored Rum Club!
http://www.lambsspicedrum.com/ the website is worth checking out - cocktail suggestions and an opportunity to get your name down on future events etc.
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The Booze Cabinet 
