Tortuga Rum

[seabass]

Anyone know anything about Tortuga Rum? I bought some bottles on clearence at my local liquor store thinking I had stumbled on a good find but it looks like they may be just mass produced mixing Rums? The label looks like it is jamaican Rum and the company is located in the Cayman's. Thanks.

[Edward Hamilton]

I'm surprised the label says Jamaican, you might take another look as I believe those rums are blended in Guyana.

[seabass]

Ed,

I don't have the bottle in front of me but I think it was made and or bottled by West Indies Rum. When i get home I will double check.

[stockdoct]

Tortuga Rum Company was started in 1984 by a retiring Jamaican pilot, who happened to be chief pilot for Cayman Airways. Although he grew up harvesting sugarcanes in Jamaica, his travels took him often to Bermuda where he was interested in the Goslings Rum Company. There are no sugar canes in Bermuda, and he found it interesting how Goslings did so well importing rum from other countries and selling it under the Bermuda flag. "Tourists". It was not the Bermudans who bought ll the Goslings, it was the massive vacation ships docking in the Bermuda harbor, unleashing thousands of tourists a day --- THEY were the ones buying a "Bermuda" rum as a souvenier.

So Robert Hamaty and his wife began the Tortuga Rum Company in an attempt to model Bermuda's success (I call it "illusion") into the Cayman Islands. They bought rum from Barbados and Jamaica, bottled it under the Tortuga "Cayman Islands Only Rum" and sold it at the duty-free shops around Georgetown. 3 years later, they began selling Tortuga rum cakes, which are now Cayman's largest worldwide export.

Tortuga now makes an assortment of rums, many of which I tried in my recent 5 days on Grand Cayman Island. Here's a list:

Tortuga Gold (found in most American liquor superstores)
Tortuga Light Rum (ditto)
Tortuga spiced rum
Tortuga 151
Tortuga 5 year aged Gold rum === my favorite rum ever
Tortuga 12 year aged (to vanillily for me)
Tortuga Dark Rum
Coconut Rum, Rum Creme, Rum Liqueur, Coffee Liqueur

and a gazillion varieties of Rum Cakes.

Overall, an interesting story of success founded on understanding the gullibility of tourists, predicting the international wave of interest in the Cayman Islands, and making a damn decent product and marketing it well.

Mike

[Rum Runner]

Thank you Doc...For illuminating a "trip through the looking glass" from a savy consumer's view. It's quite amazing what one can gleen from on-site visits.

[primate77]

You forgot their blasted Banana Flavored 80 proof rum - which I still can't find a decent use for!!!:D

[BStout]

primatte77, may i recommend the 80 proof banana hell as a home remedy for the occasional bout of athlete's foot. it will not make the rum taste any worse and it will cure the athlete's foot.

[primate77]

If you are meaning to soak my feet in it, you might be on to something!:D

[angelsword]

There have been some distilled spirits that tasted of dirty socks... Makes me wonder if others have been trying your foot remedy.

[angelsword]

it will not make the rum taste any worse and it will cure the athlete's foot.

How long do I need to soak?

[primate77]

Until all the alcohol has been absorbed through the skin and you begin to feel tipsy.

[stockdoct]

Tortuga Gold, by the way, is my standard and favorite mixing rum. It's delicious and inexpensive. I buy it at Sams in Chicago by the "handle" (1.75 liters) although it never seems to appear on their website.

[stockdoct]

On "TheBar.com", they list a recipe for a rum runner ..... using rum, blackberry brandy, banana liqueor, orange juice, granadine and ice. Maybe you could use your banana-Tortuga to make a rum runner?

[primate77]

On "TheBar.com", they list a recipe for a rum runner ..... using rum, blackberry brandy, banana liqueor, orange juice, granadine and ice. Maybe you could use your banana-Tortuga to make a rum runner?

You might have one there... for an 80 proof bottle, the Tortuga Banana is so sweet it tastes like a liquer.

I've got everything you list except the blackberry brandy - but that comes pretty cheap!

Oh, I did try mixing a half ounce of the Tortuga to two ounces of Cruzan Rum Cream, and the damned stuff just overpowers and shines right through!!!

Ruined a perfectly nice 2 ounces of rum cream!!! (Wasted liquid gold I'll never get back!):D