Hilton Head Distillery - (July 2017) There are two tastings, the neat version with one mixed drink, or choose three mixed drinks to try. We chose the neat version.
Jane, our tour guide, took
us and several other people on the tour of the distillery. Long story short, slide presentation of rum history, tour of distillation facility from the rum making process to the distillation of the finished product. It’s amazing how
2500 gallons of initial product becomes 500 gallons of finished product.
Pinny was prepared to
assist Jane. They gave each of us a tasting cup and before we started, Jane
explained how to taste the spirits; similar to what we were taught
in Mexico with our tequila experience. We started with the Aermoor vodka. It
was smooth and went down nicely with a hint of citrus. The Two Traditions platinum
white rum, the base rum, was just as smooth as the vodka. The Two Traditions
toasted coconut rum smelled like fresh coconut and started off nicely, but the
after taste told you it was an extract and not the real thing.
The Mountain Peak espresso
rum, made with coffee beans from South America, was smooth and tasted as if it
was a brewed coffee. The Redlock spiced rum was not over powering. My wife was
able to pick out the cinnamon and nutmeg, but it was the anise, licorice, as
one of the spices that took us by surprise. The last of the rums, the Two
Traditions dark 23, named for the twenty-three barrels that are made, was a
teasing since it is not available for sale. It will still age in whisky barrels
from California until later, if not the end of the year. It was the best of
them all. After finishing the neat versions, Jane and Pinny served the mixed
cocktails. They were not just a taste, but the entire glass. My wife's drink
reminded her of the bay breeze she had the night before and mine an iced
coffee; both are dangerous.
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