<![CDATA[RumJourney.com - Bayou Spiced]]>

A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet with the founders of Louisiana Spirits. They discussed their dreams and ideas about building and developing a brand of rums that captured the character of Louisiana and the spirit of its people. Then, over the next couple of years via web updates, I watched them make that dream manifest in Lacassine, Louisiana from ground breaking to the installation of their stills.

Today they have a cut ting edge distillery and visitors center that includes a tasting room and gift shop which is the proud home of Bayou Rum.

Their rums are created using a combination of molasses and unrefined cane sugar from locally grown sugar cane. They also use locally produced ingredients for their rum. For more information about the company and their production processes, please check out Margaret Ayala’s interview with Trey Litel, President of Louisiana Spirits in the March 2014 issue of "Got Rum?" magazine.

Appearance/Presentation

The custom-made square-based 750 ml bottle is quite distinctive and really stands out on the shelf. The black, red, and gold label with its Black Gator successfully captures the vibe and character iconic to Louisiana. I particularly like the embossing on the bottle from the shape of Louisiana state on the neck to the T-Boy (man steering a small boat) found on the bottom of the bottle, and logos on the side. The gold rum is sealed with a plastic cork with the T-Boy on top of the cap. The liquid only lightens slightly when it is poured in the glass.

Nose

After the pour the sweet aroma of the rum wafts from the glass. I immediately detected a nice pop of cinnamon, followed by vanilla, sweet banana, hint of clove, and allspice.

Palate

The rum has a full bodied mouth feel; caramel and vanilla carry the base line as the spices mingle, play, and pop in the middle and top of the palate. There is some interesting heat at the midpoint with a lightly spicy bitterness at the finish.

Review

The blend of spices in the rum makes it a bit difficult to differentiate them from one another. The interplay is finely woven and pop quickly back and forth with a nice balance of spice and heat.

The aroma was the best way to pick out some of the spices, but I am absolutely sure I did not get all of them. At the end, I was pleased with the product and like the uniqueness of the flavor profile compared to other spiced products.

When I experimented with it in Coca-Cola the spices really came out to play and transmuted the soda into something unique. I think this uniqueness would lend it to be an interesting rum to cook with and might add an interesting pop to a spiced rum trifle or cupcake recipe.

This review appeared in Got Rum? magazine.