Continuing to celebrate their 150th Birthday, Bacardi‘s consumer brand awareness and promotions appear to have plenty of fans and even the more avaricious among us have noticed the potential to make a quick-buck out of those looking to party with the Bat.

Among this years promotions is their latest competition to ‘Win Your own Legendary Party‘ and up for grabs are a total of 50 Bacardi Party Trunk’s, each one based on one of three cocktail themes (17 Cuba Libre Trunks, 17 Mojito Trunks and 16 Daiquiri Trunks). Valued at £3,000 each, the Trunk’s come complete with several bottles of Bacardi, glasses, cocktail paraphernalia, clothing and even includes a Bacardi representative to help set up the the Trunk in preparation for the winners party. Many of the items are limited edition and won’t be available to buy.

With the tagline of ‘We’ve been throwing parties for 150 years, now you can win one’, the competition is open to residents in the UK and ROI and simply requires you to select your ‘Party Style’, over 5 questions. Each question has 3 choices and there isn’t a wrong answer. After you have answered your last question, you will be presented with what Bacardi believe is your ideal party Trunk and be asked to submit your details to enter. Nothing could be more simple, so for more information and the chance to enter head to party.bacardi.com before the 15th August 2012.

With the competition having already started on Monday 28th May 2012 , with a  couple of draws having already taken place, a few lucky people have already got their hands on their prizes and should have everything needed for a great night. Of course there’s always someone more interested in trying to make some money of off something like this and one winner in the North East of England has already decided to cash in on the popularity of Bacardi by listing their prize on an ebay auction, that saw the seller making £920 after 32 bids.

Now I can’t deny I was keeping an eye on this, having first seen it listed at £30. Of course picking the Trunk up for anything less that £150 would have been considered the bargain of the year, but when it jumped from £130 to £920 a day or so before the auction finished, all I do was watch and see.

Of course had that been me who had won one of the Trunk’s I wouldn’t have put it on ebay. I’d have used it as intended and invited lots of friends to share in my good fortune. Of course, running a Rum Blog and winning a rum based party package, I’m going to say that, so I can’t be too harsh in what I think about someone making money out of such a prize, even if part of me thinks it’s not right.

Of course this kind of thing isn’t exclusive to prize winners as there are other recent examples of people trying to cash in on limited edition Bacardi’s products and the brand’s popularity. These currently include the Buy it now price of £95 + delivery for a set of all 4 of the Bacardi 150 Years Limited Edition bottles in red, grey, gold and blue, despite some of them probably still appearing on supermarket shelves. However, these bottles do at least contain their original content, which is more than can be said of the same set of four, but of empty bottles, with a starting bid of £19.99 + delivery.

Talking of Bacardi promotions, for those of you who have taken a liking to Bacardi Oakheart Spiced Rum, keep an eye out for special bottles in the UK with an offer to send away for Bacardi Oakheart Stein glasses.

So good luck to everyone who has entered the Bacardi Party Trunk competition and remember to keep an eye on Bacardi’s Facebook page for more promotions and competitions.

Another month and another great rum brand is heading to the London Rum Club at Trailer Happiness. This time it’s the turn of Eaux de Vie and Mezan Rum. To quote their own fact sheet, “Mezan vintage rums are unblended rums from individual islands or countries in the West Indies and South or Central America, produced from a single vintage year’s distillation, aged in oak Barrique and bottled one cask at a time, when mature, under the supervision of our cellar master.”

With a current selection of 7 rums, some of which are from distilleries that are no long in production, this unique range of bottlings are considered to be a true expression of the distillery and country in which they originate. Mezan achieves this with their promise that all of their vintage rums are; unblended, unsweetened, uncoloured and filtered through only a light gauze with no chill-filtration.

The range currently consists of:

• Vintage Barrique Aged Jamaica Rum – Pot-distilled at the Hampden Distillery before being aged for 10 years.
• Vintage Barrique Aged Grenada Rum – Column-distilled at the Westerhall Distillery before being aged for 12 years.
• Vintage Barrique Aged Trinidad Rum – Column-distilled at the now closed Caroni Distillery before being aged for 19 years.
• Vintage Barrique Aged Guyana Rum – Column-distilled at the now closed Uitvlugt Distillery before being aged for 13 years.
• Vintage Barrique Aged Guyana Rum – Pot-distilled at the now closed Enmore Distillery before being aged for 20 years.
• Vintage Barrique Aged Panama Rum – Column-distilled at the Don Jose Distillery before being aged for 15 years.
• Extra Old Barrique Aged Jamaica Rum  – Is a blend of Jamaican rums dating back to 1983, which were re-casked further develop before bottling.

So head down to Portobello Road’s Trailer Happiness on Monday 2nd April 2012 from 7pm onwards and all being well, you’ll get a chance to try the entire range and learn more about this fantastic range of rums. Further details can be found on the Mezan Rum @ The Rum Club Facebook page. For those interested in learning more about the London Rum Club, please either visit the Rum Club website or pop into Trailer Happiness and speak to the bar staff.

Today marks the 150th anniversary since the foundation of one of the most famous brands in the drinks industry and who better than Bacardi to throw a party or two in celebration. For those of you not able to attend any of the official Bacardi parties around the world, why not throw your own impromptu party or even just make a Bacardi cocktail and toast Bacardi’s birthday…

For more information on Bacardi’s celebration of “150 years of bringing people together”, check out Celebrating 150 Years of the Bat. Also keep an eye on the Bacardi Facebook page for your chance to get involved with events, recipes, promotions and competitions.

Salute Bacardi and here’s to another 150 years…

Having missed out on the last Rum Club of 2011, I was really looking forward to starting the New Year at Trailer Happiness‘ Notting Hill Rum Club. And I can happily say that I wasn’t disappointed.

Having first come across Banks 5 Island Rum at September 2011’s Boutique Bar Show, I thought I knew what to expect of the evening’s rum tasting and that it would be more of an opportunity to catch up socially, with the other rum club members. So it was a pleasant surprise to find out how wrong I was. Not only did I get the chance to reacquaint myself with this distinctive white rum, but we were also introduced to its more complex brother, Banks 7 Golden Age. 

Ensuring that good things often come in three’s, James Triffo of Spirit Cartel also brought along the Banks Rum Master Blender, Arnaud de Trabuc, who talked us through our exploration of the evening’s rum and how Banks came to be.

So following a uniquely Banks 5 Island Daiquiri made by the bar team of Alex and Paul McFadyen (covering for Max and Damien), we sat down to listen to James and Arnaud explain the concept of Banks Rum.

Named after the 18th Century explorer and botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, who sailed with Captain James Cook on his first scientific expedition to the South Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour. As well as introducing the Western world to many plants, such as eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and Banksia, Sir Joseph Banks was also influential in the propagation of sugar cane in the Caribbean.

In this light, Banks Rum attempts to capture the spirit of this English naturalist by bringing together different rums from both the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean to create a distinctive premium rum.

Conceived in 2009 it took 14 months of blending and sampling, before Banks 5 Island Rum was introduced to America in June 2010 prior to it arriving on the UK shores in March 2011. It is a blend of 21 different rums aged between 1 and 5 years old from 6 different distilleries on 5 different islands: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and the Indian Ocean island of Java.

The blend is then aged further in used Bourbon barrels in Amsterdam, before it is then charcoal filtered to remove the colour prior to it being slowly cut with Dutch water to a bottling strength of 43% ABV / 86 Proof.

The aroma is noticeably of grassy sugar cane, almost reminiscent of Brazilian Cachaça or Rhum Agricole, while the taste starts with smooth, grassy, tropical fruit flavours, that always reminds me of the British Parma Violets sweets. It finishes with a slightly sweet spiciness.

To describe this rum as unique is not an understatement, it really is unlike any other rum that I’ve tried and it’s one that continues to provoke mixed feelings for me. There’s a lot to like about this rum and I can see it being a really interesting premium white rum for a good mixologist to play with the distinctive and complex flavours. However, that same complexity that I see as allowing a creative expression is also the same complexity that I personally think is too much in some simpler cocktails, such as the Cuba Libre or the Daiquiri.  As such I don’t see this as being my go-to white rum but more of a playful premium mixing rum.

Our other rum of the evening was the soon to be introduced Banks 7 Golden Age Rum and what a treat it was. Aged between 1 and 7 years, this is a blend of 23 rums from 7 different islands: Barbados, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and the Indian Ocean island of Java. Unfiltered, the addition of the Guatemalan and Panamanian rums give this dark amber rum a sweeter and lighter taste than Banks 5, while still retaining some of the spicy finish. Like Banks 5, it is also bottled at 43% ABV / 86 Proof. For me this was the highlight of the evening and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who likes rum.

It’s worth noting that the complexity of both of these rums is due to the distinctive blend of rums. From the simple, but strong Trinidadian rums to the full-on flavour of the pot-distilled Jamaican rums via the fruity Guyanese rum and the elegant and spicy bite of the rums from Barbados. Lastly and possibly the most distinct element in the blend is the addition of the Batavia Arrack from Java, which adds a touch of spice, along with the fresh sugar cane notes. In addition, the Banks 7 Golden Age Rum adds the sweet Solera rum from Guatemala, as well as the smooth flavours of the rum from Panama.

To round of the evening’s tasting, James teased us with a hint of Bank’s next rum, which will be named in honour of HMS Endeavour. Without a sample available for the evening, there’s not really anything more that can be said about Banks Endeavour Rum at this point, but if it’s as good as their Golden Age rum it will be worth waiting for. Watch this space for future news.

Of course no evening at Trailer Happiness would ever be complete without a bit of Tiki inspired flaming on the copper lined ceiling and what’s better than some 73% ABV / 146 Proof rum to help brighten up the place… Of course it also goes without saying, don’t try this at home as you’ll more than likely catch fire to the house, injure yourself or worse still set the cat alight…

As usual, my thanks to Max and the Trailer team for yet another great Rum Club and to James Triffo of Spirit Cartel for a wonderful evening with Banks Rum. Details for the next rum club are still pending, so please keep an eye on the Rum Diary for any update. For those interested in learning more about the London Rum Club, please either visit the website or pop into Trailer Happiness and speak to the bar staff.