Top Marks for world-famous Haitian Rhum Barbancourt

Dave Rodney, Contributor

I first encountered Rhum Barbancourt when I was 20 years old. I was a student at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and, as president of the Modern Languages Society, I had taken a group of 40 UWI students on a language and culture tour of Haiti. For J$81, our package included round-trip air fare from Kingston, accommodations at the then plush resort L'Habitacion Leclerc near Port-au-Prince, meals, and poolside Barbancourt cocktails in the evenings. I was told that decades earlier, the world's wealthy and famous would sip their Barbancourt rum drinks in freshly cut coconuts at the same pool bar that was first owned by the sister of Napolean Bonaparte.

Even back then, with my youthful, untrained palate for sampling premium blends, I sensed that there was something mystical, haunting and extraordinary about this much-revered rum from Haiti. It turns out that my instincts were right. Fast forward to New York City, June 2011, and the New York Times is raving, not for the first time, about the wonders of one of the world's great rums, Barbancourt. At a recent rating session by rum experts, the smooth, seductively aromatic and reasonably priced three-star, four-year-old Barbancourt was voted best value in its class by the New York Times, and was described by Times food and wine critic Eric Asimov as "tangy and deliciously intricate".

And international rum authority Ian Williams, in his book Rum, A Social and Sociable History, a sort of informal bible on rums, describes the Barbancourt 15-year-old estate reserve from Haiti as probably "the finest rum in the world".

Rhum Barbancourt was established in 1862 in Haiti by Dupré Barbancourt, a Frenchman from the Charente region of France. The rum is made from pure sugar cane juice and not from molasses, and a double distillation process perfects the rum which is then luxuriously aged in oak barrels. The sugar cane from which Barbancourt is made is specially grown on privately tended estates. The cane is harvested from November to June, and the tender loving care that is showered on the cane comes out in the exhilarating aromatic tones of the rum.

The Rhum Barbancourt collection features five very distinct rums, each with its own personality. They are: the Rhum Barbancourt White, The Pango, The Rhum Barbancourt Three Star 4-Year-Old, the Rhum Barbancourt Five Star 8-Year-Old and the utterly ravishing 15-Year-Old Estate Reserve, packaged in a designer box that reflects the embodiment of Haitian intuitive art.

Brand is hot

Rum lovers are apparently agreeing with Ian Williams' take on Barbancourt, as they are drinking more Barbancourt than ever before. Sales are up and the brand is the hot new currency at clubs, dances, concerts and parties among those who know a thing or two about rums. For years, the company had been quietly producing superlative rums, but now they have become more proactive in taking the brand directly to discerning party people.

The Rhum Pango is a new addition to the Barbancourt line. It is a smooth mango-and-pineapple infused rum that consumers describe as uncompromisingly delicious, and stores just can't seem to get enough despite the fact that the Barbancourt supply lines from Haiti are recovering from pre-earthquake levels of production.

"Barbancourt is an excellent brand that has survived so many natural and man-made disasters in Haiti over the years, and the brand looks forward to more Caribbean partnerships as we prepare to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Barbancourt", marketing expert Michel Roux commented. Roux is the marketing whiz that is credited for the huge success of the Absolut brand in the United States.

Rhum Barbancourt is not a cheap date, but the product is divinely satisfying to the very last drop.

RECIPES

pango rhum

2oz Pango Rhum

1.5oz cola

Splash soda water or seltzer

Splash fresh lime juice

Garnish with lime wedges

PANGO BREEZE

2oz Pango Rhum

3oz pineapple juice

Maraschino cherry

PANGO SUNSET

1 cup freshly brewed Blue Mountain coffee

1oz Pango Rhum

Dollop of fresh cream