Learning from Ybor City

A number of surprises cropped up in last week's Cane Spirits competition in Ybor City.

Tortuga five-year-old and twelve-year old rums swept two of the three best-in-category honors among the aged rums. (It tied with the statesmanlike Diplomatica Resesrve Exclusiva in the nine to fifteen year rums.) Who knew? Tortuga's appearance in both categories was not predicted by me, nor by anyone else, and it provoked a general murmuring among the judges. I was especially surprised that Tortuga soundly beat the Santa Teresa Gran Reserva from Venezuela, and both Appleton Estate entries, including the much touted new Estate Reserve, which garnered only a bronze medal. (And was very woody tasting, I thought, and some of the judges I spoke with concurred.)

In the no surprise department: Prichard's Crystal rum winning best in the white rum category. I've been talking this up for some time, and was pleased to see others agreeing with me. It's good straight up, and it's good mixed in cocktails.

Also no surprise: the sweep of the agricole rums by Clement and J.M. That was in large part because they were the only ones (other than Depaz Blue Amber) entered from Martinique. Some of the other great Martinique rums are imported by Ed Hamilton, who was instrumental in arranging last year's competition. But he and Dori Bryant, who organized the fest this year, are communicating only through very low-tech means: lawyers. So Ed's rums – Niesson and La Favourite – weren't represented in the competition.

Another non-surprise surprise: Zacapa 23-year-old shared the best in the older-than-15-year category with another rum: Santa Teresa 1796. Zacapa usually takes its category in a walk, and it was slightly startling to see it sharing the honors. Santa Teresa is certainly a worthy co-winner, although I'd still give the edge to Zacapa.

And speaking of Zacapa, I chatted one evening with a rum distiller whose company has a sophisticated lab to analyze their own products as well as that of the competition. How about Zacapa? I asked. It's often a source of speculation that they doctor it with various somethings to make it so good, since it's often so far ahead of the others. They put it through the paces, he reported. "And nope," he added. "Nothing unusual."

What they did find in analyzing Zacapa, he said, were heavy alcohols – the kind produced from pot stills, which are blended in with the lighter column-still alcohols. This isn't a big secret – Jamaican rums often perform this trick, and Mount Gay is likewise a blend. Since Zacapa is made from sugar cane syrup and not molasses, the distiller can probably get away with a lower proof off the still, bringing across flavors without the off-taste of low-proof molasses-based rum. Anyway, I'm always looking for clues as to what makes Zacapa Zacapa, and this offered small insight.

Another pleasant surprise: the Ron Barcelo Imperial. I hadn't had it before, and I found it full and complex, with pleasing cherry and chocolate notes. It seemed to be not too far off the flavor profile of Zacapa, but with a less cloying aftertaste. It's been.... well, never, since I tasted something I thought might give Zacapa a run for the money. This was a first. Not quite pulling ahead, but damned close.