Tales of the Cocktail 2015

To step into our distillery is to be taken back in time when you stand next to any one of our four heritage stills that not only produced rum for centuries, but are some of the rarest stills in the world. This seminar, led by Master Distiller Shaun Caleb, will offer you the even rarer opportunity to taste aged individual marques from each of our heritage stills at cask strength. Our Edward Henry Porter is a wooden continuous Coffey still, producing rum since 1880. The double and single pot wooden Navy stills produced rum for the British Navy for centuries; the unique copper necked single-pot originated from the Versailles Estate while the double-pot is the only one of its kind left in the world and originated from the Port Mourant Estate, established in 1732. All three stills are made from Guyanese greenheart (though "Guyana" didn't exist yet!) while our fourth heritage still, the French Savalle, is a metal four-column still also dating back to an 18th century Estate, Uitvlugt. And as a special treat, we will also present our Special Reserve 25 year-old blended rum, coming back stateside for the first time in several years.

Here is a rare opportunity to experience some fine aged rums from a private collection, never before seen in the United States. Originally sourced in Caribbean casks, these select aged rums were further aged in special barrels in Europe over many years. This exclusive tasting event will be available for only twenty serious rum enthusiasts, featuring vintage rums from Guadeloupe, Belize, Guyana and Haiti, lovingly triple matured and rested in barrels from rare Sauternes, Pineau des Charentes and even Sherry casks.

Rum’s history spans centuries, and its flavor and character have changed dramatically over the years. But what did rums of the past taste like—and more importantly, can we reverse-engineer those styles of spirits, and improve on them for today? This session will plunge through rum’s past—drawing inspiration from historic styles of the spirit, as well as from vintage menus, cocktail recipes, distillers’ notes and popular literature—and will demonstrate how contemporary rum producers are dissecting old spirits in order to reengineer rums that bear the taste of history. We’ll also explore the ways these new rums are created—from employing procedures borrowed from the manufacture of other styles of spirits, to utilizing 21st century tools and techniques—and discuss analogous projects such as the recreation of 19th century-style Cognac and liqueurs. As we ponder the possibilities (can we recreate the rum Trader Vic first used in a Mai Tai?), we’ll taste the components of such reengineered rums, and take the spirits for a test drive in historically inspired cocktails.

"Around Brazil in 40.000 Alembics" is a seminar conducted by Felipe Jannuzzi, a journalist and researcher at Mapa da Cachaça, a reference about cachaça recognized as one of the best cultural projects in Brazil by the Federal Ministry of Culture, and Jean Ponce, one of the most respected mixologists in Brazil with experience commanding the bar at "DOM", from the chef Alex Atala, elected as the seventh-best restaurant in the world. Felipe has been studying cachaça and traveling around Brazil discovering some of the best alembics in the country. While tasting some outstanding cachaças, he is also creating content (videos, articles, infographics, music) to show what this sugarcane spirit is all about. Although cachaça is the third most consumed spirit in the world, very few is known about the artisanal cachaças – a category represented by thousands of alembic producers spread all around Brazil. Jean Ponce has been studying cachaças and Brazilian ingredients for the past fifteen years and will bring to the seminar his philosophy and approach concerning the use of the spirit in mixology. This seminar will be an opportunity to share some of these stories mapped along the Brazilian alembics and a way to demonstrate all aspects involving cachaça, proposing a new look at its history, production techniques (industrial x artisanal), regional terroir, customs, flavors, cocktail recipes and its relations with the Brazilian culture, mixology and gastronomy.

A look inside the little known and rarely understood world of rural rhum production on the island of Haiti. Beyond the large brands such as Barbancourt and Vieux Labbe, most of the rhum produced and consumed by islanders in rural Haiti follows rustic, age-old production methods in the outer regions of this unique island. Slow, natural fermentation attracts the natural yeast of each micro-region, delivering a true snapshot of local DNA -- true terroir -- followed by a gentle distillation and simple finishing to produce a delightful, fresh cane spirit of fine quality. In this intimate tasting seminar, we'll sample some of the very best examples of Clairin from Haiti, which are now gaining greater appreciation in Europe thanks to the passionate efforts of Gianluca Gargano of Velier.