Leaving Puerto Rico... like a Rum Runner!
Wednesday, December 30, 2015. 3pm.
We spent a few hours at the beach and in the pools this morning as a last hurrah before leaving Puerto Rico. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so we had time to do that, clean up in the shower, and taxi to the airport without rushing.
Once at the airport we encountered an emerging form of modern architecture that's increasingly annoying: the unoly alliance between security and commerce. What do I mean? The exit from TSA screening leads directly into the duty free shop. You literally can't get to your flight without walking past aisles of expensive perfumes, handbags, cigarettes, and alcohol.
Perfumes, handbags, and cigarettes I care nothing about, but I'm always willing (time permitting) to cruise the booze to see if there's something on sale. I've found over the past few years that airport duty free is rarely a bargain anymore, though. The stores are owned now primarily by a small number large international chains. They've driven out the uniqueness and raised prices to levels that US and western European travelers will tolerate, as opposed to anything resembling the local economy. Thus I went in with low expectations.
The store had tons of popular liquor brands I can find at home, at prices higher than I can find at home. I decided to focus in on finding something I might not be able to find cheaper at home. How about rum? Rum is made in Puerto Rico, amongst many other places in the Caribbean. And there were a number of brands I don't see on the shelves at home. But which rum to buy?
I spied an answer to my quandary: a tasting table! I moseyed over and waited for help. A representative for Don Q was running the display. It was all stuff from his company. He had about 10 different bottles out. Will there be time to try them all? I wondered secretly. It turned out there was!
We started with Don Q Cristal, a basic white rum. It was okay. Nothing special.
Next up, Don Q Gold. Still smooth, but sweeter and more flavorful. Despite the medium brown color, this is the kind of rum I'd want to mix in a piña colada. I made a mental note that this was probably the bottle I'd buy.
The rep also had 4 flavored rums: Lime, Coconut, Passion Fruit, and Mojito. I was a bit skeptical about trying these as I have a poor image of flavored liquors as overly sweet fashion drinks for young posers. Blame it the notoriety of wine coolers when I was coming of age. Anyway, it was free, and I literally had nothing better to do while waiting for my flight, so I tried them. Holy smokes, I liked them all! Each had a distinctive flavor and combined just enough fruit with smooth rum to make it an enjoyable beverage to drink solo without tasting too fru-fru.
Now my mental note-taking became more complicated. I can probably buy one of these along with that bottle of Gold, I told myself. But which one?
The distillery rep wasn't done yet. Next up was Black Beard Spiced Rum. Again, I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it tasted great. "Mix it with cranberry juice for a Puerto Rican rum punch," he suggested. Yeah, I can totally see that. So, should I buy this or the gold? I wondered. Or skip the flavored stuff and get this instead?
By this point Hawk had wandered over to see what I was doing. She was really getting into the rum chat with the rep even though she's allergic to alcohol. I think she was helping keep him talking so he'd keep pouring for me. :-)
"Which one do you like?" she asked me.
"Well..." I hesitated. "There are 6 I like so far. I'm not sure which 1-2 to narrow it down to."
She glanced at the prices. "Get them all."
That was not what I expected to hear. I think I nearly swallowed my shot glass.
There were a few higher-end rums to try, too. The rep explained that Caliche was made for some snotty club in Southern California. He didn't actually say "some snotty club", though, that's just my quick translation of his lengthy description. Regardless of what annoying people drink it, I agreed it was good. Very smooth and rich, a pleasure to drink straight. The price was fair so I added a bottle to my purchase.
After that there was one more even higher-end rum, the kind that costs at least $50/bottle. It was really good. In fact it was too good. It tasted like drinking a gilded lily. I passed on buying that figuring my 8 other bottles (I doubled up on the Black Beard thinking I might give one as a gift) would be plenty.
Thus I traveled the rest of the way home from Puerto Rico toting two heaving bags full of rum.
Shit's gonna get tropical at our combined birthday party in January!
We spent a few hours at the beach and in the pools this morning as a last hurrah before leaving Puerto Rico. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so we had time to do that, clean up in the shower, and taxi to the airport without rushing.
Once at the airport we encountered an emerging form of modern architecture that's increasingly annoying: the unoly alliance between security and commerce. What do I mean? The exit from TSA screening leads directly into the duty free shop. You literally can't get to your flight without walking past aisles of expensive perfumes, handbags, cigarettes, and alcohol.
Perfumes, handbags, and cigarettes I care nothing about, but I'm always willing (time permitting) to cruise the booze to see if there's something on sale. I've found over the past few years that airport duty free is rarely a bargain anymore, though. The stores are owned now primarily by a small number large international chains. They've driven out the uniqueness and raised prices to levels that US and western European travelers will tolerate, as opposed to anything resembling the local economy. Thus I went in with low expectations.
The store had tons of popular liquor brands I can find at home, at prices higher than I can find at home. I decided to focus in on finding something I might not be able to find cheaper at home. How about rum? Rum is made in Puerto Rico, amongst many other places in the Caribbean. And there were a number of brands I don't see on the shelves at home. But which rum to buy?
I spied an answer to my quandary: a tasting table! I moseyed over and waited for help. A representative for Don Q was running the display. It was all stuff from his company. He had about 10 different bottles out. Will there be time to try them all? I wondered secretly. It turned out there was!
We started with Don Q Cristal, a basic white rum. It was okay. Nothing special.
Next up, Don Q Gold. Still smooth, but sweeter and more flavorful. Despite the medium brown color, this is the kind of rum I'd want to mix in a piña colada. I made a mental note that this was probably the bottle I'd buy.
The rep also had 4 flavored rums: Lime, Coconut, Passion Fruit, and Mojito. I was a bit skeptical about trying these as I have a poor image of flavored liquors as overly sweet fashion drinks for young posers. Blame it the notoriety of wine coolers when I was coming of age. Anyway, it was free, and I literally had nothing better to do while waiting for my flight, so I tried them. Holy smokes, I liked them all! Each had a distinctive flavor and combined just enough fruit with smooth rum to make it an enjoyable beverage to drink solo without tasting too fru-fru.
Now my mental note-taking became more complicated. I can probably buy one of these along with that bottle of Gold, I told myself. But which one?
The distillery rep wasn't done yet. Next up was Black Beard Spiced Rum. Again, I wasn't sure I'd like it, but it tasted great. "Mix it with cranberry juice for a Puerto Rican rum punch," he suggested. Yeah, I can totally see that. So, should I buy this or the gold? I wondered. Or skip the flavored stuff and get this instead?
By this point Hawk had wandered over to see what I was doing. She was really getting into the rum chat with the rep even though she's allergic to alcohol. I think she was helping keep him talking so he'd keep pouring for me. :-)
"Which one do you like?" she asked me.
"Well..." I hesitated. "There are 6 I like so far. I'm not sure which 1-2 to narrow it down to."
She glanced at the prices. "Get them all."
That was not what I expected to hear. I think I nearly swallowed my shot glass.
There were a few higher-end rums to try, too. The rep explained that Caliche was made for some snotty club in Southern California. He didn't actually say "some snotty club", though, that's just my quick translation of his lengthy description. Regardless of what annoying people drink it, I agreed it was good. Very smooth and rich, a pleasure to drink straight. The price was fair so I added a bottle to my purchase.
After that there was one more even higher-end rum, the kind that costs at least $50/bottle. It was really good. In fact it was too good. It tasted like drinking a gilded lily. I passed on buying that figuring my 8 other bottles (I doubled up on the Black Beard thinking I might give one as a gift) would be plenty.
Thus I traveled the rest of the way home from Puerto Rico toting two heaving bags full of rum.
Shit's gonna get tropical at our combined birthday party in January!