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Do you own a pair of Tommy Bahama shorts? Or maybe one of their watches? Are you a sucker for anything the island-obsessed clothing manufacturer sells -- sportswear, golfwear, swimwear, accessories? How about rum? You like rum?
Yes, it's true: The "tropical living" lifestyle brand now sells booze made in Barbados. Mr. Bahama (not a real person, by the way) offers two ultra-premium options made from molasses. White Sand is a clear light rum matured in oak barrels for at least two years, and Golden Sun is an amber liquid aged for three years or more. Both are 80-proof and made at the respected R.L. Seale Distillery, which has been producing rum for more than 80 years and four generations.
The White Sand is the mixer rum. It is quite smooth, with a slightly vegetal bouquet, some sweetness and minimal alcohol burn. The aftertaste seemed to evoke pineapple and even coconut, or maybe that was just the effects of staring at palm tree logos for too long. The key point: It's not too sweet.
Golden Sun, on the other hand, is a sipping spirit. Aromas suggest a bit more oak and vanilla and loads of spices -- cinnamon and nutmeg in particular. The flavor is a little smoky, with a nutty finish redolent of almonds, hazelnuts and perhaps coffee.
It all makes for a smooth transition from producing shorts to producing spirits. Tommy Bahama should be proud. If there really, like, were a "Tommy."
-- James Oliver Cury
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for the White Sand
for the Golden Sun