Denizen Merchant's Reserve v. Rum-Bar Gold v. Smith and Cross: the Legacy of the Mai Tai

Most aged rums around the $30-35 range are lighter fare with strong doses of multi-column distillate. Search around a little, however, and you'll find a handful of full-blown pure pot still rums with barrel age out there at that same price. We'll be reviewing some here.

However, mention of any such substance should immediately invoke that most sacred and most chameleonic of tiki drinks, the Mai Tai. That's most obvious with Denizen's Merchant's Reserve 8 (not actually 8 years old), which intentionally invokes the Wray and Nephew 15/Martinique Grand Arôme combination from Mai Tai Mark III by similarly blending Jamaican stock with rhum from Galion, the last of the traditional sugar factories on Martinique. (See https://cocktailwonk.com/2014/07/goin... for that story) But in contrast there's also Rum-Bar Gold from Worthy Park on Jamaica, which dispenses with all of Denizen's fussy blending in favor of a simple serving of aged, moderately funky Jamaican pot distillate - which itself (less intentionally) invokes the Wray and Nephew 17 and 16 of Mai Tai Marks I and II. Still, if one were in the market for an aged pot still rum around the $30 price point, the big question one would have to answer is: why not Smith and Cross? And if I've spoken about S&C before (   • "Navy Strength" Rumparison: Smith & C...  ), still it deserves another go in a different context.

So if one had less than forty bucks for one's quest either to get a decent aged pot still sipper or to go to war with Smuggler's Cove on the Mai Tai - you can use a Category 1, Martin, not just a 3!! - what would you go with? First, here are the stats:

- Denizen Merchant's Reserve Rum "Aged 8 Years" (Jamaica/Martinique, pot-distilled, bottled around 2019, 43% ABV), 82/100
- Worthy Park Rum-Bar Gold (Jamaica, 4 Years Old according to the website, pot-distilled, bottled around 2019, 40% ABV), 83/100
- Smith and Cross Jamaica Rum, Pure Pot Still ("Plummer/Wedderburn," L20017 11:09, bottled around 2019, 57% ABV), 82/100

I'm obviously just a hair more in favor of the Rum-Bar on its own, and for the Mai Tai thing - well, in brief, all of these would make fine examples but I also think none would quite make a great Mai Tai. On their own, at least - each screams for a little help from something else to fill it out. Could you use Appleton 12? Sure. A bigger Worthy Park? Absolutely. Foursquare? No doubt. But I have other plans.

Guest appearances by Russell's Reserve and PM Spirits VSOP (from the Dry-a-Thon,    • The Dry-A-Thon: Russell's Reserve 10 ...  ) as well as Garnier 30 (from the Intro to Calvados,    • Intro to Calvados: Claque-Pepin Fine ...  ).