Initial Antigua report..

[erickaye]

There's plenty of fine rum on this island. Picked up a bottle of English Harbor 10 at the distillery outlet for about $95. I could not bring myself to drop another $235 on the English Harbor 1981. Perhaps if I do well in the Casino this week... Will probably wait on the tasting notes til I'm back in the States.

Also on Ed's recommendation, I tracked down Bushy at the Bolans Post Office, and bought a bottle of his homemade Bolanda "Best Matured Rum". Have not tasted yet, but it looks like a nice dark rum, at the whopping price of $4.15 a bottle. Had to get there before Noon, since Thursday is the day he goes to the whorehouse in the afternoon.

Ed, Bushy wanted to know where you've been. He hasn't seen you in a while.

Been drinking a lot of the Cavalier dark rum. It's not a sipping rum, but it's about $7 a bottle, and goes wonderfully in a mixed drink.

There is a restaurant outside of St. Johns in Gambles called Papa Zouks where apparently they have a selection of 200 rums. I'm hoping to get there sometime in the next few days. Anyone been?

For you Zacapa lovers, they've got the Zacapa 15 for sale at the Epicurean supermarket. Guess it hasn't been discontinued yet.

[Edward Hamilton]

Thanks for the notes on Antigua. Papa Zouks is definitely worth visiting. Glad you saw Bushy. As they say, I've been busy of late, but hope to get back to Bolan's soon. While you're in Antigua do whatever you have to do to get to English Harbor and look around at the history of Nelson's Dockyard.

I'm surprised you've seen Zacapa 15, it is still around, it's just not being marketed since Diageo and Zacapa began marketing Zacapa.

[erickaye]

This evening we had dinner at a fantastic restaurant called Home, just north of St. Johns. They had a selectiong of 60 or so rums, mostly dark rums around 5 years. I did get to try the Cavalier Extra Old, which was a wonderful rum. Much more complex than the dark, with a bit of smokiness to it. Can definitely be sipped. I have a feeling they're not making it anymore, as I did not see it at the distillery outlet, but if I can find a bottle down here, I'm definitely picking one up...

E

[erickaye]

The rum in Antigua is cheapest at the airport duty free shop, although the selection is meager compared to the stores in St. Johns. At the airport, the English Harbor 1981 is $200 and the EH 10 is $88.

On a top shelf, gathering dust, however, were two bottles of El Dorado Single Barrel, that probably hadn't moved since they were released. There was a bottle of the PM Port Mourant and the ICBU Uitvlugt. Price: $50 each....
I picked up the ICBU, as I already had the PM. It's still on the top shelf in the airport if anyone wants it...