Not that this is about whisky as the title suggests. A Rum and Chocolate tasting had been arranged a couple of months ago originally, but had to be postponed until yesterday. 5 rums to taste and some excellent chocolate from local producer aochabae - website under construction, but they have a facebook page.
The evening commenced with Appleton Estate 8yo from Jamaica paired with a milk chocolate, not from aochabae, but the next three rums were paired with Tanya's high cocoa products - 65% form Grenada and Mexico and 85% Columbian. Not wishing to take notes to spoil the drinking, I can't remember the exact pairings, but they went very well with the next three rums - El Dorado 12yo (Guyana); Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23 (Guatemala) and Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva (Venezuela). The final rum was a very strange spirit - described by Santa Teresa as Orange Rhum Liqueur combining Rum aged for two years with an exquisite and delicate Valencia orange peel maceration - but bottled at 40%. An interesting one off drink, but not one I could drink all evening, though I can think of a couple of people who might! This was paired with Willie's Cacao Peruvian Gold.
The tasting was quite small, but a few familiar faces from the previous week's cider tasting, including Minal who had provided the refreshments then - belly of pork with herbs and garlic (which had been worth the price of the ticket on its own). Gerry's are now doing regular tastings, with Bordeaux and beer featured in the near future. Another great value tasting. 4 excellent rums, though I prefer the El Dorado 15yo, and some great chocolate - I don't claim to be an expert on either rum or chocolate, but worth trying them - you're sure to find something you like. After the formal tasting, a few more drams were to be had - I was even persuaded to sample the Amaretto! I happened to have the SMWS R5.2 with me, so it seemed appropriate to offer the 81% ABV monster to everyone.
More photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157633167942891