Sammy Hagar can’t drive 55, but can he craft a rum worth drinking?  Read on…

Sammy has been all over the map in terms of his musical and spirited adventures.  Lead singer for both Montrose and Van Halen and creator of the hugely successful Cabo Wabo tequila, he branched into Hawaiian rums a few years ago.  He chose the Haliimaile Distilling Company in Maui to craft his rums from first-growth, first-press sugar cane.  This makes for a more floral and less sweet rums than the majority which are generally molasses based.  Also of note is that the Beach Bar Rum is aged for two years which is much longer than most white rums.

Beach Bar Rum (80 proof)
Visual: Clear.
Nose: Slight funk of cane sugar rum with an edgy tang and grassy vegetal nose.
Taste: Very peppery and with a slight grassiness.  Not too sweet, and a lot of terroir character.
Finish: A lot of vegetal notes fade into a fresh cane like sweetness.  The pepper notes linger for quite some time.
Overall: In some ways this reminds me of a rhum agricole and in others it reminds me of pisco.  Very different for a rum and one that lends itself to creative mixing in cocktails.
GSN Rating: B+

Beach Bar Red Head Rum (70 proof)
Visual: Dark purplish-red.
Nose: Very nutty, but also with a hefty dose of cane rum.  Uniquely different.
Taste: Quite sweet and sugary with a healthy dose of macadamia nut flavor.  This seems more like a liqueur than anything else.
Finish: Lingering sugar goes on for a long time.  The nuttiness is pleasant, but somehow reminiscent of peanuts.
Overall: Definitely easy to mix with sodas and juices, this might work really well with coffee based cocktails.  You could add this as a float (as recommended on the bottle), but I think it will work better as a base to a sweet highball style drink.
GSN Rating: B-

For more information go to: Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum

Filed under: Spirits & Liqueurs