The first day of spring arrived last week bringing with it a record-breaking cold snap.  Sure, you could moan, and shake your fist at the sky in hopes a speck of blue might appear. Or you button up that coat, put the wind at your back and join a group of like-minded people to pass the time.  That was how I found myself in the basement of Raoul’s Bar on Walton Street at two recent Alcademics  meetings. Maybe it is just my craving for summer daiquiris or my longing to be on a Caribbean beach, but twice since the new, year rum has been the topic and I have been a willing student learning about grog.

Paul McFadyen, the brand manager for Plantation rum entertained us with anecdotes while plying us with samples from Barbados, Trinidad and Guyana. While everyone knows rum is the distillation of a sugar cane spirit. After it is distilled it can be bottled or aged in casks. Plantation rum uses its Grand Champagne Cognac background to age the rum in Cognac casks instead of American bourbon barrels. This ageing and the blending make plantation rums unique.

While sipping on a particular lush 73% abv dark rum Paul explained how customs agents used to tell if rum was overproof (over 50% abv) so they could decide how much tax to charge. They would put gunpowder in a shallow dish with a small amount of the liquid from the barrel. If the gunpowder ignited when they touched a flame to the dish, more duty would be charged.

Last week Jamie MacDonald, the brand ambassador for Appleton Estate, offered tastes from their rum line. A refreshing mix of ginger beer, Appleton V/X and lime cleansed our palates. We heard about Appleton’s “from grass to glass” motto, which starts with the sugar cane grown on the estate and finishes with the aging. The warm salt air of the Caribbean ages the rum in one year what would take three years in Scotland or France. The evening ended with a taste of the 21-year old sipping rum. At £130 for 70cl, it is bottled sunshine.

You can hear more of my wine and spirit musings by following me on twitter @SauvignonBlonde.