In a previous life (as in up until two years ago), I was a country radio DJ. I enjoyed the music of Kenny Chesney. Never quite became a favourite, but it was always mostly inoffensive, easily digestible mainstream country. And as Kenny was positioning himself as the heir to Jimmy Buffett’s laid-back beach bum throne, he got into the rum distilling business. Or at least slapping his name on the label to get it into stores. Here’s my first white rum review!
WHAT IS THE RUM
Blue Chair Bay Premium White Rum is a standard 80 proof blended rum from various Caribbean distilleries. Other than that, there isn’t much in the way of notes on the taste, just that Kenny wants to start a beach to bottle movement, and this rum is our invitation to drop anchor, swim ashore and let time fly. Oh, and it’s bottled in Rochester, New York.
HOW DOES IT TASTE
As I tend to drink my rums either neat or over ice, white rums have rarely appealed to me. Maybe it was the Bacardi of it all with their vast array of fun, kitschy flavours that mirrored Smirnoff’s line of party vodkas, but silver rum always landed without flavour for me. Not unlike vodka, to keep the comparison going. Gold, dark and spiced rums have some sort of flavour going for them, giving them their characteristic colours. But silvers? It just tastes like sweet alcohol. It doesn’t taste good. It doesn’t taste bad. It just exists. Blue Chair Bay doesn’t quite deviate from that. It doesn’t really bring anything to the table
BEST WAY TO DRINK IT
It’s fine if silver/white rums are your thing, your go to. I would never knock a person’s preference in rums. We’re all drinking rum and having a good time and that’s good enough for me. I didn’t get much out of it neat or on ice. However, where silver rum does have a purpose is in the classic of all rum cocktails, the mojito. The sweeter notes of Blue Chair Bay white rum really come out with the crisp lime and mint flavours, as they fizzle up around the club soda. That’s where white rums tend to live or die, their utility in the mojito, and of course other mixed drinks. But the mojito is the real make or break.
DO I RECOMMEND
Listen, this was never going to be a great, must-drink rum. It exists purely for the novelty of having a rum with a country star’s name on it. That’s why I bought it, anyway. It’s a cheaper rum, and will definitely be good any sort of mixed drink that’s heavy on the mix. Where the taste of the rum is inconsequential, it’s all about getting people drunk. It belongs in large batch mixed drinks for summertime BBQs or adult birthday parties or even Friendsgiving. Like Kenny Chesney’s music, it’ll be enjoyed predominantly at frat parties. But it’s not a good sipping rum. And it doesn’t quite pop on its own for a good quality cocktail. But definitely worth having on hand as a utility rum.
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