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The Far East Rum Diary - Le Journal du Rhum d'Extrême-Orient 

February 2014 Web Edition


 The Far East Rum Diary (TFERD) is a collection of "rum worthy" news and events taking in place and beyond Asia written by Philippe K.A. Buchle, French Rum Ambassador based in Hong Kong.

This week 
Rum Tasting Event

New Rums 
From Mauritius 
and Reunion

COCKTAIL
 CHALLENGE


Rum Tasting + Live Band

When: Friday February 21st, 2014, 7 pm - Where: Les Boules Cafe Petanque, HK

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We have decided to start Spring early this year with our first tasting event of the year.

We are going back to Les Boules - Cafe Petanque (18 Woo Hop Street, Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong), located between the Traders Hotel and The Westwood shopping arcade from 7 pm till late.

Join us and enjoy sipping one of the best spirit available only in selected venues in town while listening to live music in the presence of Philippe Buchle, the French Rum Ambassador.

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New Rums from Mauritius and Reunion


Last August we were in Mauritius attending the first Mauritian rum festival. Our schedule was quite tight and we were unable to visit the nearby island of Reunion which was just 200 km away.

This time we decided to spend more time in Reunion to catch up with the three main distillers. We planned to spend some time in Mauritius too but the weather decided otherwise. Our plane got grounded in Hong Kong due to a cyclone in Mauritius. 

A glimpse of Mauritius Rums

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Tasting Counter at Mauritius Airport. Photo by Rhum De France.
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Tasting Counter at Mauritius Airport. Photo by Rhum De France.







All was not lost however. During our transit in Mauritus we discovered the new modern airport and the duty free area featuring a tasting counter located just after the control point.   















On the photos left we can see a couple of bottles of   
La Bourdonnais, Pink Pigeon by MEDINE, a few rums and liqueurs by CHAMAREL as well as a bottle of St AUBIN.

 



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Mauricia Tamarind Liqueur by GRAYS. Photo by Rhum De France.
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Mauricia and New Grove. Photo by Rhum De France.


We also spend time checking the extensive offer of duty free rums from several rums, liqueurs and punch makers.  We discovered something really exotic while browsing the shelves. Most of you may not know what tamarind is, I grew up eating and sometimes drinking this brown fruit (or sometimes jam) mixed with sugar and water. The tamarind wood is also appreciated for its quality. It was a bit of a surprise to find a tamarind liqueur called Mauricia produced by GRAYS. I wish it was available for tasting.

Old and New Rums from Reunion Island


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The lunar landscape inside "Piton De La Fournaise", Reunion's famous active volcano. Photo by Rhum De France.
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A view of the island interior. Photo by Rhum De France.
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A view of Reunion's coastline. Photo by Rhum De France.

In contrast with the relative monotonous yet outstanding landscape of Mauritius, Reunion island offers a drastically different experience as seen in the pictures above. Despite the fact that Reunion was the birthplace of the rum industry in the Mascarene archipalego (c.f. A Brief History of French Rhum) the "intense island" is now behind Mauritius in terms of number of distillers but not necessary in terms of products. The four pillars of Reunion rum are CHATEL, ISAUTIER, RIVIERE DU MAT and SAVANNA. Only Isautier produces a full line of rhum agricole (up to 20 years old), Chatel does not and the two others have a less than five rhum agricoles together. They are all producing molasses rum called "rhum traditionnel". Chatel is now the biggest rum producer in France following the acquisition of the "Rhum Charette" Brand (with about 5 million litres per year). Chatel and Isautier have been competing fiercely in the punch and liqueurs market, together they must have over a hundred products for the consumers to select. 
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The entrance of Isautier bottling facility. Photo by Rhum De France.
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Old casks at "La Saga du Rhum" Museum, Isautier Estate. Photo by Rhum De France.
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A selection of rum at a supermarket built on the site of the original savanna sugar plant. Photo by Rhum De France.
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Savanna rums at the Rolland Garros Airport. Photo by Rhum De France.
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Isautier rums (left) and Chatel Coconut (right). Photo by Rhum De France.
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The new Riviere du Mat 12 years, below (left) the XO and (right) the 2004 vintage. Photo by Rhum De France.

Oak Aged Rum Cocktail Challenge


All participants are required to present their creation to the jury by the end of next week.
Winners will be announced shortly after.

COMMUNITY - "That's The Spirit!"



"That's The Spirit!" is a Hong Kong lifestyle forum for amateurs, connoisseurs and professionals to meet, share knowledge, taste and experiment with the best distilled beverages currently available. 

To join visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thatsthespirithk/

Past Issue(s) of The Far East Rum Diary

To find previous edition of our newsletter, simply visit our cellar and select what you need under the past issues section. 
For example September 2013 will take you to the first web edition of our newsletter.

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– THE FAR EAST RUM DIARY is published by RHUM DE FRANCE –
“pure sugar liquid gold” - www.rhumdefrance.com – info@rhumdefrance.com 

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