One doesn’t drink rum, one gently sips it to savour all its delicious flavours, believes Strategic Human Resources Management India CEO and MD G Ravindran. While his liquor cabinet is stocked with the world’s best single malts as well, it is rum — especially dark rum — that has caught his fancy for the last ten years. So much so that the executive hosts a regular “rum mandir” — an evening gala where his friends bring along musical instruments and jam together. There is one strict rule however — one can enter the party only after drinking a shot of rum. He tells Priyanka Sharma about his prized rum collection
Why has rum caught your fancy?
My father was in the armed forces and, like any other product of the military, my first exposure to alcohol was rum. And if you ask rum connoisseurs, the drink is second to none and is often referred to as “mother’s milk”! As a youngster, one sips the delicious Old Monk or Khodays rum with a soft drink — it is tasty and does not leave you with a hangover the next morning. As you grow older, you realise there is so much more to the drink!
The star of your collection
Since I travel abroad at least six to eight times a year, I have collected different rums from across the world — Myers’s Rum, a Jamaican dark rum made from pure Jamaican molasses, Havana club from Cuba, Mount Gay from Barbados. I love the spiced varieties like Captain Morgan and Appleton from Jamaica and Flor de Caña from Nicaragua. But my favourite is the eight-year-old Ron Zacapa Centenario and the Ron Zacapa XO Solera Grand Reserv from Guatemala — I have often served it to my dinner guests at the end of a meal and seen them “ooh” and “aah”, often mistaking it for a fine cognac! I also own Bacardi’s OakHeart, Khodays Hercules and of course, Old Monk — after all, if you know rum, you know Old Monk!
How do you spot a good rum?
Since there is no standard or strict parameters to compare different kinds of rum, the only way to judge a bottle of rum is by its origin and its taste. Europe, for instance, isn’t famous for its rum. The places in and around the Caribbean Islands, such as Barbados, Jamaica and Latin American countries like Cuba are the best haunts for rum. I would travel, look around, taste different types and then buy one.
How much will you dole out for a bottle of rum?
Price is never a constraint when I’m looking for a good bottle of rum. I bought a 17-year-old Cuban rum called Rhum Clément Cuvée for Rs 7,000 around five years ago. My collection ranges from an Old Monk for Rs 228 to the Ron Zacapa XO Solera Grand Reserv for $180 (around Rs 9,800 today). My most expensive rum is a Caribbean one called English Harbour (25 yrs) that I bought for $225 (around Rs 12,000 today).
Best way to enjoy rum
That depends on the brand of rum. While Old Monk can be enjoyed with a soft drink, usually a cola, the Ron Zacapa is best sipped with a splash of iced water — note that it should not be had with ice but with iced water. The ice simply kills the romance of the drink. When had with iced water, the rum tastes like warm honey; one can savour its spices, aroma and fascinating flavours
Where do you buy your rum from?
Mostly from countries outside India. Though I have yet to find the Ron Zacapa in Indian liquor shops, I did come across it at the Pullman Gurgaon, but the bartender hadn’t heard of it!
