Rum Curious

This is an excellent and entertaining review of rum, running all the way from its early history, to production, its current fashionable rising popularity and revival, the author's tasting notes of a multitude of brands, and finally to distillery notes. Of course, there are a few rum cocktail recipes included! The writing style is both precise and concise and I have a hard time putting it down. Lot's of very interesting information on the U.S. government subsidies and tax breaks (that you and I pay for) that are given to various large distilleries; if you want to know why so many Captain Morgan and flavored rum producers can afford all their media and television advertisements, this book will give you the disturbing truth. The topic of general worker abuse and also kidney disease is covered in some detail. The only negative I can give is that you may not agree with all the tasting notes and scores, which utilize the 100 point scale. Also, the author complains that many brands add too much sugar to the finished product but many of his highly rated rums actually contain a fair amount ("dosage") of sugar and/or honey. Otherwise, a fine and enjoyable book that you should surely have if you love rum and tropical cocktails and one I highly recommend.

The historical information is excellent! The book is worth the cost just for the history parts. The tasting notes are not as well organized or presented as Dave Broom's book (Rum Manual). I bought a book about rum tasting, not cigars - I'm not even slightly interested in matching a cigar with a rum drink. Also, why is the text font so small?

Rum Curious is Fred Minnick's fourth book about spirits but his first to veer away from the topic of whiskey. Rum Curious, like the similarly named Bourbon Curious, is a great introduction to rum, perfect for novices and spirits enthusiasts alike. As one would expect of an introductory survey, Minnick covers the history and production of rum, reviews various rums and provides cocktail recipes. What makes this work better than your average spirits intro though, is that Minnick doesn't shy away from controversy, and the biggest controversy among rum fans today in the liberal use of additives and sweeteners. Minnick takes the additives issue head on, providing tips on how to tell if there are additives and listing which producers use them and which don't; serious rum fans will be pleased to see frequent quotes from Foursquare's Richard Seale, a crusader for unsweetened rum. (Minnick hints at a much more serious controversy about the treatment of sugar plant workers but doesn't go into much detail).Given his concentration on additives, one area I was surprised Minnick doesn't cover in the book is the role and impact of independent bottlers, and Scotch bottlers in particular, in popularizing additive-free rums. There's no mention of Velier, Cadenhead or Hunter Laing's Kill Devil, all of which did a huge amount to popularize unsweetened rum, though, to be fair, this is an American book and very few such bottlings have made it to the U.S. In any case, as someone who knows a bit about rum but is far from an expert, I found this book extremely informative and would absolutely recommend it to anyone interested in learning about rum.

I find it "curious" that despite New England's historical significance in the rum industry, not one of the many rums currently being distilled in New England was reviewed by the author in the tasting notes. Perhaps it has something to do with this disclosure stated in the book: "The majority of the rums tasted for this book were free media samples." Overall the book is an okay read, but be warned that well over half of it is taken up by drink recipes and the usual canned, exaggerated tasting notes that writers often resort to when trying to differentiate themselves, such as this from page 96: "...complex dried apricot, baked apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, baked rye bread, and hints of demerara sugar and black pepper." What, no cardamom, saffron, or saddlebag leather? Please.

Excellent Historical documentation, One of a Kind tasting notes, basically what readers of Smuggler's cove wanted more of and less fluff about "what decorations you need for a tiki bar". The only thing one can disagree on is the rating system is the author's discretion, though this is plainly stated beforehand; sweeter rums are docked, smoother rums stand up, but exceptional stuff (90+) get cigar pairings. Couldn't care for cigars.

This book is a perfectly good place to start a rum education, it's also not the best. I would recommend Rum: The Manual by Dave Broom.

I greatly enjoyed this book and actually read it in 48 hours (which I don't recommend). I couldn't put it down. The book provides a great deal of history and information on the current trajectory of rum and the rum industry. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn something new about rum. The author provides his on tasting notes in the back of the book, a great resource to come back to when making the next rum purchasing decision.

A great primer on rum distillation methods and myths around the product. Fantastic cocktail recipes combined with history makes it a great read.