A Mountain Of Crushed Ice

It took me to go all the way to New Orleans to be able to lay my hands on one of the Old New Orleans Rums..and the one i picked was the Cajun Spice, that`s the one i was most curious about. Unfortunately i  missed the distillery tour bec i was too far away stuck at Coop`s with a mountain of lovely jamblaya in front of me and there was no way to make it in time unless i had runned fast in the over +40 heat with all my bags..(an act i wouldn`t be able to perform even for a million i can tell) But anyway, i got me a bottle of the Cajun Spice.

The ONO rum bottles are beautiful and on the backlabel there´s an image that is made by the founder of the Celebration Distillation, artist James Michalopoulos featuring architectural paintings of New Orleans which really does have some incredibly beautiful houses to marvel at.

The Cajun Spice is a blend of rums with cayenne and cinnamon, hints of nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. But before i go on telling you how i find this rum i just want to say something about its history.

On the backstreets of New Orleans - that`s where this rum is born - created by a band of artists and musicians who started a small production in a 9th Ward kitchen - and after doing lots of trial and errors and distilling for two years they ended up making a rum that today is world famous - made with Louisiana sugarcane.

They made their own combined column and pot still which enabled them to create a more flavourful rum and they still use that still because its unique and produces a unique product that is all their own.

In 1995 the Celebration Distillation bought an ancient cotton warehouse on Frenchmen Street. And in 1999, they made what is known as Old New Orleans Crystal which was their first white rum and after that the Amber Rum was made and from it came the Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum.

They now also have made a 10 year old rum which is only available at the distillery. I need to get back to New Orleans and go there next year right?

So how is this rum? the nose is very interesting, at first whiff i feel the sugarcane, caramel - somehow i get to think about french créme brulèe..then i start to detect the spices, i feel cinnamon and clove. And then i feel the vanilla..

The first sip is very much spice, and now the cayenne speaks, then the clove and the sugarcane sweetness is lingering in my mouth. I`m not sure if i detect a slight hint of both cinnamon and nutmeg but maybe that´s it. Its a very pleasant rum and because of the spiciness and the kinds of spices used i think its very much suited in rum-blends for tiki drinks. The spices are just right and the balance is good. This is yummy stuff! Good for sipping, good for mixing too, especially for mixing i would say.

I used it already in a tiki drink and i think it proves good with demerara rum, at least to my palate and to my joy also to others. This shows how versatile this rum is and that`s a very important feature. This rum is not sold outside of the States though.

CAJUN SPICE OLD FASHIONED

2 oz Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 cube brown sugar
2 orange peels
1 orange slice, 1 maraschino cherry

Start squeezing the oil from a piece of orange peel and then put into an old fashioned glass. Add sugar and bitters and some of the ONO Cajun Spiced rum plus an ice ice cube and then stir until the ice starts to melt and the sugar is dissolving.

Add another ice cube and the more rum and keep stirring and continue in this way until the sugar is fullty dissolved. At last spray the drink`s surface with some more orange peel oil and drop into the drink with a maraschino cherry - and a slice of orange too if you wish.

Thank you Ian for teaching me your way of slowly but surely doing the Rum Old fashioned!