Description

Denizen Merchant's Reserve is a blend of 8 year old Jamaican rum and a rare component of Rhum Grande Arome from the French island of Martinique, giving brand the distinction of being the first historically accurate Mai Tai rum sold commercially. 80% of the blend consists of 100% molasses based Jamaican pot still rum that has been slow fermented using slow working yeasts which extend the fermentation time up to 2 weeks allowing the high ester flavor compounds to fully develop. 60% of this component has been aged 8 years in small 200 liter once-used American oak bourbon barrels. The balance of the Jamaican rum is unaged which brings added complexity and funkiness to the finished product. The distilleries where the Jamaican portion of the blend has been sourced are Worthy Park Estates, Hampden Estates, Clarendon, and New Yarmouth. The remaining 20% of the blend consists of the high ester Rhum Grande Arome produced at the Le Galion distillery in Martinique. This is the only high ester molasses based distillate produced in Martinique and according to rum cocktail historians, was the Martinique component of the rum blend Trader Vic Bergeron used in the 3rd iteration of his 1944 Mai Tai recipe. Denizen Merchant's Reserve 8 Year and it's younger expression Denizen Aged White Rum are currently distributed in the US states of CA, IL, NY, NJ, GA, MA, RI,and NV, as well as Hong Kong internationally.