Campesino Rum

I had the chance to sample Campesino Rum at LeNell’s, a boutique liquor store located in the Norwood neighborhood of Birmingham AL.  I enjoy trying products that have a story and the Campesino story is a good one.  It is a story about a local Birmingham boy, Hatton Smith, who was raised by a family in the  coffee industry, and as a young man spent a summer living in the jungles of Panama leading hiking expeditions.  After that he went to school to study Economics and International Trade and at the age of 21 moved to New York City to be a green coffee trader.  He became restless and returned to Panama to live off the grid and set up a bio-char coffee roasting operation in the jungle.  This is where he learned a new craft in distilling.  He took over operations of a rum-still, perfected his craft and is now back in the United States bringing the amazing craft Rum to the market for us to enjoy. 

I was able to acquire a bottle of the Silver X and Aged XIV.  Silver X is a blend of rum from Nicaragua and Trinidad and Tobago that is aged at a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years.  It is aged in ex-bourbon casks at its origin of distillation before being charcoal filtered to give it a clean finish.  The Aged XIV is made up of 80% 8 -year-old rum from Barbados and the Dominican Republic and 20% 6-year-old rum from Panama.  They are left to age in ex-bourbon barrels at their origin of distillation until the point of full maturity before they are blended together to create the perfect flavor. 

Following my visit to LeNell’s my wife and I had dinner at Chris Hastings restaurant, OvenBIrd, where I asked the Bartender to make an Old Fashioned with the Aged XIV.  Hatton told me at LeNell’s that an Old Fashioned made with that Rum with “change my life” and it was indeed one of the best Old Fashions I have ever had.