Ageing In Rye Barrels With Papa’s Pilar Rum

Cocktails Distilled

No matter whether you're distilling spirits or drinking them, we're all in search of flavour. But for distillers, there has been an increased movement that blurs the lines of their spirit by finishing them in the barrels of other spirits.

We see Whiskey finished in Port barrels, Gin finished in Whiskey barrels and, as in the case of Pappa's Pilar's latest release, Rum that is aged in Rye barrels.

Pappa's Pilar, the ultra-premium rum brand inspired by the legendary novelist, Ernest Hemingway, has just released its fourth expression within its flagship fleet.
Mixing master distiller Ron Call's two great loves, whiskey and rum, this rye-finished expression is very close to his heart. A seventh-generation distiller who made his name along the Bourbon Trail, Cole brings his roots in the whiskey industry and his nuanced passion for rum to bear.

To find out more, we talked to Cole about barrels, blending flavours, and how experimentation changes the nature of spirits.

Rozdziały

1. Ageing In Rye Barrels With Papa’s Pilar Rum (00:00:00)

2. the Rye finished expression has just been released. It could be said that this expression is very personal one for you. (00:01:55)

3. Having come from a background in whiskey distilling, how different is it to distill rum to whiskey? (00:02:33)

4. Now you've done a Rye finished rum before in 2021 as part of your legacy editions. What makes this version of the expression different? (00:03:12)

5. How does the age of the rye effect the rum? (00:03:51)

6. Now, there seems to be a lot of finishing in other spirits or even wine barrels going on right now. Why do you think that it's so popular? (00:04:20)

7. Now tell us a little bit more about the barrels you sourced. Are they all coming from the same distilleries? How are you going about finding them? (00:05:11)

8. Now you talked about the barrels being older rye barrels. How exactly does that change the flavour of the rum? Does it give it a depth to it or? (00:06:28)

9. And how long does the rum spend in the rye barrels? (00:07:21)

10. It must be a little bit hard to judge though, exactly when take it out, I imagine. (00:07:53)

11. And speaking of other folks and what they think, what has the reaction to the expression been? (00:08:22)

12. I was about to ask actually that I assumed you would want people to initially be using it as a sipping rum, but is it a good rum for cocktails? (00:08:57)

13. Now if somebody was looking to use it in a cocktail, what other flavors do you think would work well with the rum? (00:09:34)

14. Coming from a whisky background, when you develop a rum, how do you approach it? (00:10:00)

15. Do you believe that there's the ability to experiment more with rum than there is with whisky in the distillation? (00:10:45)

16. Do you think that this sort of blurring of lines with finishing is changing the nature of spirits? (00:11:52)

17. As I mentioned earlier, the brand is inspired by Ernest Hemingway. How does this expression work in with that theme? (00:12:37)

18. The expression is based on the brand's dark rum, which is a blend of nine premium rums from all over the Caribbean. How do you decide which rums to incorporate? (00:13:37)

19. Now, I believe that the dark rum is created through a Solera system. Do you want to explain to people what that means exactly? (00:14:34)

20. Why did you choose to produce it that way? (00:15:44)

21. You mentioned earlier the sherry expression. Did that go through a similar process to this one? (00:16:01)

22. Are there other barrel finishes that the brand is going to be experimenting with in the future? (00:16:44)

23. With the rye expression particularly, what do you want people to take away from their experience with it? (00:18:13)

24. Now, where is Papa's Pilar available? (00:18:45)