In Evening Air – Hell or High Water Rum
To be honest, I am not a big fan of spiced or flavoured rum. Still, I am reviewing a bottle for you and came up with a great cocktail using it. On top of that, this honey and orange flavoured rum based spirit has quite the background story.
First, let us address the elephant in the room: Yes, the Hell or Highwater Rum was formerly known as Ron de Jeremy. However, when sexual abuse cases came to light the founders Olli Hietalahti and Jouko Laune distanced themselves from their brand ambassador and renamed their company. Something others in the industry seem to fail to do… Despite that, the rum for their Honey & Orange expression comes from Barbados, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic aged in American Oak barrels. Afterwards honey and oranges give the rum based spirit its flavour. In the end, Hell or Highwater bottle their flavoured rum at an ABV of 40 %.
Orange Soft Cakes
The short conclusion of the tasting notes is that the Reserve Honey & Orange tastes exactly like orange soft cake. The longer version is that the oranges take on a very prominent role. The honey is noticeable but lingers more in the background of the taste. Furthermore, the rum flavour comes in the form of some molasses and a lot of chocolate notes.
Air Mail variation
For a drink I went with an Air Mail variation. The honey in the rum just sounded to enticing. However, to stray from the beaten path, I added an intricate mix of modifiers to the recipe: Some honey bitters for the honey notes, some orange citrate for the orange notes and a bit of Absinth for some herbal contrast. Since there is a noticeable sweetness in the rum, I went with a dry Riesling sparkling wine.
2 Dashes Bittermens Krupnik Bitters
1 Dash Bittemens Orange Cream Citrate
2 Sprays Absinthe Mix
2,25 cl Lime Juice
1,5 cl Honey Mix
Shake – add Sparkling Wine to Cocktail glass – strain;
Garnish:Lime Twist – dried edible Flowers; Song: Future Islands – In Evening Air;
First, you can taste the honey notes in the “In Evening Air” accompanied by the distinct orange flavour from the rum. Apart from that, there also is a chocolate quality to it. All in all, the drink turned out pretty taste with additional herbal and spice notes.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The rum was provided by Hell or High Water.
