Worthy Park - Rum Bar Cream, 75 cl

Worthy Park Estate

Located in the central parish of St. Catherine, far from the white sand beaches and palm trees, a visit to Worthy Park is a trip back in time to the days of unspoiled landscapes and natural beauty that had given rise to Jamaica being known as the "Land of wood and water". The Worthy Park Estate has remained this way since it's inception in 1670. It was gifted to Lt. Francis Price for his services to Cromwell during the English capture of the island from the Spanish in 1655. It has expanded since then through the acquisition of neighboring properties. Commercial production of cane and sugar began in 1720 and has continued unabated until this day. Since then it has only been under ownership by three families and has been in the hands of the Clarke family since 1918. In that time Worthy Park has not only engaged in cane farming and sugar production but the land has been used for beef cattle, citrus, poultry and other agricultural crops. However, there has been a consistent reduction in cultivation of other crops and livestock in favour of an increased cultivation of cane and sugar production. Of the over 10,000 acres of land approximately 40% of the land is currently in sugar cultivation. There are as many as 20 cane varieties growing however, most acreage is of the top three performers. The sugar season in Jamaica lasts from January through the end of June. Since it is a 24-hour operation in season, the other months of the year are dedicated to a complete servicing of all of the equipment in the sugar factory. While the traditional, and preferred, method of harvesting cane is by hand, for the past 20 years Worthy Park has also used combine cane harvesters to assist in the daily supply of cane to the sugar factory.

All rum produced in the distillery needs molasses; and it goes without saying that all of our molasses used comes from our very own sugar factory. The average annual molasses production is between 7,000-8,000 tonnes; with 2015 also being a record year as we produced 8,801 tonnes! This molasses is then piped 2.5 miles away to the distillery. Worthy Park has been producing rum intermittently since the 1740's. There was an over supply of Jamaican Rum following World War II and under agreement with the Spirits Pool Association of Jamaica production was ceased in 1962.

After being out of the distillation business for decades, the Clarke family decided in 2004 that there was room for another Jamaican rum, made with quality ingredients in a perfect contrast by distilling in the Traditional Jamaican Pot-Still method however with efficiency and state-of-the-art equipment helping us get there.

In 2005, the newest distillery was complete! By 2007, the flagship brand of Rum-Bar Rum was launched and has forever changed the Jamaican rum industry.

Worthy Park Rum Bar Cream Liqueur

Destillery: Worthy Park Estate

Type: Pot Still
Colour: NA
Alkohol: 15 %
Vol: 0,7 L.
Old: NA
Notes: Following the success of our Rum-Bar Rum we used that along with real cream as the main ingredients in our Rum Cream. The rich creamy base is balanced by the opulent flavours of the Rum-Bar Rum giving you a smooth and pleasurable taste whether drinking chilled or on the rocks. It even tastes great in your morning coffee!

What is Rum

Unfortunately it's far from all, that consider rum as an exclusive beverage on par with whiskey and cognac, many people only know rum blended in drinks, this is a common misconception. Yes rom is a really good product to make cocktails, but it is at least as good if not better "neat" or "on the rocks". Vintage rum is now the new trend in the spirits together with gin. Rum is light and dark liquor. Most of the Rum based on molasses from sugar cane, you can say, what malt is to whiskey, Sugarcane is to rum. The raw cane juice can also be used for the production of rum and called rhum agricole. It is only in the French West Indies that produce Rhum Agricole.

To create rum diluted molasses and yeast is added, carefully selected by the distillery and fermentation translates the sugar to alcohol. The fermentation process can take from a half day to several days, depending on how powerful a rum aiming for. Priming the alcohol content is typically between 5% - 9%. Distill it to an alcohol content of up to 90%.

In order to increase the alcohol content, the liquid is distilled to remove excess water. In rum early years they used exclusively large copper kettles to heat the liquid and collect the distillate. Such boilers offer an inefficient distillation. In the middle at the 10 century column distillation invented and revolutionized rum.

Column distillation consists of two or more columns connected to the tube at the top. The un distilled liquid is passed into the first column, and is heated. When the liquor evaporates at 78.3 degrees drives it to the next column where the steam is cooled and the distillate can be bottled in different heights. Depending on how high up in the column you bottler, get the rum a particular character and alcoholic content. At the top of the column to obtain the cleanest and most alcohol-rich rum, while further down gives a more heavy and great tasting rum with low alcohol content. This process can be repeated to make the rum more balanced taste. Then store the rum in oak barrels, and for storing diluted rum down to typically 40-43% and bottled.

The History of Rum

The origin of the word rum is unclear. The name may have derived from rumbullion meaning "a great tumult or uproar" as you may know the Jamaicans don't like long words, then they shortened it to rum. Other options include contractions of the words saccharum, latin for sugar, or arôme, French for aroma.

In current usage, the name used for rum is often based on the rum's place of origin. For rums from Spanish-speaking locales the word ron is used. A ron añejo indicates a rum that has been aged and is often used for premium products. Rhum is the term used for rums from French-speaking locales, while rhum vieux is an aged French rum.

Sugar cane, originally from Papua New Guinea, was taken to Asia where it was cultivated and then carried to Africa, India and then Spain. European explorers were lured to the West Indies by legends of El Dorado, a city paved with gold. Ironically, the tall sweet grass that Columbus took to the Caribbean in 1493, and the sugar and rum made from that sugar-cane, was ultimately worth more than all the lustrous metal taken from the Caribbean basin.

In the 17th century, thousands of sugar works dotted the islands landscapes and nearly every plantation employed a copper pot still to make alcohol from the fermented skimmings and molasses.

Sales of the potent liquor to the British Navy not only brought extra revenue but more importantly, it attracted a naval presence that deterred pirates lurking in the area. Around 1655 Admiral Penn of the British fleet captured Jamaica from the Spanish and authorized the locally made sugar-cane spirit to replace the official beer ration. When he was leaving Jamaica he found that the rum had the natural advantage of remaining sweet in the cask for very much longer than water or beer.

However, it was not until 1731 that the Navy Board were persuaded to make the official daily ration, one pint of wine or half a pint of rum, to be issued neat (at 80% vol.) in two equal amounts daily. Every 'rating' would be entitled to the ration each day, plus a gallon of beer if he wanted it. It was a right and prized privilege that shielded him from the squalor and brutality of life on the ocean waves.

In 1740 Admiral Edward Vernon claimed, 'the vice of drunkenness is but too visibly increasing in our mariners' and secured the change of ration to a reduction of a quart of water to every half pint of rum. Because of the unusual grogram material of his naval cloak, he was known as 'Old Grog'. Hence when the lower strength ration was enforced it was referred to as 'Grog'. Vernon suggested the addition of limes and sugar to make the drink more palatable, which led to grog mixed with lime juice being known as 'limey'. Americans calling British people 'limeys' derives from this.

The drunkenness was, later, reduced by the drinking of tea and cocoa, however, it was still a threat to naval efficiency so in 1850 the rum ration was fixed at an eighth of a pint, until it was abolished in 1970. The last Navy issue took place on 31 July 1970 known as 'Black Tot Day'. The first Sea Lord pointed out that, ' a large tot in the middle of the day was not the best medicine for those who had to handle the Navy's electronic mysteries'.

Many other naval stories abound including that of Bill McCoy. During the Prohibition Era in the USA, those who tried to make the new law unworkable by running in the forbidden liquor were known as Rum Runners. The most famous being Bill McCoy 'the real McCoy', to mean the genuine article.

Rum now has a much more respectable image. Light white rums are mixed with many different fruit juices to create exotic cocktails and along with dark rums drunk with coca –cola and similar additives.

Dedicated rum bars are becoming more popular and the real discerning customer realises that high quality premium rum sits with the very best of spirits.