By the Caribbean Journal staff

Riu has reopened one of its most popular all-inclusive hotels in the Mexican Caribbean, the company announced this week.

The Riu Tequila has relaunched in Playa del Carmen on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, following a large-scale renovation project.

The renovation included transformed culinary offerings and a totally redesigned pool area, among other changes.

Changes to the pool included a transformation from two large pools to a total of five rectangular pools, including one dedicated for children.

The pool area has been completely transformed.

The Riu Tequila has also added new offerings for kids, including a MiniClub and a playground, adjacent to a new gym and “Riu Fit” area.

Upgrades include the addition of free Wi-Fi throughout the property, along with a hotel disco called Pacha.

The new Black Cow steakhouse.

The culinary changes are also wholesale, with a new steakhouse called Black Cow; a 24-hour sports bar; a lobby bar; a cocktail lounge called La Fiesta and a new Italian eatery called Rinascita.

It’s all part of what is a sleek new look for the more than 600-room hotel property.

Riu has a collection of 20 resorts across Mexico.

— CJ

The post Riu Reopens Playa del Carmen All-Inclusive appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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It’s hard to say precisely when cask finishing began in the rum world.

Sure, over the years there were rums like Dos Maderas, which took Caribbean rum and then aged it for years in sherry casks.

Then there was HSE, the Martinique-based rhum producer that is now the leader in the rum world, globally, when it comes to finishing, with an agricole expression finished in just about every kind of cask you can think of, from sherry to whisky to sauternes. (HSE has also become the world’s most innovative rum distillery when it comes to barrel aging in general).

It’s all helped take rum to new heights, and underscore the importance of barrel aging generally, such as the way different kinds of oak can totally change the raw spirit.

More and more companies are now diversifying their aging and finishing, and they’re helping to raise the profile of rum in part by showing its remarkable flexibility as a spirit.

The result is that cask finishing is likely here to stay — so it was nice to see another major player recently entered the space.

That was Puerto Rico’s Don Q, which recently debuted its first official cask-finished rum: Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish, which Rum Journal obtained on a recent stop in Puerto Rico.

So what’s it like?

The aroma is unsurprisingly sweet, with notes of white wine, brown sugar, a hint of tropical fruit, spice and more subtle elements of the classic Don Q nutty-vanilla aroma.

The flavor profile begins with an initial note of oak that opens up into hints of almond, pepper, nutmeg and only a small whisper of the dessert wine notes that appeared on the nose.

This is a light-bodied rum with a satisfying soft finish that eventually hints at some sweetness and even a little spice. It’s not what you expect when you first encounter the aroma — and it doesn’t have a heavy vermouth note, happily.

Yes, it’s a Don Q, and yes, it has those quintessential notes that most Puerto Rican rums share — but it’s got a different personality, a different identity, the lightness joined by a kind of elegant personality.

It’s something new.

And we always like that.

Rum Journal Review: 89 Points

The post Rum Journal: Puerto Rico’s Don Q Vermouth Cask Finish appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By Alexander Britell and Guy Britton

There’s something special about the blue.

When you make your way down Antigua’s southwestern coast, you begin to see it. It’s not blue, it’s not green, it’s not turquoise.

It’s a stunning, bold aquamarine, almost blinding in its brilliance.

And at the core of it all is Ffryes Beach, a sparkling white-sand coastline just a bit south of Jolly Harbour, a bit north of Darkwood, home to one of the most spectacular coastlines in the whole Caribbean.

The water is calm, with an almost neon kind of hue, the sort of beach you can’t help but spend your entire day staring at.

It gets even more beautiful when a jet ski or a sailboat shows its wake, almost painting this aquatic canvas with froth.

Of course, Ffryes is just the beginning — the hue keeps going, all the way to Jolly, with the shoreline teeming with beach hotels and beach bars (including one of our favorites, Dennis Cocktail Bar).

While Antigua and Barbuda has 365 beaches, Ffryes is surely one of the essentials.

See more in the latest CJ video.

— CJ

The post VIDEO: The Wonder of Ffryes Beach in Antigua appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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