It’s never easy for lovers of rhum agricole in the United States. 

Supply of the cane-juice nectar of the French Caribbean has always been scant in America, with just a few brands that have even entered the market in the last decade. 

The two companies with the biggest presence have always been Martinique’s Rhum Clement and Rhum JM, whose entry to the market a little over a decade ago was a very welcome development.

Even so, finding those companies’ most sought after expressions in the U.S. has often been next to impossible.

Rum lovers have always had to make the trip to Martinique, St Maarten (or the Caribbean Rum Awards in St Barth) to even have a chance to find the best bottles. 

There’s one exception, and U.S.-based rum aficionados probably recognize it: it’s the Rhum JM with the leather label, the one that’s always at the corner of the back shelf of the liquor store. 

For those who find it, it’s a collector’s item: the 15-year vintage, almost always the single-best bottle of rhum agricole you can buy off the shelf in the United States, a sought-after expression for one of the island’s most venerable distilleries. 

And now it’s back again, this time from 2003, with an even more beautiful wooden-frame packaging, a new look for what was one of the best JM vintages of the last decade. 

It’s instantly a collector’s item.

So what’s it actually like? 

This 41.8-degree expression has that classic JM amber color, with an aroma of citrus peel, cane stalk, chocolate orange and a hint of herbs. 

The flavor profile is marked by oak, citrus, dried cherries; carambola; apple; tobacco; a whisper of white pepper; all working in exquisite harmony, the concerto that can only be played by a pure cane juice rum. 

The finish is long, luscious and velvety; it just keeps going and going before it softly fades away like a Wild West horizon. 

It’s just astonishingly good; a spectacular expression from a wonderful vintage; the kind that always finds its way to the top shelf of your collection.

And the kind of bottle for which it’s never easy to stay on the shelf.

Rum Journal Review: 97 Points 

— CJ

The post Rum Journal: A 15-Year Vintage From Martinique appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

 

An International task force has been established to help respond to the immediate and long-term needs of tourism in Haiti.

The Jamaica-based Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center will be coordinating the task force, led by Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.

Earlier in the decade, led by then-Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin, Haiti had seen its strongest tourism growth in decades, with new development and strong arrivals; in recent years, however, that growth stalled.

Now in the wake of the recent earthquake in the country, there’s renewed energy to revive the sector.

“We have to build back the tourism [sector] because that is the sustainable arrangement that will ensure the livelihood for the people,” Bartlett said.

Members of the task force include Adam Stewart, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sandals Resorts International; Group CEO, JMMB, Keith Duncan; Managing Director for Deals, Southern Cluster for PwC Tax and Advisory Services Limited, Wilfred Baghaloo; Minister of Tourism for Barbados and Chair of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Senator Lisa Cummings; Minister of Tourism for Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Ahmed Khateeb; and Minister of Tourism and Aviation for The Bahamas, Dionisio James D’Aguilar.

“Minister Bartlett has assembled an incredible team that will come together to use its collective strengths to aid in the recovery efforts in Haiti,” Sandals’ Stewart told Caribbean Journal. “Through the work of our Sandals Foundation, we have long supported efforts on the ground and we look forward to the continued learnings and pragmatic solutions this new task force will bring to the region.”

Also on the task force is Frank Rainieri, founder of Dominican Republic-based Grupo Puntacana, who has previously explored developing projects in Haiti.

Those talks initially focused on development in Haiti’s Cotes-de-Fer area on the southeastern coast of the country.

Rainieri almost single-handedly developed Punta Cana, what is now the most popular tourism destination in the wider Caribbean.

He will be joined by Vice President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association, Nicola Madden-Grieg; Executive Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, Professor Llyod Waller

The post Caribbean Task Force to Help Revive Tourism in Haiti appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

 

Fast-expanding carrier Frontier Airlines is adding another new route to one of the Caribbean’s most popular destinations.

Beginning Dec. 17, the low-cost carrier will kick off three weekly flights from Newark Liberty International Airport to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

It’s part of a growing wave of new airlift to the island, which is seeing a full-fledged tourism recovery after first reopening in June of last year.

That includes new flights on the way from carriers like Virgin Atlantic and American Airlines, with the latter set to launch its first-ever service from Philadelphia to Kingston in the first week of November.

And it also includes new flights from Atlanta to Montego Bay set to kick off in November.

Frontier has been adding more flights to the Caribbean than any other carrier amid the pandemic, from source markets like Newark to its growing presence at Miami International Airport.

Indeed, Frontier launched its first-ever Miami-Jamaica flights in May 2021.

Jamaica is open for tourism; here’s what you need to know about visiting.

For more, visit Jamaica.

— CJ

The post A New Way to Fly to Jamaica appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

 

Belize was the first Caribbean destination to waive pre-testing requirements for fully vaccinated visitors. 

But following similar moves by a number of Caribbean destinations, Belize will now require all travelers, vaccinated and unvaccinated to prevent a negative PCR test. 

All travelers must present a negative PCR test taken and received within 96 hours of travel or a negative antigen rapid test taken within 48 hours of travel. 

If no test is presented, a test will be administered at the airport for a fee of $50 per passenger. 

Children under the age of 5 years old will not be required to present a negative test; children five and over will have to present a negative test, however. 

Belize has undertaken one of the more successful tourism reopenings in the Caribbean since initially reopening to travelers late last summer. 

It’s the latest in a growing number of Caribbean destinations that now require testing for vaccinated travelers, including moves in the last month by The Bahamas and Aruba, among others.

For more on how to visit Belize, see the full list of entry travel protocols here. 

For more, visit the Belize Tourism Board.

—CJ

The post Belize Has New Rules for Vaccinated Travelers appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

 

The Caribbean’s leading celebration of fine rum is set for the first week of November in St Barth. 

Caribbean Journal’s Caribbean Rum Awards a week-long series of rum (and cigar) events in the heart of Gustavia, is back for its fourth annual edition. 

The event, presented by WIMCO Villas, Tradewind Aviation and Accutron, is centered around the Caribbean Rum Awards competition, a blind-tasting of the most elite field of rums of any festival on the planet. 

For rum lovers, there’s an unmatched slate of master classes, cocktail parties, private tastings and rum and cigar pairings throughout the week; that includes a pair of cocktail-pairing dinners at the island’s buzziest restaurant, the Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab. 

It’s part of what the island is now calling “Gourmet Month,” with the culinary-focused St Barth Gourmet Festival set for the following week on the island. 

It’s set at the Rhum Room, world-renowned rum expert Christopher Davis’ full-fledged temple of rum, home to the largest collection of fine rums of any bar in the Western Hemisphere.

“We’re so excited to be back for another edition of the Caribbean Rum Awards, following what was one of the world’s only in-person rum events last year,” said Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal and co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awards. “This year’s event has an exciting lineup of some of the world’s leading rum producers. If you love fine rum, this is an event not to be missed.”

That includes master classes from rum luminaries like Gregory Vernant of Martinique’s Rhum Neisson and Eduardo Bacardi of Ron del Barrilito, among others. 

And then there are the nighttime festivities, which include a rum and cigar pairing by Davidoff on Nov. 2 and special tasting parties at the Rhum Room each night.

While the Accutron Rum Expo on Nov. 4 is open to the public, only VIPs have access to the full slate of events (here’s how to attend the festival). 

WIMCO is the official villa provider of the event, and there are a number of terrific villas still available for that week (here’s how to find out more). 

And if you’re flying to St Barth, the best way to get there is on Tradewind Aviation via San Juan. 

For more visit the Caribbean Rum Awards or visit the Ticket Page.

— CJ

The post Caribbean Rum Awards 2021 Set for Nov. 2-7 in St Barth appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico