By the Caribbean Journal staff

For rum aficionados, Martinique is the great Mecca, the place of pilgrimage, the place where one can visit the most marvelous collection of distilleries anywhere on earth.

But when you come to Martinique, you also want to take some back with you.

And for precisely that purpose, there’s a serious new rum shop in the heart of Fort de France.

It’s called the House of Rhums, and the new destination rhum shop officially opened its doors this week in the Lumina Tower gallery, a short walk from the Hotel Simon right on the waterfront in Martinique’s capital.

And it’s instantly one of the best rum shops in Martinique, with a staggering selection of white and aged rums from across the destination (and a particularly welcome stop for cruise visitors visiting Martinique).

Of course, if you’re in Martinique, there’s another rum shop that is a must-visit for any rum pilgrim: La Compagnie du Rhum right next to Martinique’s A1710 distillery. 

— CJ

The post Martinique’s New House of Rhums appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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… campus of the University of Puerto Rico in the Río Piedras neighborhood …

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

A major new Caribbean destination resort project has broken ground on the northern tip of Saint Lucia.

The highly-anticipated Cabot Saint Lucia could be a game-changing project for Caribbean hospitality and an even more significant one for the Caribbean golf industry.

It’s the first-ever Caribbean resort for Cabot, which operates the celebrated Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs in Nova Scotia, both of which are among the top golf courses in the world.

Perhaps more importantly, it’s the first-ever Caribbean project for Coore & Crenshaw, arguably the hottest golf designers in the industry today.

If it sounds like hyperbole, it’s because that’s the scale of the project, which will include a golf course, a residential community and a 50-suite luxury resort all set on Point Hardy, a 375-acre peninsula at the tip of Saint Lucia.

“With the tropical allure found in Saint Lucia and the magnificent ocean views from every corner of this spectacular site, we feel honored to be involved with such a special property within an incredible country,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of Cabot Links.

The sprawling destination resort project’s real estate component will include a collection of hillside townhomes, single-family homes and beachfront and bluff-top lots.

All of the homes will include resort access and golf access, with pre-sales set to begin this summer ranging from $760,000 to $10 million, according to the developers.

Bandon Dunes in Oregon.

And much of that allure will be thanks to the names Coore and Crenshaw, who have designed many of the most celebrated courses in the world today, from Bandon Dunes to Florida’s Streamsong.

“Our goal is to create a golf course with a sense of enjoyment and interest to complement and hopefully equal the site’s overwhelming natural beauty,” Bill Coore, Co-principal of Coore & Crenshaw said. “If we can accomplish that goal, we believe Cabot Point could become one of the Caribbean’s most sought-out courses. Ben Cowan-Dewar and Mike Keiser have certainly found another spectacular property for golf.”

It’s a new kind of project for the Caribbean, one on a global scale that could prove a new kind of model for destination resort development in the region, particularly the Eastern Caribbean.

“Situated on a hilltop overlooking the beach, the club and resort at Cabot Saint Lucia will include a 50-suite boutique hotel, three restaurants, boutique retail shops, Cabot Spa and clubhouse,” said Roderick Cherry, CEO of Invest Saint Lucia, which helped to facilitate the project. “his investment will complement Saint Lucia’s high end/luxury image and help strengthen the island’s marketing appeal.”

The first phase of slated to debut in 2021.

For more, visit Cabot Saint Lucia.

The post A New Caribbean Destination Breaks Ground in Saint Lucia appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

It was a strong star for the first-ever edition of the Martinique Rhum Awards.

The new rum festival, the brainchild of world-famous beach bar proprietor Guy Ferdinand and the Rum Embassy, featured a week of high-level rum events (including a popular bartending competition) and a panel of judges who rated more than 100 rums from around Martinique, Guadeloupe and the world.

The festival, which concluded with a “Rum Village” on the beach in Carbet and a gala dinner at Trois Ilets’ La Suite Villa restaurant, aims to celebrate what is the most famous export of the French Caribbean department.

So what about the winners?

The biggest winner was Martinique’s Rhum HSE, which took home the crown for the Rhum Agricole Extra Vieux category for its HSE XO rum.

Other winners included La Mauny, which took home the crown for the top 55-degree white rum; Rhum Dillon for the top rum of between 3 and 6 years of age; and the celebrated boutique distillery A1710, which won for its A1710 Renaissance white rum in the non-AOC category and the top molasses rum of 3-12 years.

See the full list of winners below:

White Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique 55%

La Mauny 50%, Martinique

White Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique 55+

Rhum Dillon 55, Martinique

White Rhum Agricole non-AOC up to 55%

Rhum A1710 Renaissance, Martinique

White Rhum Agricole non-AOC 55+

Pere Labat 59%, Guadeloupe

Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique from 3 to 6 years

Dillon VSOP, Martinique

Rhum Agricole non-AOC 4 years and up

Rhum Karukera Black Edition Alligator, Guadeloupe

Molasses Rum 3 to 12 Years

A1710 Soleil de Minuit, Martinique

Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique 6 years and up

HSE XO, Martinique

Molasses Rum 12 years and up

Plantation Rum Jamaica 2005

Rhum Agricole AOC Martinique Cask Strength

Trois Rivieres Cask Strength 2006

Rhum Agricole non-AOC cask strength

MHOBA Rum Select Reserve French Cask Rum, South Africa

Molasses Rum Cask Strength

Riviere du Mat 2006 (Cuvee of the Confrerie du Rhum), Reunion

The post The First-Ever Martinique Rhum Awards Were a Big Hit appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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… scheme to defraud Westernbank of Puerto Rico (Westernbank). The losses triggered … -CI) for Miami and Puerto Rico, Special Agent in Charge … FBI’s San Juan, Puerto Rico Field Office made the … the largest banks in Puerto Rico.
This case was investigated …

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