Saturday Brew Review: Innis & Gunn Rum Cask
Ahoy!`Tis Saturday nite and as such the drinks are freely flowin’ at the Mos Eisley Cantina. Figrin D’an is tearing shit up with his Modal Nodes, inspiring muthafuckahs to hit the dance floor and gyrate their gential-areas together. Backdoor deals are being made so that terrorist-farmhands can blow up expensive government buildings. And droids still aren’t being served.
If Omega-Level were a patron of the Mos Eisley Cantina, it’d be a smooth-talkin’ Corellian whose language of choice is credits.
But since we have the benefit of residing on the lovely blue planet known as Earth, there’s no chance of snagging space-brews from Wuher. Instead, I must head to the liquor-merchant and choose a potable on my own. Without an interstellar racist to guide me, I’m liable to choose all sorts of kooky concoctions.
As such, tonight I’m drinking Innis & Gunn Rum Cask.
Now, I must acknowledge that this is my first time sampling a product of the Innis & Gunn Brewery. But, after doing some cursory research, I learned that it’s a Scottish company, and for some reason that makes me feel real good. I mean, Scotland is full of veritable badasses. William Wallace. Willie the Janitor. Grant fuckin’ Morrison. Dudes worthy of unreal accolades.
Rum Cask takes the power of beer and lets it age in sweet, sweet, rum casks. In the time before I drank beer (the dark ages of my life of which I dare not speak), rum was my libation of choice. As such, I can’t help but salivate at the thought of beer that has been given the benefit of aging in casks that were initially used for rum.
I always try to do some research before drankin’, and I was pleased to come across this description of the beverage:
Rum Cask is fun, vibrant and spicy. Who would have thought that rum and beer would work so well?? It’s our unique combination of specially brewed beer, rum and oak that just makes this beer sing!
Okay, time to drink.
Rum Cask poured into my glass and settled as solid hue of amber. Not like normal-beer amber, though. This was more of a heavy-as-a-heavy-thing styled maroon that conjured up images of Captain Morgan. There was a light head at the top of my glass, but nothing worth writing home about.
In terms of olfactor, Rum Cask brings a noteworthy level of spicy fragrance. The potion didn’t smell quite as strong as a proper rum, but it definitely packed more of a punch than a run-0f-the-mill beer. I’d say that the slightly elevated ABV was detected via nose, but I think that the sweetness overshadowed it.
When I first tossed the liquid down the hatch, I was a bit taken aback. I think that I was preparing more for a straight-up beer, which is really my own fault. I mean, hell, the product boasts about its relation to rum, and yet I was more ready for Bud Light. Foolish move on my part, no doubt. So as I sipped Rum Cask, I couldn’t help but scoff at the one-two punch hitting my tongue.
I then decided to stop being an asshole.
When I sipped on Rum Cask with an open mind, I was bowled over. This is a potable for those beer drinkers who want to venture out towards the precipice of the abyss. The liquid is medium-bodied and only lightly carbonated, allowing for easy travel past my gullet and into my tummy-bone. Additionally, that aforementioned 7.4% ABV has swooped in and spread a smile across my face just a bit faster than possible with a “normal” beer. Taste-wise, Innis & Gunn have crafted a drink that is elegant, balancing notes of vanilla and dark sugars and alcoholic wonders.
If I’m ever lucky enough to travel to Tatooine, I’m going to make sure that I gallivant with the regulars at the Mos Eisley Cantina. And to make sure that I’m loose enough to sweat at Dr. Evazan, I’m going to pound Rum Cask. `Cause it’s a fine-ass drank that’s truly out of this world.
The grade: A-