Neptune Rum

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                                     Neptune Rum

I am always looking for new rum brands I have yet to try, so when my friend and Neptune Rum brand ambassador, Timos Spanos, posted a picture of Neptune, I was intrigued to say the least. I immediately reached out, and although Neptune is not yet available in the U.S., Timos was kind enough to send me a bottle all the way from the U.K.

First, a little about the history of Neptune (not the planet): Neptune is the name that the ancient Romans used for the Greek god, Poseidon. Poseidon was one of 12 Olympians, and is the god of both freshwater and the sea. Neptune is the Roman equivalent, or counterpart. Neptune was the brother of Pluto and Jupiter- and the three of them guarded over earth, the heavens and the underworld. As a superstition for safe travels, sailors used to pay homage to Neptune by offering him rum overboard before their sea voyages. (Yes, they poured perfectly good rum into the ocean!)

Richard Davies, the founder of Neptune rum was in the bar trade in the UK for 25 years-- but he always had a dream of starting his own liquor brand. Davies vacationed in Florida often and developed a passion for paddle boarding and a love and respect for the ocean....hence the name Neptune. I had the pleasure of speaking with him last week and this is what he told me: 

“Neptune is an independent bottler. We don’t have any commercial agreements with Foursquare. I  very much admire Richard Seale and his approach to transparency and therefore we decided to have a Foursquare rum as our first product.  We purchase through a specialist rum supplier and then we water down and bottle ourselves. We believe this process is what sets us apart from other rums. We are actually the only rum brand that is solely a Foursquare Blend. The unique ages we use has created the world’s most awarded rum of 2018. We are in the process of sourcing rum for our second offering which should be available by the end of the year. I believe we may move away from Barbados for this offering. The rum will be more aged than the Barbados Gold and I’m currently sampling ages in the 12 to 14 yr. I have sampled a wonderful 35 year Jamaican origin rum and would love to bottle that as a speciality offering.”

Now let’s get to my favorite part, which of course is using Neptune in cocktails. This rum is a beautiful light gold color, and there is an incredible honey/brown sugar element on the first sip. As it lingered i started tasting dried fruits, like apricot, mixed with the tropical flavors of coconut and vanilla. It is incredibly smooth and delicious.

I have attached a few cocktail recipes, one is mine and one created by Timos. I hope that all the readers have the opportunity to enjoy this exceptional rum, sooner than later!

WAVES OF BUBBLES

Ingredients:

50ml Neptune

25ml lime juice

20ml passion fruit puree

20ml vanilla syrup

Top with Champagne

Method:

Shake the first 4 ingredients with ice and fine strain in a coupe glass. Top with Brut Champagne. Garnish with a lime wedge.

BARBADOS MULE

2 oz. Neptune

1⁄2 oz. lime juice

1⁄2 oz. cinnamon simple syrup

6-8  mint leaves

In a mixing glass, lightly muddle mint with simple syrup. Add rum and lime juice and shake with ice. Pour all ingredients back into a rocks glass and top with 2 oz. of your favorite ginger beer. Garnish with a mint sprig.