Do you follow National Days? I do and today is National Hot Toddy day I discovered from two wine friends. Since I at a cocktail master, I thought I would see what I had on hand: hot water, sugar, honey, lemon, and no whiskey in the house. Shocking and tomorrow I should remedy that but I read that you can use Rum which I have. Here’s a Rum version. I used what I had in my house which is this bottle of Ron Centenario 12 Anos Gran Legado from Costa Rica.

Rum as we know is made from sugar cane. Costa Rica’s climate with its volcanic soil is a perfect condition for growing cane. This rum is aged in American white oak and has some sweet  spice and a medicinal flavor which I didn’t expect. The wine is a mid-priced one, at around $32 average price. Here are some stores that sell it in the US listed on wine-searcher.

I have no memory of when I bought it, perhaps after a trip there years ago. The Run was lighter in color than I remembered, Amber which lots of tannin from the oak barrels where it ages. Since I don’t drink a lot of Rum, so I looked to see what others thought as well of this wine. The consensus seems to be that this is a great Hot Toddy kind of Rum but a sipping Rum could be a more prestigious bottling. Check out this interview with management. I love that she’s a young women.

Memories of Costa Rica just came flooding back. I am sharing a few photographs from my trip and posts about my trip here and here.