Colombian Rum, By Way of Chicago

I was reading at the Between Bites event last week in West Town (which, by the way, was a lot of fun), and one of the spirits they had on hand was a new brand called Parce (PAR-say). The term means “buddy” or “good friend” in Colombia, and the man on hand doing the pouring, Jim Powers, was telling me how he and his brothers (one of whom moved to Colombia years ago) started the company along with a veteran father-and-son team of master distillers from Bogotá. The big difference here is that all of their rum is aged in charred oak bourbon barrels, and they’ve only released two lines: an 8 year and a 12 year.

I only tried the 8 year, but what I had (sipped neat) tasted of burnt caramel and toasty oak, with just a hint of sweetness from the three types of cane sugar they use. Natural spring water and a four-column still are two other factors contributing to the clean complexity of this rum. Since it has quite a bit of age, you could just sip it neat or on the rocks, but certainly there’s no harm in using it for cocktails (especially for the inspired wave of Tiki hitting the city). I typically use a 4 year Flor de Caña in my daiquiris, but guess what, I’ve got another plan up my sleeve…