In Search of a Cocktail

Ord River Rum

This rum is distilled at The Hoochery (WA’s oldest continuously operating distillery) in Kununurra, Western Australia and is the only rum distilled entirely in Western Australia. Everything in this rum screams small batch, distilled on Spike Dessert’s farm using local sugar cane and wet season rain water, pot distilled, hand bottled and hand labelled. Over 50,000 bottles of Ord River rum are bottled each year. There are 4 variants of Ord River rum, 37%, 40%, Over-Proof 57.7% and Barrel Strength 70.2%. This bottle just happens to be the most popular, the standard 40%.

The Hoochery’s motto “With the Hoochery you get no gimmicks, no fancy labels,  just bloody-good-dinky-di Kimberley spirit!” and this is the case, A dark green bottle, almost like an large, old port bottle, a simple label that has “Ord River Rum” in big letters and a wax sealed cork enclosure. There is nothing fancy about the bottle, no gimmicks here.

Wondering if the rum on the inside was going to be as ‘Un-fancy’ as the bottle, I was eager to pop the cork. As I did I was confronted by a warm, smooth, slightly smoky aroma that just smells amazing, this rum has a sweet nose to it, much like a Single Malt Whisky, however it has sweet cane aroma, and hints of oak. Unlike the Angostura, this run doesnt have the intense vanilla, it has more of a honey/caramel, with a hint of vanilla. The overall aroma is dry, with a slight alcohol presence.

When served neat, Ord River is warm and spicy on the tongue, its smooth and sweet until it hits your mid palette where it explodes leaving tingles and a faint burn, however over ice, this rum becomes amazing, the alcohol in the aroma disappears, leaving a sweet vanilla note with hints of spice. Ice cold, this rum is smooth with no burn on the tongue, however I feel that it loses some of its flavour, it turns to a spirit which I would associate with the sweeter honey/caramel flavours of a whisky.

Ord River Rum has a slightly viscous mouth feel, its not thin, yet not thick or creamy, it sits comfortably in the middle.

At $55.00 AUD a bottle (750mL) Ord River Rum makes a nice addition to any bar, for both sipping and its use in bold, simple cocktails that wont take away from the taste of the rum.

For more info or purchasing options please visit The Hoochery!

Cocktails

Cuba Libre

1.5oz Ord River Rum
Coke
Ice

This is a cocktail that I have made in the past and did not get much enjoyment from, why? I suspect that it was due to the Bacardi that I used; Ord River gives the drink a richer flavour, with a much nicer finish.