Hemingway’s Spirt(s) Lives On!
“Hemingway lived an epic life in perpetual motion. And rum bore witness to it all.”
This is one of the quotes you will findon a display at the Hemingway Rum Distillery and Experience Center in Key West. Located a couple of blocks from Duval Street in a restored brick tobacco warehouse built in 1878, the tasting room meets distillery meets museum is the new home of the Hemingway Rum Company, which produces Papa’s Pilar Dark Rum and Blonde Rum. Them Hemingway family has been involved in the project, and its share of the profits go to the Hemingway Foundation, which was established to support environmental and literary charities.
A tour is an engaging way to learn not only about the rum-making process but also about the Nobel Prize-winning writer. Suspended among the rafters of the distillery, over the equipment that includes a 350-gallon Hamilton Pot Still, is a replica of the frame of his fishing boat, Pilar, the inspiration for the name of the rum. A writing desk faces a fighting chair. An interactive display of lesser-known photos of Hemingway mounted on a wall of panels explores the myth and the legend that was Hemingway.
As for the rum, distiller Carl Grooms hand-selects older rums (some as old as 24 years) from the Caribbean, Central America and Florida for blending. The barrel aging process is the soul of the rum and includes bourbon barrels and Spanish sherry casks for the blonde rum. Bourbon, port wine and Spanish sherry casks are used for the dark rum.
Before tasting, prime your palate by sniffing concentrates of vanilla, chocolate, orange and other characteristics that you might pick up. The bartender pours a shot of the blonde rum first, then the dark. As you savor the notes of citrus, almond and oak in the blonde and vanilla, cinnamon and coffee in the dark, check out the photos on the walls, including one of Hemingway standing by a marlin. The ginormous fish recalls the ill-fated marlin in The Old Man and the Sea. The caption is “Live a life that outlives you.” That sentiment makes for a nice finish. papaspilar.com
This article by Carrie Williamson originally appeared in the December 2017 issue of Leader's Edge Magazine.
Photo credit: Carrie Williamson