Clement Rhum Tasting in Philadelphia

I was very fortunate to be invited to a very rare opportunity...a tasting of the Rhum's of Clement.
George Reppert, from Social Chemist, extended this invitation to me and I am very grateful. He also introduced me to David Suro Piñera. I had heard and read many great things about his brand of tequilas, Siembra Azul and the clincher for me to make this trip a reality was that David was hosting this tasting at his restaurant, Tequilas. My wife, Sarah, was more then eager to accompany me because of her love of Mexican cuisine.

I had met David the week before here in Pittsburgh to taste the Siebra Azul Tequilas. I need to reserve a special blog entry exclusively to these hand-crafted aged Highland spirits. Ever the gracious host, David arranged for me to stay across the street from his establishment at the Raquet Club of Philadelphia. Located in the heart of Center City, this private club has 13 exclusive newly renovated rooms that matched the unique architecture.

The tasting on Tuesday night at Tequilas was daunting! 9 Rhums from Martinique from both Clement and Rhum J.M. The main focus of the tasting was to inform us on how diverse the rum category can be (rhum is the French-based spelling of rum).

Clement Rhums are in a very specific and unique grouping of rums, A.O.C. Rhum Agricole. A.O.C. stands for Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée . A.O.C. Rhum Agricole must meet very high standards regarding: production grounds, sugarcane fields, cane variety, juice extraction, fermenting process, distilling process, storage and ageing process. Only those rhums obtained by distilling fresh, fermented sugarcane juice have the right to bear the label Appellation Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée "Martinique". The sole overseas region to posses the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée distiction is Martinique.

Some real standouts amongst the 9 Rhums I had the pleasure to taste:Rhum Clement Premiere Canne - Ultra pure, natural rhum distilled from fresh, free-run juice of select sugarcane varieties from Habitation Clement. Great for cocktails and sipping because of it's great finish.



Rhum Clement Creole Shrubb - The best orange infused liquor I have ever tasted! A blend of the finest white rhums and aged rhums married with macerated Creole spices and sun-bleached bitter orange peels. I need to raise the profile of this by making it one of our cocktail staples.


Rhum Clement X.O - Rhum Clement XO is a rare blend of very old aged rhums including the highly regarded vintages of 1976, 1970, and 1952, which have been recognized to the finest ever in Martinique. Each vintage brings to the bottle spice, toffee, and tobacco flavors and the Cellar mast has miraculously married them together to create one of the finest sipping rhums in the world.



The staff of Tequilas created signature cocktails for the evening using the rhums we had tasted. The kitchen produced some amazing dishes also while using these rhums. It was an amazing experience that was well worth my trip to the City of Brotherly Love!