Hail Mauritius: The Pink Pigeon Rum Packs a Punch

At last month's

in New Orleans, I tasted a lot of different products. A. LOT. Thanks to a colleague's suggestion to mainline Pedialyte to stay hydrated, I was able to stick it out to the bitter end this year, and I'm happy I did. One of the last products that I sampled was the best new spirit I discovered,

from the tiny island nation of Mauritius off the southeast coast of Africa.

This unique product has a really special taste profile, arising from its manufacture from molasses instead of sugar cane and the fact that it is blended with handpicked Bourbon vanilla, fresh orange peel and orchids. Considering vanilla itself comes from an orchid, the strong floral components of the nose was not surprising, but flavors and mouth feel certainly were. The vanilla contributes a creamy component to the rum, which is delicious neat or very versatile in mixed drinks. The natural nutmeg-and-tropical spiciness raises The Pink Pigeon so far above the level of other spiced rums that I may just have to give up my Titans' game day tradition of "Breakfast with the Captain."

The Pink Pigeonʼs strikingly designed black bottle and signature white “crest” is accented by a delicate pink band around the bottleʼs neck, an understated homage to the tag placed around the ankles of the spectacular pink pigeons that fly above Mauritius. Or so I'm told. They could totally be making that part up.