The Pineapple Rum Revival Comes To Manchester

promotion

BLESS you red-faced Reverend Stiggins. Partial to a warm, sugary tot or three of pineapple rum despite your pledges of abstinence. And if you weren’t one of the more memorable characters in Dickens’ Pickwick Papers… well, your legacy makes the most delicious Daiquiri we’ve ever sampled. 

Most of them have a story; few as good as Stiggins’ Fancy

Don’t believe us? Taste for yourself. The recently released Plantation Pineapple Stiggins’ Fancy 1824 Recipe Rum has found a home in two sibling Manchester bars – Liars Club and Cane & Grain. They are among only 20 UK establishments (plus ten across Europe) who have been chosen to become members of the elite Plantation “Pineapple Society” and are allowed to stock this unique tipple. Just 6,000 bottles are available in Britain.

Part of the deal is that they offer that signature Daiquiri. At £7.50 a go (compared with the standard Bacardi-based version at 50p cheaper), it’s a tangy, toothsome snip. 

“Making a Daiquiri is the equivalent of a chef getting a poached egg just right. It’s the ultimate bartender test. Sounds simple – rum, lime juice, sugar but get one component out of synch and it’s ruined,’’ says Tiki-meister Lyndon Higginson, who runs The Liar’s Club, refuge for every quality rum under the Caribbean sun.

Most of them have a story; few as good as Stiggins’ Fancy, even without the ghost of Charles Dickens. Lyndon explains the history as we sip it neat (there’s a huge pineapple tingle but not a hint of cloying sweetness).

This pineapple rum revival came about when cocktail historian David Wondrich challenged his friend, Alexandre Gabriel, owner of Maison Ferrand, to bring Reverend Stiggins’ favourite back to life using 19th century recipes.

Rum from a Cognac house in South West France? Of course. Part of a mould-breaking transformation of the company’s fortunes that also encompasses remarkable gins as well as brandies. Gabriel was already buying in parcels of amazing rum from the Caribbean for his Plantation label. Next step – find the perfect pineapple with the aromatic, oil-packed rind that is key to the whole process. The ‘winner’ was the Victoria, a variety renowned as being one of the sweetest and most fragrant.

The fruit is hand-peeled and the rind is macerated in Plantation 3 Stars White Rum for a week before distilling in pot stills. Meanwhile, the flesh is infused in Plantation Original Dark Rum for three months, at which point both infusions are combined and put in casks for a further three months. 

Result – beyond delicious. Tropical fruit, cloves, a hint of smoke. 40 per cent ABV. We suggest you get down to Cane & Grain and The Liars Club before precious stocks run out.

The Liars Club, 9A Back Bridge St, Manchester M3 2PB / Cane & Grain, 49-51 Thomas Street, Manchester M4 1NA.