Cuban rum doesn’t always face an easy situation: although it basically comes from a relatively strictly regulated rum country that produces according to reliable criteria, it often falls behind rums from Jamaica or those from long-closed distilleries in Trinidad in the perception of die-hard rum fans. Yet Cuban rum has a lot to offer! (provided test products)* Read More →

I already announced it in the last article, but today it’s finally time for another chapter in the world of agave spirits. Today, I am focusing on what is probably the best-known sub-category of Mezcal: tequila. To be precise, on two different tequilas, or rather two tequilas with different degrees of maturity. However, both come from the same distillery and under the same name: Los Arango Read More →

So, after a somewhat delayed “Dry January” due to my birthday, I’m continuing here today in the year 2024 (a little late, I know). You might probably not be able to tell from the proportion of articles about agave spirits here on the blog, but I really love mezcal and tequila. In fact, among the “great spirits”, they are the most recent personal revelation that has happened to me to date, even though they have now been around for more than a decade. And that’s why I’m delighted to be able to report on some spirits from precisely this spectrum here today and in the coming weeks (nevertheless with a critical impartiality). Today we start with a not quite everyday bottling. Read More →

And today it’s all about rum again. A rum from the Plantation Single Cask range, to be precise. And to be even more precise: it’s about the Plantation Single Cask El Salvador 2015, a rum about which there are perhaps a few things that need to be clarified in advance. Read More →

“Vive la France! Vive le Cornichon!” – Admittedly, this sequence of exclamations was probably rarely heard on the streets. But perhaps that will soon change in the vicinity of one bar or another after enjoying the gin we’re talking about today. Because the Citadelle Gin de France Vive le Cornichon is certainly illustrious. Read More →

There are some weird bottles out there where I know at first glance that I will love them. At the very least, they trigger a very delighted anticipation. Delighted because I’m really pleased that someone has made something so unusual in the first place – but of course, in the end it’s just an expectation that can be disappointed. Fortunately, that didn’t happen today – quite the opposite. Read More →

Guyana is certainly one of the most famous rum nations in the world. However, a small addition should be made here: among people who are at least a little bit interested in rum or know something about it. If you ask people who are completely clueless about the most famous rum nations in their opinion, you will probably get Jamaica and Cuba as the answer. But if you decide to delve a little deeper into the subject, it doesn’t really take long before you come across the term Demerara rum. Read More →

If you look around the bar world, there are of course numerous classics among the ingredients. Whether you’re thinking of red Italian bitter liqueur, certain French elderflower liqueurs or intense monastery liqueurs that are no longer so easily available: in all of these categories, there is one world-famous brand that basically everyone knows and it’s hard to imagine (bar) life without it. However, the fact that I have now listed three liqueurs is more of a coincidence – even though today will also be about a liqueur. Read More →

Today I would like to actually not lose many words, but simply offer a stage to a cocktail, which I personally absolutely love, but which hardly anyone knows. In its simplicity, the drink is not only quick to make, it is above all also an absolute firework of intense, herbal, bitter and smoky flavors. It has it all. And it comes from a man to whom I basically owe my introduction to the world of cocktails. Read More →

“No story. Just whisky.” Anyone who describes his water of life like that on the bottle label definitely has my attention. Sure, stories, legends and anecdotes all have their places in the whisky world, but you don’t want all of them as an end consumer, especially if it’s just made-up marketing nonsense. And if you take a closer look at today’s bottle, you’ll find not only a wink, but also a real transparency offensive. But first things first. (provided test product*) Read More →

The name Grallet Dupic may not immediately ring a bell with every spirits enthusiast. It is a traditional fruit distillery from the French region of Lorraine, whose origins date back to 1890. However, those who are particularly interested in mirabelle Eau de Vies will likely have already noticed the name, since the distillery has been famous for that particular type of spirit for a long time. But when you read the name of the village Rozelieures, where the distillery is located, there will certainly be a little more attention: because under this name they publish not only fruit Eau de Vies, but also single malt whiskys for quite some time. Read More →

As already explained here some time ago, life is currently presenting me with certain challenges that are very much to the detriment of my usual blog activity. In this respect, I currently can’t (for a not yet quite foreseeable time) continue to offer the usual publication frequency. Nevertheless, today I have once again found some time to devote myself to a very interesting bottling: The Ferrand Cognac 10 Générations Double Matured in Port Cask. Read More →

Japanese whiskies are surrounded by a nimbus of high quality. The country’s typical penchant for detail perfectionism has brought numerous whiskies into the focus of the global whisky community over the past 15 years and established their enduring reputation. And I, too, can’t help but have certain expectations when I hold a Japanese whisky in my hands. So it is again today. Read More →

For health reasons, I have decided to significantly reduce the rate of newly published articles here. Today, however, it is once again time for a new article.

In recent years, the brand FRC has been able to successfully draw attention to itself in the rum segment. Who is a little interested in the rum market or generally always curious to look for new releases, should at least have come across this abbreviation. The “Flensburg Rum Company” is in turn a brand of Oldman Spirits GmbH from Jübeck, which in turn is in close cooperation with Kirsch Import and also sells products of the brand. I also cherish memories full of great enthusiasm for some bottlings of the brand FRC. Read More →

The last weeks and months were not really easy for me, which is also reflected in the frequency of published articles here. Sometimes there are simply occurrences in life when a few things change and smaller upheavals sometimes grow into bigger changes than one originally assumed. But I don’t want to be too abstract here, because there is no general reason to worry. However, at the moment I’m forced to put the blog activity on the back burner and accordingly I can’t offer the frequency of publications I’m used to during the last years. But that should not stop me today from introducing a very fantastic drink here. Read More →

Fruit liqueurs are, of course, an indispensable part of the bar world. Even in the recipe collections of the 19th century, references to such liqueurs appear again and again, and today’s market also has a lot to offer in this matter. It is therefore all the more interesting to take a closer look at newcomers and see what they have to offer in terms of taste or concept. Read More →

It wasn’t that long ago when I wrote about the Rest & Be Thankful Monymusk 2012, a really solid Jamaican rum with extremely fair value for money. Those who read or even have read the linked article will know that this is a blend of 24 barrels of pot still rums blended from Clarendon Distillery with the distillery’s own MDR Marque. Today I now have another Rest & Be Thankful in front of me, but with a few differences. Read More →

Unfortunately, the last few weeks have been really hard to get used to. First it was Covid, then for the first time quite serious fatigue problems afterwards and over weeks constantly changing “on-off infections”. Definitely not a good time for alcohol and therefore not for blogging here. Nevertheless, it should finally go on again today. And for this I have chosen an almost nostalgic topic. Because when I think of Plantation Pineapple Stiggins’ Fancy Original Dark, I go back to the early days of Galumbi – Drinks & More – more than six years ago. Back then, I described and tasted the pineapple-infused rum and also created an Old Fashioned called Cofresí, which focused on the classic interplay of pineapple and coconut. Today, I’m pleased to follow up on that article. Read More →

It was not quite a year ago that I wrote about two interesting gin bottlings from the LoneWolf range here on the blog. In addition to the Scottish answer to Italian Limoncello, the LoneWolf Cloudy Lemon Gin, I also presented the rather unusual LoneWolf Chilli & Lime Gin. Unusual it remains today, but thereby also exotic. Read More →

After having it made through my second Covid19 infection which lead to a while of alcoholic abstinence, I am particularly looking forward to today’s article, because there are some very promising things coming together, on which I am accordingly also incredibly excited. It’s about tequila (which I appreciate very much), about two Reposados exactly (which is basically my favorite category), one of them even bottled with a proud abv of 53% (a thing you don’t meet so often with tequila) and on top of that both have been matured in very exciting and for me in this context also new types of casks. Read More →

It has been quite a while now since I first came into contact with a rum from Belize. It was an 11-year-old Compagnie des Indes Rum with a proud abv of 66% that convinced me immediately. Since then, I have only once or twice ever had a rum from Belize in my glass and must confess that despite this very successful initial moment, I have not pursued the whole topic as intensively as I could have. All the more I am pleased to be able to taste today once again a liquid greeting from the Central American Caribbean state. Read More →

What do Godzilla and the yuzu fruit have in common? Of course, both have become famous as Japanese cultural exports. And both can claim a massive sphere of influence: While Godzilla revolutionized monster movies and flattened entire cities, the juice of the yuzu fruit has permanently changed the cocktail world and strikes impressively at the taste receptors. But why am I talking such supposed nonsense here? Exactly, because today we are talking about Yuzilla! Read More →

The name Christian Drouin should be familiar in particular to lovers of the French apple brandy Calvados. In Normandy in the Département of Calvados, the Drouin family produces the famous apple brandy in third generation in its distillery, which is located fairly centrally between the two larger cities of Rouen and Caen, somewhat southwest of Honfleur. While Christian Drouin senior founded the business and Christian Drouin junior continued it and internationalized it, in 2004 Guillaume Drouin also joined the business, which he has also managed since 2013. Read More →

After a small summer break, its time to start blogging today – so to speak, Galumbi – Drinks & More starts into the next season. And while most people probably think of football when they hear the word “season”, different types of fruit are also in season, of course, which brings us (more or less) elegantly to the heart of today’s topic: It is about eau-de-vies respectively Brände and Geiste (in German). More precisely: about two premium Brände and a premium Geist from the house Scheibel. Read More →

For those who are a little more familiar with Scotch whisky, the name Mark Reynier will certainly mean something. The former CEO of the Scottish Bruichladdich distillery has not only made a name for himself by rescuing the aforementioned distillery, but has also proven himself to be a successful innovator with the programmatic reorientation of Bruichladdich. In this respect, it is of course worth taking a closer look at what else Mark Reynier is doing at the moment. Read More →

Mexican agave spirits are a recurring topic when it comes to bar trends and forecasts. However, a comparable breakthrough, as it was granted to Tequila, Mezcal and Co. in the USA during the last decade (and partly also in hotspots such as London) has not yet been achieved in continental Europe. Of course, this is partly due to the still dubious reputation of the party shot flanked with salt and lemon, but perhaps also to the still not quite competitive bar presence compared to gin, whisky or, of course, vodka. With this in mind, the subject of today’s article is a very pleasing and exciting one, as it is all about spreading diversity. Read More →