The Only “Blonde” Rum on the Market Is a Caribbean Blend With a Hemingway Pedigree

“THE HOUSE was built on the highest part of the narrow tongue of land between the harbor and the open sea. It had lasted through three hurricanes and it was built solid as a ship. It was shaded by tall coconut palms, that were bent by the trade wind and on the ocean side you could walk out of the door and down the bluff across the white sand and into the Gulf Stream.” — Islands in the Stream 

This is the way Ernest Hemingway introduces the Bahamian island of Bimini in his novel, Islands in the Stream. 

Bimini was where Papa went to fish, where he went to box, where he went to live. It is a simple, pure chain of little islands, rimmed by mangroves, just blue water and casuarinas and quiet.  When you come to the island it’s no surprise that Hemingway would have loved it — the fish are abundant and there’s always the sense that adventure is in the air. 

There’s an authenticity to Bimini: it is direct, it is unadulterated. It is the real thing, the way Hemingway wrote. 

Rum wove its way into Hemingway’s writing, albeit sporadically; but it found its way deeply into his life, whether he was on his Pilar boat in Bimini or having its namesake daiquiris at El Floridita in Havana. If you visit his old home on the outskirts of Havana, you can see the bottle of rum still sitting on the table beside his sofa. 

It was no surprise more than a decade ago when the rum called Papa’s Pilar first launched, a rum inspired by Hemingway and owned in part by the Hemingway Estate (which uses its proceeds to fund conservation efforts). 

And for years, the rum has been one of the coolest brands on the market — always trying to cultivate a spirit of adventure, to be true to the spirit of its name. 

And the rum sustains, anchored by its headquarters in Key West and by expert distiller Ron Call’s masterful blending of specially selected expressions from countries in the Caribbean Basin. 

The rum that really started it all for Pilar is a rather unique one. It’s called Blonde, and it’s the only rum of its kind on the market (not to mention, one of the best values, too). 

It’s not gold, it’s not very aged, it’s somewhere in between and yet somewhere beyond, too. 

It’s lightly finished in a mix of bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry casks, with a yellow-gold color and a canteen-shaped bottle. 

For years, it’s occupied a singular place in the marketplace, but it’s also never wavered in its quality. 

What this all means is that the blonde, a blend of six different rums from the Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela and Florida, has no competitors, and no analogs.

So what’s it like?

On the nose, you get cane stalk, key lime, and even a hint of cucumber. The flavor profile is marked by coconut husk, lime, creme brûlée. This is a wonderfully smooth expression: it’s bold, but it’s also refreshing. 

What stands out is the balance, and the purity. It’s not ornate or over the top. It’s all of the things we love about Hemingway’s prose: it’s clean, it’s true. It’s essential. 

It’s also very, very good, whether you’re enjoying a cocktail (it’s great in a classic daiquiri — or a Hemingway version), savoring it neat, or sitting in your chair and looking out toward the white sand and the Gulf Stream. 

Rum Journal Review

94 Points