Papa’s Pilar Rum has unveiled the rarest offering in the brand’s history, Ernest. Launching on ‘Papa’ Hemingway’s birthday, July 21, the limited-edition rum is said to exemplify “the brand’s decade-long commitment to creating premium, high-quality rums with innovation at the forefront.”
Ernest is a blend of hand-selected rums sourced from countries in South and Central America by 7th Generation Master Distiller Ron Call. The blended rums were then put into new, heavy toasted American Oak barrels made of new 36-month old air-dried staves, and then double finished in both Cognac and Armagnac casks. The end result is a 100-proof rum with aromas of roses, violets, hazelnuts, and burnt citrus peel. The palate offers notes of burnt citrus peel, turned earth, toasted hazelnut, green tea, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla bean, and dark chocolate. The long and complex finish delivers notes of green tea, vanilla bean and burnt citrus.
“With each new release, we prioritize showcasing our high-quality rums and for Ernest, we really wanted to push the envelope on what the category has been seen before,” said Call. “This is what led to our decision to double finish the rum in new heavy-toasted American White Oak barrels made of 36-month air-dried staves, a process that enhances the deep natural vanilla and slight cocoa notes that carry over into our rum and create an extraordinary sensory experience.”
The bottle for Ernest is inspired by the circular decanter seen in a photo of Hemingway taken circa 1940 at Finca Vigia, the novelist’s home located in Cuba just southeast of Havana, most well known as the location where he wrote portions of his famed novels “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” The crystal decanter bottle was designed to double as a collector’s piece, coming encased in a teal display box embossed with golden foil, wood siding, cream stitching, and gold riveted piping. When opened it reveals a removable leather valet to display the bottle filled with golden rum and marked with Hemingway’s signature, with the image of Hemingway at Finca Vigia as its backdrop. The box also includes a crystal decanter top made to replace the wood and gold ‘travel cork.’ Papa’s Pilar consulted with Hemingway historian, author, and friend Philip Greene to ensure the decanter-style bottle was historically accurate and identical to Hemingway’s.
“Since we founded Papa’s Pilar ten years ago, we have aimed to be at the cutting edge of innovation in both the rum category and the ultra-premium spirits industry as a whole,” said Papa’s Pilar’s founder and CEO, Steve Groth. “Ernest shows how we are letting our expert craftsman do what they do best and lead the way with limited run, curated, collectable releases. We have found that driving our business through the lens of craftsmanship has been key to truly exceptional results.”
Only 400 bottles of Papa’s Pilar Ernest were created and it’s priced at $599. It will be available to purchase through Papa’s Pilar’s official website starting on July 21.
In March, Papa’s Pilar added a Rye-Finished Rum to its portfolio.