We distilled this Private Barrel of “Hogo” style rum in collaboration with Doc Parks who at the time was in the midst of planning and building out a new Tiki Bar in San Francisco. A year later Pagan Idol was born.

What is “Hogo?”

Long before the Bacardi family redefined Caribbean rum with large industrial column stills and clean, light flavored, heavily filtered rum, small village distilleries spread throughout the Caribbean Islands produced a rich, heavy, fruity and densely flavored rum that was far from consistent from one producer to the next, but was big on character and individuality.

The best of these rums came to be known as haut goût—high taste, or the slang word “Hogo.” The term came from the french phrase that was used to describe the character in that forms in dry aged meat or cheese. This funky, dense and extremely flavorful rum style was highly prized… when done right.

What gives this rum its “Hogo”?

We started with the same 100% Grade-A Georgia Black Strap Molasses that we use in our standard rum, but we pushed the fermentation to a full 2 weeks as opposed to 9-10 days. This long slow fermentation allows natural conversion of sugars to alcohol without added yeast nutrients. It also allows for microbial activity that produces acids in the later stages of fermentation, which through distillation and years of barrel aging and interaction with the air, time and wood, become flavorful esters that give the rum its Hogo or funk. Furthermore, we distilled this barrel in one long slow pass on our pot still, rather than our more typical double distillation, meaning it is distilled directly off the molasses and lees contributing even more flavorful acid production.

We distilled this barrel on Halloween day, 2015. We then aged it for 2 years in a new 200L charred American oak cask. Most of the barrel went to Pagan Idol, but we held onto a few cases for special folks.

Get some of this funk while supplies last!