Holmes Cay Unleashes Infinity: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Rum Release

Independent American rum bottler Holmes Cay is launching what’s being called a once-in-a-lifetime Infinity Edition, made possible by Main Rum Company, one of the greatest names in the rum industry and the largest supplier of rum to many companies.

The Main Rum Company in Liverpool, UK, had a single barrel that was used to store samples that were no longer needed as flavor references. This is where the idea for the Infinity Edition originated.

As a result, the cask eventually contained some historical samples that were distilled between 1976 and 2003, from 13 distilleries spread over 7 different nations, ranging in age from 20 to 47. The barrel was finally sealed in November 2003 and allowed to mature for more than 20 years before being released to Holmes Cay for bottling.

Official Notes on Tasting

The Holmes Cay Infinity edition has a nose that highlights oak interaction in the years of aging with rich notes of vanilla, caramel, and baking spices. Layers of vanilla, toffee, and overripe banana intertwine with a leathery backbone on the tongue. As leather and tobacco linger, the toffee sweetness fades, and the lingering finish becomes subtly dry.

Only 100 standard-sized cask strength (58% ABV; 116 Proof) bottles will be made from this extraordinarily rare single cask. Each bottle of Infinity is packaged in a special box with a booklet listing all the distilleries that contributed to its creation, as well as each rum brand. A limited quantity of 200-ml bottles will retail for US$300, while the standard size bottle will retail for US$1,500.

Guyana

Rums for Guyana’s Holmes Cay are sourced from Diamond Distillery, Uitvlugt Estate, and Enmore Estate. The brand explains that Uitvlugt Estate was formerly a rum distillery and sugar plant that shut down in 1999.

The brand made use of a historic metal column still that was more than a century old. Like its predecessor, Enmore Estate was formerly a sugar plant and rum distillery until closing in 1994. Enmore utilized what the company called “the only surviving wood-bodied continuous still in the world,” which was built in 1882. One of the biggest rum distilleries in the Caribbean, according to Holmes Cay, is Diamond Distillery.

Jamaica

Long Pond Distillery, Clarendon Distillery, and Hampden Estate were the suppliers of rums to the brand. Originating in the 1770s, Holmes Cay revealed that Hampden Estate is renowned for its “funky, high-ester rum.” Seagrams purchased Long Pond, a well-known producer of robust, full-bodied Jamaican rum, in the 1950s. The Long Pond sibling distillery, Clarendon, produces light- to mid-bodied molasses rums.

Guadeloupe

The Guadeloupean offerings are the distilleries of Montebello, Gardel, and Poisson. Established in 1870, Gardel Distillery was also a sugar plant. Even though the company stopped distilling in the 1990s, it continues to produce sugar today.

Gardel has rums that go all the way back to 1976. The 1930-era Montebello Distillery fell into disrepair during the 1960s. The refurbished distillery produces rums made with cane juice. One of the smallest distilleries, Poisson Distillery, features a 1998 component created from cane juice.

Trinidad

Rums were sourced from the Caroni Distillery via Trinidad Holmes Cay. The brand said that it formerly owned five Trinidad distilleries, but the Caroni Distillery is no longer in operation. It was founded in 1918 and focused on producing heavy and light rums. This is a molasses-based offering.

Barbados

West Indies Rum Distillery was the source of rums used by the brand. This 1983-founded business produces pot-distilled rums with a molasses base. According to Holmes Cay, the West Indies Rum Distillery was established to “bring column distilling to Barbados.”

Venezuela

Rums for Venezuela’s Holmes Cay came from the Pampero Distillery. Venezuelan rums under the same brand are usually milder in flavor, while Pampero Distillery offers molasses-based rums produced in column stills.

Brazil

The Epris Distillery provided the cachaça for the brand. The brand also claims that Epris Distillery is a “lost distillery.” The cachaça was first distilled in 1987 in São Roque, Brazil, using a stainless steel column still.

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Picture of the article, courtesy of Holmes Cay