Introducing Hoarding Alert, a new weekly feature where our drinks columnist, Christine Sismondo, lets you know what’s worth stocking up on at the LCBO. This week: get your ration of a rare rum.
In Ontario, you have to be in the know about what’s in stock at LCBO, or you might just miss out on some of the hidden gems at the old liquor depot. To that end, this feature is geared at those who like to stockpile—much like the way folks used to hoard toilet paper in Communist Russia. Sometimes the products we’ll feature are on the way in; other times, on the way out. Either way, blink and you might miss ‘em.
Fitting to start the column with a Cuban product, then: Havana Club’s Seleccion de Maestros. We’re pretty certain this is the same drink we had a couple of years ago, back when it was called Havana Club Cuban Barrel Proof and that this new packaging is just an attempt to confuse already muddled brains. Whatever the case, it was good then and it’s good now. Add to that the fact that it comes in a snazzy case that retains the faint aroma of Cuban cigars and it’s a pretty good deal for $59.95. That may sound like a lot for a rum, but it’s a refined sipper that would round out an after-dinner Cohiba better than a lot of single malts we were formerly friends with. There’s still fairly ample stock in the west end (like, Mississauga) but the supply is dwindling.
