Transcontinental Rum Line is the creation of a partnership between venerable French independent bottler La Maison du Whisky and Velier, an Italy-based Rum innovator that developed its own Caribbean Rum line in the 1980s. Established in 2017, the project is inspired by the historic, cross-equatorial journeys made by Rum barrels from individual islands to the rest of the world during the spirit’s golden age, at a time when Rum was a major commodity. To date, TCRL has released over 30 limited edition bottlings and created quite a stir among Rum aficionados. Having recently tasted the latest releases, we are delighted to confirm the hype is justified.

La Maison du Whisky was founded in 1956 and quickly established itself as an important and influential Whisky importer and bottler. In fact, founder Georges Bénitah was one of the original importers of Scotch Whisky into France. Naturally, since that time the business has (very successfully) diversified into other spirits. When it came to revamping their Rum offering, they turned to category pioneer and specialist Luca Gargano at Velier.

Through an intensive selection process, Luca Gargano and Thierry Bénitah carefully select only the finest barrels they believe warrant the small-batch nature of their product. Less than 10 casks are chosen for each Rum, so batches rarely exceed 2000 bottles.

The inspiration for Transcontinental Rum Line lay in the age-old tradition of Island Rum being purchased in its youth and transported and matured on the European continent. The bottlers point out that continental-aged rums traditionally display richer and sweeter characters than the more ester-forward island expressions. So, the idea is that a combination of these two aging methods will produce something unique. The Rums complete their aging at LMDW’s facility in Cognac.

Quality aside, one of the brand’s founding pillars is a level of transparency and authenticity often found lacking. In bold type, each label details the Rum’s source, the year of distillation, the production method (by way of the Velier classification), where and for how long the spirit was matured, and the order in which the batch was bottled.

Currently, we ship four exceptional vintage Rums originating from Panama, Jamaica, Fiji and Australia, plus two Caribbean-aged rums, one golden from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, and an outrageous high-ester Agricole-style white Rum from Haiti and Jamaica. Quantities are very limited, so please get in touch with your rep if you would like more information. It has been said that Rum is less of a drink and more a way of life. Tasting these spirits, we wonder who wouldn’t mind a piece of that?