Drink Review: Savîle Premium Rumtini

It's kinda funny. I'm a wine guy first and a beer guy second. Not much of a spirits guy or mixed-drinks-slash-cocktail guy. However, I'm not really all that interested in actually learning about beer. I dabble with educating myself on it. Yet the technical stuff and the history of spirits fascinates me, and I can appreciate the art of mixology even if I'd prefer a Merlot or a Marzen over a Manhattan.

But this really isn't mixology, is it? This is a pre-mixed drink. It's already made for you within the bottle that you buy. Those usually aren't all that good, right? Usually. Because as mixology is still going strong in its comeback, we're starting to see quality pre-mixed drinks being produced. They use the real ingredients instead of crappy knockoff flavors, and they have the alcohol strength of a real, hard drink. One example is Bully Boy Old Fashioned. It's mind blowingly fantastic.

Does this sound familiar? It should because box wine has been blazing the same path of quality elevation for a few years now. Almaden and Chi-Chi's aren't good enough. People aren't settling for crap products anymore, especially the workaholic, attention-to-detail consumer that is the Millennial generation.

IS THIS TROPICAL?

Savîle was concocted by a woman named Dee Johnson, also known as Dee Tutt. She was having a get-together with friends back in 1983 and wanted to prepare something special for her guests. Specifically, she wanted to make a drink that took them all to the Caribbean. She ended up with a delicious cocktail made from mixed tropical fruits and dark rum, and everybody loved it. Two years later, after figuring she could actually do better, she began experimenting to improve it. A little bit less of this, a little bit more of this. After thirty years of trial and error, this is what she believes is its finest form. And it's so good that it's being bottled and sold.

And I'm gonna drink it. There's a 14% ABV, so it's not going to get you shit faced if you drink the whole thing but it'll get you drunk enough. It says shake well so I better do that. I'm good at shaking things up but usually not intentionally. It says serve over ice so I've got me a rock glass and ice.

It's pineapple juice in color, it smells like tropical fruits, and tastes like tropical fruits. Pineapples, mangos, kiwi, lemon, etc. Or so I can only guess. And, yes, you do taste the dark rum. It's very juicy, not watery at all, and has a bright acidity and a candy-like finish. I mean, what else do you really want me to say? It's not a Pinot Noir where I can wax poetic all day about it. This is just a damn good pre-mixed drink and I would have no problem spending the asking price of $25 for it.

Well done, Dee. Congratulations on all that hard work paying off.