Post #626206 by CincyTikiCraig on Thu, Feb 23, 2012 8:24 PM

In this thread, Martiki (Martin Cate) confirmed that TV's rums are made by Cruzan. they are bought in bulk, minimally aged, and the 'dark' rums are heavily colored with caramel:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33767&forum=10

TV's rums are the same kind of dreck that you will find being sold in plastic 1.75ml bottles on the bottom shelf of every liquor store under names like Paramount, Barton, Heaven Hill, Ronrico, etc. Buyer beware. The quality of TV's rums (or the lack thereof) just proves what Beachbum Berry said about the TV Corp in a recent interview:

"You've previously said you felt Trader Vic's legacy has been 'crapped on'. Why and by whom?

I said that about Trader Vic's [the restaurant group] because of the drinks. They are falling down on the job. I understand that they are expensive to make, but Vic was a quality control fanatic and God help you if you turned in anything less than a perfect drink in any of his 20 restaurants across the world. Today I don't see that quality control, they are not using the rums he would specify. I was in Atlanta recently and you don't get aged Martinique rum, or aged Jamaican rum in your Mai Tai - instead they use cheap well rums. I don't see the same attention paid to his recipes, but the hotel prices haven't dropped. I have enormous respect for Vic but being honest it does bother me when I have a Trader Vic drink and it's not what it used to be."

http://www.diffordsguide.com/class-magazine/read-online/en/2011-12-20/page-3/tiki?seen=1

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2012-02-23 20:30 ]