Old New Orleans Rum

It was a close call. When 12 feet of Hurricane Katrina’s murky floodwaters surged through Celebration Distillation, the company lost only one oak barrel of its Ten Year Special Edition Old New Orleans Rum. Enough for 720 bottles of the aged, unfiltered liquor survived the hurricane, along with the rest of the cache within the 9th Ward distillery famed Crescent City artist James Michalopoulos founded with some musician friends in 1995. Now, the special edition rum is only available direct or from the bar at Emeril’s in Las Vegas, if you happen in be on the Strip.

Since reopening in June 2006, the distillery has resumed production of its Crystal white rum, Cajun Spice rum and Amber, which garnered the 2007 American Distilling Institute Gold Medal for Aged Rum. No matter what version you prefer, the roux for this stuff is simple and all natural: Louisiana sugarcane molasses, yeast and water.

Each bottle is itself a work of art. The brand labels are backed with the image of a Michalopoulos painting. Rainbow bands of color bend and swirl through the caramel-shaded rum until you reach the end of the bottle and the full artwork is revealed.

Old New Orleans Rum is smooth and warm, and like those hand-selected oak barrels and the 9th Ward folks that survived Katrina, its strength and resilience is something worth celebrating. Available at several Baton Rouge locations including The Chimes, Churchill’s, Martin’s Wine Cellar and Albertsons. neworleansrum.com