Meeting Patrick Hemingway in Key West.

     It was one of the honors of my life to have been able to meet Patrick Hemingway, middle son of Ernest Hemingway here in Key West last Friday night.   Talking with him and enjoying some of the stories of Cuba and the memories of his father were just heart warming.  He is now in his eighty's and a memory as sharp as though everything had happened just yesterday.   

     He related some of the stories of summers in Cuba at Finca Vigia, the Hemingway home in San Francisco de Paula outside of Havana.   He told of his first camera a Rolliflex he received from his father that he was given to his father when he went to China with his third wife Martha Gellhorn, who was on assignment for Collier's Magazine. 



Ernest, Patrick (left) and Gregory at Finca Vigia

     Patrick was born June 28, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, but traveled to Europe, Wyoming and Idaho during his childhood, though his permanent residence was Key West, Florida.   After his parents divorced, he would visit his father at Finca Vigia in Cuba quite often.  The start of World War II found Patrick accompanying his father on improvised attack missions in the Gulf of Mexico on his father's boat Pilar.

    Patrick Spent 25 years in Africa as a safari guide and teacher at the College of Wildlife Management in Tanzania. 

     Patrick edited his father's last book about Africa and published it in 1999.  The book was one of fact and fiction from an East African expedition Ernest and Martha went on during 1953 -54.   Toward the end of the trip Ernest was in two successive plane crashes in which he was reported dead.  Ernest was said to have read about his death in the newspaper when he wandered out of the jungle.    Patrick took the 800 pages of the unfinished manuscript and edited it down to about half the size and published "True at First Light".   Patrick was more than qualified to do the final editing for he had been present through most of the safari.


     Today Patrick lives in Bozeman, Montana, where he has been his residence since 1975.  There he oversees the Ernest Hemingway Intellectual Properties and the Hemingway Foundation.

    Papa's Pilar Rum is the latest of the projects he has been involved in and seems to thrive on the active life he still leads. ;o) 
    

An Incredible Rum with an Incredible Story

     JoAnn Elardo of Cape Coral, Florida, came up with an idea for making rum in the center of Florida using the resources of her surroundings.   Today JoAnn Elardo and her associate Chris Spiro have the distillery and a  bright Turquoise colored building on Pine Island Road between Nicolas Parkway and Santa Barbara Blvd. that jumps off of the landscape.   From this little building comes an award winning silver rum that is pure Florida.

     Wicked Dolphin is an artisan hand crafted rum.   Made in a 660 gallon pot still from 100% Florida Sugar Cane purchased from local farms.   Barrel aged and blended on site at the family owned and operated distillery in Cape Coral, Florida for the highest quality.     The "Silver Rum" as a bit of a straw color that comes from the barrel aging, and has not been filtered out.  Filtering will remove the color, but it also removes some of the flavor of the barrels.   

     Wicked Dolphin won a best in class at the American Distilling Institute spirit competition and a gold medal at the 2013 Miami Rum Renaissance competition.   Winning medals in the first two competitions tells a lot about the quality and the process that is being followed by the team.

   There was a legal issue posed by a prohibition era law in the state of Florida preventing the sale of rum where it was produced.   The had a beautiful building and you couldn't even tour the distillery, plus you could not buy the rum on site.  This posed a serious problem for the success of the business.  Ms. Elardo said "Everybody has distillery tours, if you go to Colorado, New York, or even North Carolina it didn't make sense that Florida didn't have those tours"  The Wicked Dolphin team went about to change the law.  According to JoAnn Elardo, "it was a long process and a lot of times discouraging", but worth while when Bill 347 passed unanimously.    Now the people cat tour and taste the product before they purchase it.

The project is headed straight for success and has already proven itself with two prestigious awards for their Wicked Dolphin Rum.  This looks to be a new Florida Distillery that has the talent and the means for growth and quality Florida based rums.  ;o)

Drifting from Duck Key to Fish Hawk Key

Duck Key

White Egret

     It worked, I was able to get out and enjoy a day on the water.  I turned off the motor upon arriving at Duck Key just north and east of Key West and drifted to the north toward Fish Hawk Key.  The partly cloudy skies and the warm sun made for a fabulous day of relaxation.   Drifting across the 6" to 12" deep water gives you a chance to watch the sea life moving in and out of the sea grasses as well as watching the skies and mangroves for very interesting bird life.     The many trips I have made out into the keys around Key West, it never gets boring or even repetitive.  There is always something new out there in front of you.

    This day found an Egret perched in the top of a mangrove near Fish Hawk Key, along with several Cormorant "Condos".        The Egret sat there and watched as we approached and remained there watching us as we watched him.   Finally when we drifted up to about forty of yards away off he went.    There were several Cormorants there in the same mangrove key.

Cormorants drying their wings.

     The approach to Fish Hawk Key  got our attention as a pair of Osprey appeared over the mangroves that provide shelter and a nesting ground for the large and beautiful birds.   The pair would alternately circle us and let us know they knew we were there.   We continued to drift past hem and they headed back to their nest just in from the edge of the water.    As we continued drifting past Fish Hawk Key toward Jewfish Basin, I spotted a Frigate Bird making high circles overhead.   The Frigate is a great fish catcher, and can be found circling above schools of fish.

   All in all quite a wonderful day out on the water, and I look forward to getting out there more often now that summer is approaching and things will be slowing down here in Key West.  ;o)

Monday Monday

   The start of another week here in Key West.   The weather has finally turned summer like and the winds are showing signs of calming.   It has mad me crazy not being able to head out to the remote keys and drift this year.   My days off have been filled with "honey do's", "boat do's" and choppy seas here of late.   I'm up early today so I can finish my Rum Bar orders and get the blog posted then have a play day today.   

     There  are no shortage of things to see or places to head out on the water and see here in the keys, but just getting my act together in time to head out and be able to get back before dark can be the problem.  Living on "island time" is great, but it can be a "bitch" as well when you are trying to get everything coordinated to go somewhere.  

     The one thing I know is that I am taking my flask of rum and headed out on the water today and going somewhere that will allow me to loose this pasty white skin that I'm wearing these days.   It is in the mid 80's today and there is no excuse for sitting at home as of right now anyway.  

   Only a few more things to get done, and away I go somewhere fun, peaceful and quiet just drifting through the shallows and shooting away with my camera in the sunshine.   ;o)

Friday Night Sunset in Key West

    Sunset is always an event here in Key West, Friday Night was no exception.  Mother Nature painted her beauty and showered some fabulous color in Wisteria as the sun dropped behind.

It is Official Papa's Pilar National Debut in Key West

     It was my pleasure to attend the Papa's Pilar National Debut Event on Sunset Pier in Key West last evening.   It was a real gala event with themed cuisine and cocktails celebrating the adventures and life of Ernest Hemingway.   The new line of rums that are made with the robust taste with the great adventurer in mind.  The Blonde and the Dark rums are absolutely exquisite and deserve your time to taste them.


     The event centered around industry people getting to know about these fine rums and the programs that it supports.   The rum is fully supported by the Hemingway family with their royalties from the project being given to the Hemingway Foundation and distributed to it's many Charities.   Last night there was a check in the amount of $30,000.00 given to the International Game Fish Association, one of the foundation charities and an association that was founded by Ernest Hemingway to protect, further the needs of and keep the records of international fishing.


     The entire team that made the project possible was in attendance for the event and they were having a great time seeing the project officially out in the limelight.   This has been a nearly seven year project that was finally debuted here in Key West, a fitting place considering the tie with the Hemingway family and the famed 38 foot fishing yacht called Pilar.  

    The coordinating of the Hemingway family, the rum and getting everything just right to have such a great product with so much prestige attached was a monumental project.    On hand for the event were Patrick Hemingway, Ernest's middle son, his wife Carol and John Hemingway, son of Greg Hemingway and Ernest's grandson.   The combination of great rum and a very famous family makes for a really fun event.   This is a rum that I feel will be around for a long time, they are in the process of setting up a new plant here in Key West where the Solera aging and blending operation will be conducted in the very near future.  Key West is a natural tie for the entire program, considering the tie with rum, Ernest Hemingway, and of course Pilar who's registry is still Key West.  

     It was a real honor for me to have some time to talk with Patrick Hemingway last evening about some of the things that I had the pleasure of visiting in San Francisco de Paula and Havana last fall.   Patrick's memories of the many adventures of and with his father are absolutely amazing to listen to.  His memory of the places in Cuba, Bimini, and Key West as well as all over Africa are amazing.  He told of a Rolliflex Camera that was given to his father when he went to China just before WWII that he received as his first camera ass a child and how he enjoyed photography.   I would love to be able to spend more time with him just to further the knowledge of Ernest and the stories of Patrick who is quite the protege of Ernest.  Patrick shares the love of fishing and hunting with his father as well as a love of all the exciting places and things he and his father shared.

     I would like to thank all of the people from the Papa's Pilar  organization for the invite to the debut, and best wishes for a very successful fun with these wonderful rums.  ;o)

Kenny's Blue Chair Bay Rum Has Arrived at The Rum Bar

     The long awaited rum from Kenny Chesney has finally arrived at the Rum Bar.  We have gotten the White and the Coconut so far, the Coconut Spiced was not yet in stock yet at Republic National.  Hopefully it will be in for next weeks order.  

    The Kenny Chesney fans are literally eating this rum up.  The fans are mixing it with several different juices and sodas, but they are liking these rums.   The coconut is of a very sweet nature and very aromatic, you can smell the sweet coconut frosting like airs from across the room.




     The white rum is a classic Bajan style rum, this is a good mixer that will make you feel right at home with Kenny on the beaches of the Caribbean.   This is for the true pirate that likes the fun beach life and a rum cocktail on the beach or in your back yard a sunset.