My Cruise Adventures

Grand Cayman

Ever the optimist, I showed up for breakfast with my sunglasses. However, the weather was cloudy, windy, and chilly. My son was scheduled for our only ship's excursion, to Stingray City. He took my camera with underwater case and got some good photos.

My mission was more mundane. I was looking for a new rum, named 7 Fathoms. Someone determined that, when rum was shipped to England in the days of sailing ships, the rum tasted better in England than it did when the voyage started in the Caribbean. He figured that the motion of the ocean made the rum interact with the oaken casks, enhancing its taste. With that theory in mind, he sunk casks of rum off the coast and left them for some time. The rum had just become available for sale, and my task was to buy some. After wandering around for a while, we found a bar that was attached to the 7 Fathoms distillery.

When you arrive at the tender pier, turn left and go about 3 blocks. Look for a bar named Hammerheads BrewPub. Besides drinks, they also offer food and an awesome view of your ship.

They sold the rum there, both as a drink and in bottles. We purchased two bottles - I would have bought a case but each bottle was $40. They also offered distillery tours, so I left Theresa at the bar with my laptop (they also had free wifi) and went to the distillery.

I was the only one on this tour, and the guide was the distiller.

Despite it being a small boutique distillery, the tour and explanations took 45 minutes. I asked the distiller about his qualifications. He had a Bachelor's degree in brewing from the University of Munich, and took his Masters in distilling in Scotland - to me that seems a perfect combination. He was kind enough to sign the bottles too. Sadly, it is only available in Grand Cayman and the UK.