Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.
That’s right, it’s September 19, which means it is International Talk Like a Pirate Day once again. In fact, it is the 10th annual Talk Like a Pirate Day, which was brought to the world's attention by a Dave Barry column published a decade ago and which has been gaining followers ever since.
And a fine idea it is, too. A world full of people walking around and saying things like “Arrrrrrrrr!” and “Avast, ye ill-bred offspring of a sea hag and a kipper” would certainly be an interesting state of affairs, and, more to the point, we’d all be standing around drinking rum.
White rum is excellent as a mixer, especially in a classic daiquiri. (A cocktail I’ve been drinking all summer: 2 ounces white rum, 1 teaspoon sugar, juice from one-half of a juicy lime; dissolve sugar in lime juice, add rum, shake over ice, serve up. Avoid blenders.) As with margaritas and tequila, the quality of the spirit does make a huge difference in the cocktail. Then there are dark, aged rums, which are strangely underpriced compared to single malt Scotch, say, and ideal served neat, or with a single ice cube.
Here are some top choices:
Plantation 3 Stars White ($25/1 liter)
The first white rum from a company that made its name with long-aged rums from a range of sources, this lightly fruity white rum is ideal in a daiquiri—if ye can ignore the fact that it was filtered through the bones of dead men. Of course.
Brugal Especial Extra Dry ($20)
There’s a light vanilla note from the oak barrels it was aged in, but overall this is a clean, appealingly straightforward rum, excellent for a rum punch or similar.
Flor de Caña Extra Dry White 4-Year-Old ($15)
A little more substance than the Brugal and a touch of that appealing, somewhat undefinable sugarcane funk (a good thing) make this rum another good daiquiri option. Go buy a bottle, then change your Facebook language settings to “English (Pirate).” Seriously: You can do this.
Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 ($40)
From Guatemala rather than the islands, this is one of the best sipping rums out there - luscious and dark, with complex aromas of citrus peel, toffee and vanilla, full-bodied and slightly sweet. The “23,” by the way, does not mean that it’s 23 years old; instead it’s a blend of rums that are six to 23 years old.
Pyrat Rum XO Reserve ($25)
First, this amber-colored blend of aged rums (up to 15 years old) is impressively complex, with citrus and honey notes and a long finish. Second, it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day. I mean, come on—what are you going to drink instead? Law Abiding Citizen Rum? Arrrrrrr.
More from Food & Wine
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Rum Cocktail Recipes
Ultimate Tailgating Guide
Previously - Vintage punch recipes
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And what about the other 364 days?
Shiver me timbers I near on forgot to celebrate the day. A rousing AVAST me Hearties to all you scurvy dogs
After you get drunk your'e gonna need to get rid of your grog.Check out pointandpee.net
Aye, the rum..... AAARRRgggggghhhhhhhhh
Well, even people who don't drink like to Arrrrrrrg! every now and then!
Arrrr. Talking like a pirate is stupid. Oops guess I'm stupid.
and now me hearties take heed these wise pirate words...
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. H. L. Mencken
Arrrgghh, you be right thar matey....argggghhh
This really drives me nuts – YAAAR! Now...off to celebrate by illegally copying some movies!
oh damn really lol have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAARRRRRGGGH!!! I AM COOOL!!!
ARRRRRGHH!!!
Q: What's a pirate's favorite color?
A: CHAAAARRRRGH-troooose!
You know why pirates be lousy on Wheel of Fortune? They only be asking for ARRRs and AYEs!
The highest bounty on any pirate ever be 2 dollars. Why? Because they be buck-an-ears!
Sailor Jerrys', 92 proof, straight up smooth! Start the day with Sailors and OJ, after noon switch to Sailors and coke, at five it's Sailors straight up with a twist of orange. Afater 7:30 shood yer feeel like one or sumother like drinkee , whooo, whtsamater with thes typping st5uuff?
A pirate enters the Men's Room, steps up to a urinal, opens his fly and out pops a steering wheel. The guys at the other urinals can't help but notice.
"Whoa," one says. "You have a steering wheel instead of a wang?!"
"Aye," says the pirate. "It's drivin' me nuts!"
Arrrgh, tis a shame ye scallywags n bilge rats act a foole on such a fine day, don't be blamin the ones what got the swag and woobles and shakes just becasue ye r too "cool" to enjoy the brew and grog..............
Another BS made-up day so that people can spend money.
Off to the plank with yeeee!!
Aaarr! Where ye' be floating about that it costs money to talk like a pirate?
sink valerie's boat
Have you not heard of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! Do you hate our GOD!!!! Cool, whatever... No money is required nor asked for. A real god should be able to make his own money anyway.
ARGH, must be a desert dry landlubber who chose this grog. Not one mention of Pusser's Rum from the West Indies.
Come on, here it is International Talk Like a Pirate Day and you forget to mention the most famous RUM in nautical history. Until 1970, Pusser's rum was served daily to all the sailors in the British Royal Navy since 1655. It also has wet the whistle of many a pirate. ARGGH!
Arrrggghhh!!! Ye pullin' me beard are ya! Talk like a Pirate Day? Nonsense! Walk the plank!
People with only one tooth will call it "talk like a teabagger day".
Arrgh, ya lilly livered bilge rats. Bout time ya did some writing lively instead of stirring a bunch' a chum.
Fer the true story about this special day visit http://talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html
Til then I'll get in me cups and try some o this grog. Aye, this could take a day and a night.
He is look like prophet Mohammad. ha ha ha!
GO EAST CAROLINA PIRATES!!!!! ARRRRGH!!!!
We are in our pirate costumes today and have a animated, talking parrot attached to my husband's wheelchair! Ye can swab the poop deck, but ye can't poop on the swab deck.
Guy Fawks would be so proud of you maties............................aaarrrgggghhhh.
Every pirate needs an ergonomic keyboard.
tinyurl . com /arv52
How fitting a day to set sail down to the Antilles where the Armanda be set in sail for there Iberian royals. Ships full of the Royal gold and rum. Ripe for the taken by you band of malcontents and scallywags! A vas me hardies! Less you find yourselves in Dave Jones locker by the tip of me sword, a vas!
Dave Barry did not come up with 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'; try a little more research next time!
No, but he popularized it. And he doesn't take credit for it, but his mention of it in his nationally syndicated column went (inter)national.
This day didn't start with a Dave Barry column, it started in Oregon by two friends.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Talk_Like_a_Pirate_Day
Time to brush up on ye ol' research, CNN.
you do your research on wikipedia? that's completely trustworthy.
More trustworthy than CNN. At least Wiki footnotes their sources.
Only as trustworthy as the citations, like any information source. You do follow up on the citations for ANY document you read before considering it trustworthy, don't you?
Do you know why pirates are pirates? Because they ARRRRRRRE!
LOL Nice : )
Aarrgghh!
Best rum punch ever
One of sour. Two of sweet. Three of strong. Four of weak
Real lime juice, Sugar water, Mt Gay Eclipse Rum. Water
Got this in Barbados
Laughed out loud!!!! What a day!
Hum? Today is my birthday. Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) is a possibe ancestor of mine Hey, that sure sounds like a perfect day for me! Talk like a pirate, drink and be merry! That works!! Now where is my buried treasure???
Politicians already dug it up and spent it.
They spent it alright, but they certainly haven't found it.
Instead, politicians assume there are plenty of buried treasures out there, and that eventually somebody will find them and pay off the bill they're charging to.
Why was Jim Hawkins thrown out of the movie theater? Because the film was rated "Arrrrrr". That's OK, he just downloaded it from bittorrent (pirate, get it?).
No discussion of Caribbean rums would be complete without a shout out to Appleton's. The Appleton's Estate variety is especially good. Honorable mention for Sangster's Rum Cream. It's sort of like Bailey's but with rum instead of whiskey. So good, they named an airport after it!
Shiver me timber! Anyone?
@ Badly-Bent Sorry about the loss of your leg. Is your name Eileen?
Nope, it's Peg.
What is a Pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet?
You'd think it would be 'Arrrrr' but it is realy 'Seaaaa'.
Pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel attached to his junk.
The bartender asks, "Hey, what is that?"
Pirate says, "Yarr, I don't know but it is driving me nutts"
Too funny!!
arrgh came here lookin for info on rocker pirate kieth richards but no mention of him here oh well aroooooo
Arrr! Any o' ye scallawags be knowin' tha' th' best rums be th' dark rums made in th' Carribean. White rum be no rum a'tall! Take a goodly splash o' fine dark rum, add the juice o' one mango, one orange and a bit o' pinapple jiuce, too. Take yer dagger an' slice a lime i' hal', then crush one hal' over yer mug. Add another goodly splash of yer rum. Keep th' bloddy ice away, it' jus' waters down th' rum. A good mate in Nassua made me aquaintance wi' this brew an' a fine brew it 'tis, but ye mus' start wi' a good dark rum.
And don't forget RUM CAKE. I've a family recipe that's brewed, I mean baked every Christmas with the darkest rum rum mixed with butter. No one turns it down.
You must be drunk like a pirate to vote for Obama!
vote for obama!
What does this have to do at all with this article?
Because it be a CNN comments section matey!
NOTHIN', ye brine-soakd b--! It be just a piece o' fun!
You be one of dem yellow-belly logic lubbers! We'll make logic lubbers walk de plank!
Arrgh yah matey vote fer the king of thieves, vote fer Presidente Obama.
I just knew some tool would feel obligated to bring politics into this non-political article. Sigh.
Arrr, he be trying to hijack the comments into a political course. Hijackin' be a form of piracy, so have at it, matey!
Argh, be'in drunk is better than being sober. I kin it, just the looks 'o Capt. Romney, who walks like he's got a pegleg up his bung, is enough to take the drunk off a sailor faster than a match to a keg o' powder. An what kind 'o land lubbers life would that be? It's hard to understand how a man who lost the last presidential Republican nomination by a landslide is now the cream of the crop. ARG, that job pirate Romney as president is a sobering thought.
Drunk and stupid. Even a scurvy pirate that has been sailing the high seas without CNN for 4 years can see the wreckage of our country all around us. Obama voters please wake up and vote Romney to save our country, or prepare to walk the plank by the Tea Party in 2016! Aarrrgh
This is suppose to be about Talk Like A Pirate Day. Drink Like A Pirate Day is still a month away.
You left out the best rum in the World.
J. Wray and Nephew,s Overproofed Rum. About 190 proof and smooth as heck. Best rum punches in the World are made with this rum.
By the way, I loved the Somali comment as well.
Hey-don't forget: most pirates were not only sanctioned, but paid for by governments at the time; ours, Englands, France's; it was only when they weren't needed anymore that they went into business for themselves and got the bad reputation we ALL now enjoy. And how many know why pirates wore a single gold earring? It was to pay for their eventual burial.
When did these raping, stealing, murderous thugs start to become "cute" in popular culture, I wonder.
Was it with Smee? (I love Smee). Or earlier?
Raping and plundering still occur, but now it's not individual humans doing it (mostly), but those 'individual' corporations.
Hey now, corporations are people too.
Dumb.
We call them democrats now
They are called governments.
About the same time we started idolizing rappers that glorified gang violence and making torture-porn movies mainstream Hollywood films.
How DARE you sully the good name of Steel Magnolias!
It is unfortunate that people think of the awful Somali pirates and not the Cap'n Jack Sparrow character when they hear "pirate". I like your screen name by the way.
And who would have thought a Nazi concentration camp or the Korean war would make good comedies?
When they became Republicans...
Brought to you by Captain Morgan.
Meh, give me some good ol' 100 Cane and coconut juice. I'd be speakin' like a privateer whilst pilotin' me land yacht to the nearest house o' wenches.
You know, none of those drinks sound good at all. I havent tried them, but they dont sound appealing. Add some bacon and you've got yourself a drink!
Arrr!!! Yer "booty" shivers me timber
Best post on this thread..........................LMAO
Pirates actually enjoyed fruity drinks as well as straight rum. So did cowboys. I dont know when it became a thing to make your alcohol taste as bad as possible.
@Johnny Orlando- got to agree that alcohol should actually taste good.
I don't know how to celebrate this day as I can't speak Somali :(
Best comment of the day.