Today I was reviewing the rum selection at Liquorama.net as I prepare my Christmas rum order (doesn’t everyone do that?) and I came across Pumpkin Face ‘Ultra Premium’ Dominican Rums. My interest was piqued by the name, the bottle and description ‘Ultra Premium’. Having followed the spirits industry for many years, my B.S. meter always goes off when I see the words ‘Ultra Premium’ because I think it’s an overly used, industry term that often should be substituted with the words ‘Over Priced’. A few vodkas had success calling themselves ‘Ultra Premium’ years ago which caused the phrase to almost become a cliche used by marketers…but I digress.
I probably will add at least one Pumpkin Face bottle to my Christmas order because I am such a big fan of Dominican Rums. If I do obtain a bottle I will review it here ASAP.
About the rum…a quick visit to the Pumpkin Face Rums website provides us the following:
The Story
The pumpkin is a symbol of celebration to people around the world. The origin of the pumpkin can be traced to North American seeds dating back to 7000 BC. The word pumpkin comes from the word “pepon”, which is Greek for “large melon” and later changed by American colonists to “pumpkin”. Colonists would often slice off the pumpkin top, remove the seeds, and fill it with cream, honey, eggs and spices. They cooked the pumpkin in hot ashes until blackened then enjoyed its contents. Pumpkin Face Rum honors the spirit of this tradition by filling the bottle with the finest ultra premium rum in the world.
Continue the tradition and celebrate the pumpkin!
Pumpkin Face White – Beautiful, delicious, and naturally smooth. ($30/750ml)
Pumpkin Face Reserve – A blend of decades old hand selected aged Dominican rums. ($40/750ml)
Pumpkin Face 23 – Made in 1980, aged 23 years in Oak barrels, and rested for over another decade in Dominican Republic, this rum shows extraordinary elegance with complexity. ($60/750ml)
The bottle design is part of the ‘Ultra Premium’ designation for these rums:
Pumpkin Face Rum is a new line of ultra premium rum imported from Dominican Republic and shaped like a pumpkin, which is a symbol of celebration. Pumpkin Face White Rum is beautiful, delicious, and naturally smooth. Pumpkin Face Reserve Rum is a blend of decades old hand selected aged Dominican rums. Pumpkin Face 23 was made in 1980, aged 23 years in Oak barrels, and rested for over another decade in Dominican Republic, this rum shows extraordinary elegance and complexity.
“Packaging for Pumpkin Face was challenging but obtainable,” says Dan Matauch, Principal at Flowdesign (www.flow-design.com). Attention to detail was a priority. The glass was sculpted in a traditional pumpkin shape with a pedestal base that reveals the brand name embossed in glass. We gave the pumpkin character by adding a mischievous facial expression that reinforces its name an celebratory representation. Its eyes and mouth are stet deep into the glass and decorated with high-quality baked on decals. The white rums’ eyes and mouth are metallic silver and its clear bottle reveals the near crystal grade glass. The Reserve and aged rums are coated with organic coloring giving them a brown and black appearance respectively. Finally, the corks are custom designed, with each rum type having its own wooden color, topped off with a pewter metal medallion that reveals the embossed Pumpkin Face logo and name.
You can also visit Pumpkin Face on Facebook.