Key West First Legal Distillery Highlights Chef-Driven Rum

At the end of the road at mile marker 0 in the Florida Keys lies the town of Key West which is home to key lime pie, Conchs, Hemingway and Key West First Legal Distilling. The rum distillery was founded by Paul Menta and Tony Mantia in 2012 in what was originally the location of Jack’s Saloon in 1900 and later in 1903 a Coca-cola bottling facility.  The Key West distillery is churning out unique chef-driven rums with interesting methods.

For National Rum Month we are highlighting distilleries and the people behind them through new and past interviews.

Chef Distilled Rum

Paul Menta is a man who doesn’t say no to life. For 25 years Menta has been a chef, who has owned several restaurants and traveled around the world. All while becoming a record-holding kiteboarder. Throughout that time, he also learned to distill alcohol which led to the creation of the first legal rum distillery in Key West, at least since U.S. prohibition.

“I wanted to do something in Key West that was very unique and that hadn’t been done before,” said Menta. “In a drinking town with a tourist problem, there has never been a legal distillery. I thought what a great idea to be the first doing something and it turned out to be a huge success.” 

The company is called Chef Distilled and Menta brings his experience as a chef into every rum they create.

“We are chef first and distiller second. As a chef, we want local ingredients, no additives and pure rich flavors,” said Menta.

All of the rums made at the Key West distillery use Florida Demerara sugar, which Menta describes as the “extra-virgin olive oil of sugarcane.” For their aged spirits, this distillery doesn’t use fresh water to swell their barrels. Instead, the barrels go into the ocean to salt water cure. 

Menta explained, “As a chef, I want to bring out the natural flavors in the wood without the presence of freshwater bacteria that take away flavor.”  

The salt water cure is said to reduce the aging time and their barrels also have a honeycomb stave interior. This method of barrel construction increases the wood’s exposed surface area, which is said to speed up the extraction of flavors present in the wood. 

“The flavor can only be found in Key West,” said Menta

On the Horizon

Key West Legal Rum’s future includes adding unique flavors typically not associated with rum.

“Right now I am working with black American truffles that make unbelievable savory drinks,” said Menta. 

The distillery is also working towards incorporating more chefs and “really diving into a flavor experience.” Other projects include lower-proof, ready-to-drink style products such as sparkling rum. 

“We want to bring rum to the dinner table, where it can actually be paired and enjoyed with amazing food as well,” said Menta. “Rum can be fun and grown up at the same time, just like me!” 

The Core Range 

I was lucky enough to be provided with some samples of Chef Distilled’s core range of rums. The four rums I sampled were Key West First Legal Rum (200th Anniversary edition), Key West Raw and Unfiltered Rum, Bad Bitch Rum (Spanish Marie) and Glazed Pineapple Rum. 

Key West First Legal Rum

The 200th Anniversary edition marks 200 years since Key West became a permanently settled island. This rum gives off light aromas of ripe pineapple husk and very light cotton candy. It tastes of tropical fruits and a slight pepperiness with a full body and comes off a little hot. The finish was of starfruit (Carambola). Great flavors for a light rum. The rum flavors are expressive enough to add complexity to any cocktail.   

Key West Raw and Unfiltered Rum

This rum is aged in new American oak barrels with a number 3 char. The barrel was also filled with fresh seawater and allowed to swell and then dry out. The rum smelled of honey, breakfast tea and a touch of lemon juice, like a comforting morning tea. On the palate, there were notes of toffee and salted caramel. This rum really coats the mouth and has a nice body. It finished quickly and left a taste of toasted coconut. Overall, a nice rum and great neat. 

Bad Bitch Rum

The Bad Bitch is in reference to Spanish Marie, who was famous for rum running and for her harem of men, who didn’t always make it out of the bedroom alive. The rum is aged in French oak barrels which were previously used for red wine and then salt-cured. The fragrance that wafts from the glass is of burnt rubber and plum. The taste of this rum was high ester and funk which reminded me of a Jamaican-style rum. It was full-bodied and finished quickly. This is definitely one for fans of funk. 

Glazed Pineapple Rum

For the distillery’s line of flavored rums, they cook their own extracts and make them without any artificial ingredients or additives. The pineapple really comes through in the aroma, flavor and the finish. For me, it was reminiscent of a pineapple upside-down cake. Most flavored rums don’t come in at 40% ABV, but this one packs the punch in both proof and flavor. A lot of tasty concoctions could be made with this Glazed Pineapple rum. 

All the rums I tried were full-bodied with punchy flavors. This is despite being proofed down to 40% abv. The rums are expressive enough to come through great in cocktails while also being sippable. These products were interesting and versatile.    

Read Next:

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