Ogden Park’s popular cocktail destination is looking to inject more local flavor into the bar scene.
With free monthly tastings like last month’s sampling of beer from Shreveport’s Great Raft Brewing, The Radio Bar has built a bridge between local booze enthusiasts and the state’s rising brewers and distillers. Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 5 p.m., The Radio Bar will have another Louisiana spirit flowing: Bayou Rum.
Radio Bar manager Kelli Paxton believes the addition of Bayou Rum to the bar’s repertoire has only strengthened its renowned cocktail game.
“We’re certainly excited to carry it,” Paxton says. “I’ve lived in other cities like Portland and Nashville where there’s a big presence of local distilleries in bars, and I’m excited to bring on products from Louisiana here.”
The tasting will offer all four Bayou Rum varieties—Silver, Spiced and Select as well as the Satsuma Rum Liqueur—and the inquisitive imbiber can try the liquor on its own or request it in a rum-based cocktail, like a Dark ‘N Stormy.
Based out of Lacassine, La., the distillery made its debut in 2013 and has quickly gathered acclaim, representing Louisiana nationally and internationally with 64 tasting awards and accolades so far. Its signature flavor comes from fresh and local sugarcane, American oak barrels and aging in Louisiana heat—a process the distillery says infuses the liquor with the essence of the Bayou State.
The brand became the fourth-highest selling rum in Louisiana within its first year, and as of this summer, its distribution area has expanded to include Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. And with the latest introduction of the aged Select Rum in April, Bayou Rum elevated its brand to the shelves of true rum aficionados.
But of course, there’s no place like home, and Paxton looks forward to sharing this grassroots rum with Radio Bar visitors.
“We want to let the neighborhood and customers know about Bayou Rum,” Paxton says. “We want to show them this awesome label with the big alligator on it and let them know where it came from.”