William Oben is starting a rum revolution. After attending college on the East Coast, the Puerto Rican native relocated to Portland (same same?) in 2003 where he dove head first into the food and beverage scene, studying at Le Cordon Bleu’s Western Culinary Institute then taking a job as the wine director at the popular Peruvian tapas bar, Andina. From there, after some time in personal wine buying and work with the then-young spirits market, Oben decided to bring a taste of home to the Northwest with his rum, 7 Sirens, officially launching last fall.
With a declaration to “drink better rum,” 7 Sirens is not made in the Northwest where Oben runs his business, but in a locale more legitimate for rum production—Trinidad, a hop, skip and a 600+ mile flight south of Oben’s origin in Puerto Rico. Using red cane sugar as the base and refraining from allowing the sugar content to rise to the maximum to result in “younger, more tropical flavors,” Oben oversees the production of his product at rum giant Angostura. The 7 Sirens Atlantic White Rum brings that and more to the glass with vanilla, molasses, banana and coconut aromas while the palate is flush in tropical fruits and spiked coconut juice with a finish of sweet heat that leaves your mouth smooth and clean. Have it in a scratch daiquiri at Portland’s new Pepe Le Moko by bar baron Jeffrey Morgenthaler—trust us, you will never go blended with rum again.
Follow on Facebook: 7 Sirens
Track on Twitter: @7SirensRum
