Someone created recently a whiskey thread. I've been foolish enough to state there that I prefer Rum, and got the answer I deserved: create a rum thread !

So here it is. Are there rum lovers here ? For my part, I don't say no to a ti'punch (white rum with lemon and sugar), but what's really putting me on is old rum. My all-time favorites:

  • Matusalem (7 years flavor is better than the 15 IMHO, didn't try the others yet) from Cuba / Dominican Republic
  • Don Papa from the Philippines (strong vanilla taste for the amateurs - really yummy !)
  • Santa Teresa (1796 flavor) from Venezuela

I have also good memories with some Diplomatico flavors. Also tried matured rum one time and found it really interesting, it's some kind of missing link between white rum and old rum. The flavor I tried was surprisingly good, but I can't remember the name (only that it came from Reunion island).

Recommandations from users in the thread:

Update 25 June 2017:

Threepw00d's recommended rums
It's really hard to order everything exactly, as sometimes it depends on your mood. Aside from my definite favourite rum, the rest of the list is a little flexible, but I recommend them all! :-) Please let me know if you recommend any interesting spiced or dark rums in particular, I'm always keen to try new ones.
Rumbullion! All 3 varieties of this superb rum and absolutely fantastic. Spicy and flavoursome, a clear favourite for me.
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
Dictador 20-Year
Ron Zacapa 23 Solera
Don Papa
Foursquare Spiced
Zaya Gran Reserva
Red Leg Spiced
Kraken Black Spiced

An ever growing collection
Why buy 1 when you can buy 2 for twice the price?
Ten exciting little sample bottles!

Also this link, provided by fox01313, to the Rum University !

Hey, remember kids, drinking alcohol is bad, m'kay ?


Thanks a lot to Yirg, threepw00d and caitsith2 for the (ended) GAs

Picture below is Yirg's. It demonstrates how forum lurking can have an impact on what kind of things you bring back from foreign trips :)

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8 years ago*

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Don papa rum

a Don papa rum old fashioned : )

(yes im a cocktail bartender)

Love this too LEgendario one of my favs https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/4512/legendario-7-elixir-de-cuba-rum-punch
Santa Teresa (1796 flavor) from Venezuela I have this in the bar and I never tried it might give it a shot

8 years ago
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Thanks for the link, I'll try that when I can. Learning new things is a duty :) Be careful when trying Santa Teresa, you may enjoy it ^^

8 years ago
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I drink Stroh 80 :D mostly in the tea

8 years ago
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A friend of mine gave me a mysterious plastic bottle from Madagascar, containing local illegally brewed rum. It was a few years ago, it's still there because I think one could burn it for warming the house :) Maybe the trick is to add it to some tea, noted :)

8 years ago
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I'm a cuba libre Viva la revolusión kind of man, I never developed my taste buds I think so whatever rum does.

8 years ago
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Love me some Mount Gay

8 years ago*
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Mount Gay added to my TODO TODRINK list !

8 years ago
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Try the regular first.
Then ponder that my wife used my extra aged for a vat of pina colada (from a mix bottle) for a housewarming party

8 years ago
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I'm that someone ;-)

Having tried mostly Bacardi and its like in the past, I always thought that rum is only good for mixing. How wrong was I. A few months ago I tried Zaya rum at a friend's and I loved it! I was almost set on looking for a place to buy a bottle until I read this article, which reports a decline in quality. It's likely my friend's bottle was relatively old, because it was excellent. I'm now looking for recommendation for another sipping rum. The rum selection here (Israel) is pretty bad, but I'll be in the US starting Monday, so would have plenty of opportunity to buy something good. Definitely following this thread closely...

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Alcohols are haraam.

8 years ago*
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Do you mean the drinks or people?

8 years ago
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drinks. They're acceptable as medecines however.

8 years ago
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Does rum work well with pizza?

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8 years ago
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Bump.

8 years ago
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I drink Captain Morgan.
Let the blacklisting begin.

8 years ago
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At least you didn't say Malibu

8 years ago
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Captain Morgan 1671 actually gets very positive reviews. I'd be happy to try it...

8 years ago
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i don't know much about rum, but i think rum is better than whiskey - it actually has some taste on its own, while whiskey... i drank it only two times in my life - it tastes like stomach drops, stinks like a whole vat full of them, and gave me explosive diarrhea. Had to mix it in with orange juice in order to even swallow it .-.

8 years ago
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Are you sure it was whiskey that you tried? :-)

8 years ago
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it was johnny walker, so yeah.

8 years ago
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Well, even the cheapest JW doesn't fit your description. Maybe it wasn't a genuine bottle?

8 years ago
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i drank it at some fancy restaurant so i doubt it.

8 years ago
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UHmmm, i love rum too, ... only if it not so costly to buy in my country, love mix rum recipe

8 years ago
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Rump.
Non drinkers unite!

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Do you use chocolate powder or melt real chocolate? How much rum do you add?

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Thanks for the interesting recipe. I'm sure it can be good with some sugar-free Van Houten powder or something like that.

8 years ago
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This thread made me spend some time browsing rum-related websites. I found rumratings.com to be very informative and interesting. One thread there discusses the trend to add significant amounts of sugar to rum. It includes a link to a list which aggregates tests results from different sources. The rums mentioned in the OP are listed with the following values:

  • Matusalem 7 - no added sugar
  • Don Papa - 26 gram sugar (I assume per 1 liter)
  • Santa Teresa 1796 - different tests, recent ones show up to 7 gram of added sugar

According to this list, the Zaya I mentioned in the post above has 20 gram of added sugar.

I also checked some local on-line stores, and it seems the selection is not as bad as I thought. Several sipping rums that get good reviews on rumratings.com are available. The ones within my budget are:

My tendency is to buy one of the first two. Any opinions?

8 years ago*
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Since I never tried any of these, I don't ! Mount Gay would probably be my choice, but that's only a bet :)

8 years ago
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Yes, I'l definitely get the Mount Gay XO, and may also get a sweeter one. I'm debating between the Ron Zacapa and another rum that's available locally for a bit less:

El Dorado 12-Year - 8.0/10, 35 gram of added sugar

8 years ago
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Definitely get the Mount Gay. Been my favorite rum for over 15 years now

8 years ago
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I don't know this one either, but its description is appealing. Based on what I know, if you want something sweet, I'd advise you to try Don Papa if available.

8 years ago
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I finally bought the Appleton Estate 12-Year and Ron Zacapa Centenario 23, but will only be able to try them when I'm back from the States in 2 weeks. I can't wait...

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8 years ago*
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I finally bought the Zacapa 23 and Appleton 12-year linked above, as well as Plantation XO 20th Anniversary. I love them all! I can't believe it took me so long to discover how great rum can be...

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7 years ago
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I can't believe you didn't find a way to knock to my door on your way back, I would surely have been happy to participate in discovery :) I took way too much time, but I updated the main post with all users' recommendations. Also I took your pic, in case you don't agree just drop me a line and I'll remove it :)

7 years ago
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Note that I haven't bought or tried the Mount Gay XO and the Bacardi 8 yet. They're just on my wishlist.

I'm of course glad you used the picture, though it's not very up to date anymore. These things go fast! ;-)

7 years ago
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Appletons is nice, thats my go to when i dont have a lot of money to spend on a really good bottle.

8 years ago
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Captain Morgan Private Reserve, Kraken & Sailor Jerry are my favorites.

Also found this a while back & the lessons here are quite enlightening.
http://www.gotrum.com/the-rum-university

8 years ago
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I just throwed an eye on this, it looks really interesting. I'll go deeper there, thanks for the link !

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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http://www.angostura.com

Some nice rums in this range, 1919 and 1824 are both nice.

8 years ago
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The 1824 gets great reviews, but too expensive for my budget...

8 years ago
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Angostura Bitters are great for mixing/cocktails. Didn't know they made rum until today.
Then found out, they don't make run. A private equity firm bought them and a rum factory and slapped the Angostura label on the rum.

Not interested

8 years ago
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Interesting info, thanks for digging !
I'll update main post later with all suggestions.

8 years ago
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My favorite rum that I have ever had was Seven Fathoms but I will probably never have it again. To even let the stuff touch ice or a mixer would be a sin. I got it as a gift after some family went to the Cayman Islands. I can't get it locally and it is cost prohibitive to buy online at $70/750ml plus shipping.

8 years ago
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To even let the stuff touch ice or a mixer would be a sin

That's exactly what to say to make me very interested in a rum :)
Not sure if I have one day an opportunity to try it, but at least I have the name now.

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Yeah, I rarely Drink alcohol, but if I do, let it be a nice glass of rum.
My favourites would be Malteco (15&20) and Botucal Reserva Exclusiva.

8 years ago
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It looks like Botucal is the brand used in some countries by Diplomatico, so probably a good thing for my taste :)
Description of Malteco I just read are appealing too.
Damned Steamgifts, I wanted to share, I will end thirsty (which is better than drunk and broke) :-D

8 years ago
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Ah, I see. That's why I haven't heard about Diplomatico :) And yeah, I think I will have to buy some of those suggestions too!

8 years ago
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I don't drink alcohol much, but rum isn't bad. I, myself, prefer vodka (with juice so it's not as nasty lol). But yeah, I rarely drink alcohol anymore. I'll at least be the legal drinking age later this year though XD

8 years ago
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al alcohol tastes bad. i don't understand the delusion that it tastes good.
like wine for example, it surely has different nuances but the actual alcohol is still prominent spirits like rum or whisky are even worse.(higher alcohol percentage)
and alcohol just tastes bad for animals because its pure poison.(great disinfectant though)
the only reason we like it ,is because it makes us drunk .
in modern times ( in the past it was simply safer to drink alcohol than water)we formed cultures around it so we can pretend that it isn't the only reason we drink.

7 years ago
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You seem very convinced. Can you share what were the most acclaimed alcoholic beverages you've tried that made you reach this conclusion? Do you feel the same about beer too? May I ask what beers have you tried that aren't pale lagers?

Also, do you tend to believe that any food that you don't like is categorically bad tasting, and people who say otherwise are just delusional?

7 years ago
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its all alcohol . except mix drinks where you almost can't taste alcohol.
its not as much of an opinion.
alcohol is poisonous for a majority of organisms.
i don't know of any food that is regularly consumed which is as poisonous as alcohol.
and that's why we don't like the taste.
try drinking 90% alcohol solution.(don't it will burn away the mucous membrane on your esophagus)
or try pouring vodka in your eyes .(don't do that either)
if alcohol would not make you drunk , would you drink it?
i know it comes down to personal taste, and i appreciate some high sugar very low alcohol beverages like Federweisser or cider.
im from austria so i have tasted a lot of ales lagers wheat beer and a few dark beers. the same goes for wine.
but i can't stand the taste of anything above an alcohol percentage of 12%.

7 years ago
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I wasn't sure if there was any point replying, but what the heck, this is as good a way to bump this thread as any :-)

Anything can be poisonous, even water. Drink alcohol in moderation and you won't have any negative impact on your health. To be on the safe side - drink for the taste and aroma, not for the buzz, and definitely not to get drunk.

if alcohol would not make you drunk, would you drink it?

Hell yes! I never get drunk. I tried it a couple of times just because I wanted to know what it's about, and I didn't like it. A slight buzz is the most I can get, and even this is very rare. I love beer, wine and spirits, but I drink for the taste and aroma, not for the buzz. It seems I'm not alone in this. Among 196 beer drinkers who voted in the beer thread on this site, 89 drink for the taste / aroma, 86 drink equally for the taste / aroma and the buzz, and only 21 (10%) drink for the buzz.

I'm pretty sure those who drink complex and flavorful spirits such as Rum, Whiskey and Cognac (among others) are even less into getting the buzz or getting drunk, because there are far less expensive beverages to achieve this goal, ones that are also easier to consume quickly. Sipping a spirit slowly, letting it sits while inhaling and enjoying the smell of it is hardly and effective way to get drunk.

You may choose not to believe that alcoholic beverages are enjoyed by many people for their taste and aroma and not for their intoxicating effect, but it's your loss. As I said in the past, skepticism can be detrimental to experiencing the good things in life. Lack of pluralism is not good for your health either.

7 years ago
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i'm from a beer drinking country.
on average austrians drink 107,7 liters of beer per year that puts us on the 2nd place in the world behind the czech republic.
and 29 liters of wine per year
i don't believe that they drink just for the taste.
if i would drink 2 cl of spirit i will have a buzz.
3 of those and i would consider myself drunk.
the fact that you have build up a tolerance should give you to think.
The dose makes the poison, that's true but comparing water to alcohol is like comparing oxygen to helium.
there are many clear spirits, none of them vary much in taste but they still get consumed.

i think its just a delusion, a way to tell yourself its not about the buzz but about the taste. (one of the most human things there is)

i have come to this opinion through personal experience.
in my teens i never drank because of the taste but to get drunk.
and most people i see drinking, are drunk or close to it.

7 years ago
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Sailor Jerry's is my favourite at the moment, but I do still love a Bacardi and lemonade every now and then. I've tried the following, in rough order of how much I liked them:

Sailor Jerry's
Bacardi (white)
Appleton Estate
Mount Gay
Havana Club (white)
Captain Morgan overproof
Captain Morgan spiced gold
Bacardi (brown)
The Kraken
Buckeye white
Havana Club (brown)
Malibu
Bundaberg (any - yuck!)

I was really keen to try the Kraken, but I don't like it much on its own and haven't yet found anything that it mixes with better than the others, so the nice bottle is still very nearly full and sitting on my rum shelf.

I haven't even heard of most of the rums you mention. But I just noticed that a common chain store near me has some of them, as well as this. :)

Wow, so many rums to try!

7 years ago
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New giveaway for Run For Rum :-)

Can you add it to the OP?

7 years ago
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My pleasure :) Thank a bunch, and congrats for finding the perfect GA for the thread !
Edit: looks like I'm not passing the entry test :)

7 years ago
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Try again now :-)
I normally have a minimum of at least %5 public GAs for users that are level 2 or higher, but I laxed it in this case.

7 years ago
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I wasn't asking for a rule change, but thanks for that :) My public GAs are very rare due to the huge amount of rule breakers / reroll request I had to deal with in the past. While I'm most active in groups, I do forum GAs, but they appear as private (invite-only), not public

7 years ago
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7 years ago
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7 years ago
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I love rum. I was happy to find this old thread and see some old favourites and find some new ones to try.

Dark and/or spiced rum are my favourites. Gold rum is also nice sometimes. Not a fan of white rum really.

I've lost track of the rums I've tried though. Havana, Bundaberg, Bacardi, all fairly standard rums and perfectly fine for mixing. The 8 years and Oakheart variety of Bacardi are much better in my opinion. Sailor Jerry's is little sweeter and also good mixed. Mount Gay and Appleton have some very decent rums, even the cheapest bottles are pretty good, the more expensive, aged bottles are worth the price. For some reason, where I live the most common rum is Myers's, which is a pretty average dark rum and not sure how it became popular here. Stroh is another one which seems readily available here despite it tasting like gasoline. Pusser's navy rums were good and strong as far as I recall (it's been a long time...). I'm forgetting a whole host of other rums, some less famous ones I tried while travelling abroad, though nothing particularly memorable.

I used to be a Captain Morgan fan, the Spiced Gold rum is still a good one and mixes well with ginger ale or coke - I know true rum connoisseurs will turn their nose up at that. But for those of us who don't want to spend a fortune on a bottle, it's not bad at all. I've tried many varieties of their brand, including the odd parrot bay, tattoo, and long island one, all overly sweetened in my opinion. The 1671 variety was pretty good too, and nicely presented. At one point, I thought I had found the best rum; Captain Morgan's Private Stock. Very nice, lots of vanilla flavour. Good enough to enjoy straight over some ice. For years this was my top choice of reasonably priced bottles. I even contacted the distributors about 10 years ago after having trouble locating it in my country - after a few emails were exchanged they sent me a complimentary 1 litre bottle - which really made my day/year, and has kept me fairly loyal to the brand. I can now buy it easily enough locally, and it's still pretty good - but I've had much better since.

Going up in quality, Kraken is a tasty dark rum, and in a nice looking bottle. I enjoy that from time to time. Pampero Aniversario is still affordable and very good. Bristol Black and Gosling's Black Seal are a little harder to find for me, but worth the effort, very enjoyable. I haven't tried Don Papa but have heard it's good and seeing it mentioned in here make me want to try it - but it's about $50-60 for me to get here, which is a bit more than I want to spend on one bottle!

I'm only going to link one rum here though. In my opinion, from all the rum's I've had the pleasure of drinking, this is without doubt the best of the best. If you are able to order this, I highly recommend it, you won't regret it.
Rumbullion! Just a mind-blowingly amazing rum. Beautiful to drink on it's own, an award winning rum and quite rightly so, nicely presented too. For any rum fans reading, please do yourself a favour and get a bottle of this. I buy and bring back a couple of bottles every time I visit the UK.

https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/4UOcI/run-for-rum

7 years ago*
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Lots of interesting info. Thanks for sharing!

Is there a rum you could recommend that isn't sweet but is smooth? The Rumbullion sounds great, but most reviews also say that it is very sweet. Among the rums I bought this year, the Appleton Estate 12-Year isn't sweet, but is a bit harsh (possibly because it has higher alcohol content), while the Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 and Plantation XO 20th Anniversary are both smooth (the latter especially so), but are quite sweet. Does it have to be one or the other?

7 years ago
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You raise an interesting point, as I'd say the majority of rums aim for sweet and smooth. The rare one I find that's a little more harsh I don't really enjoy as much.

The sure I linked to has another really great service - you can select your own rums, 5 of them, to have in small sample size bottles in a gift set. I did this once with one of the other Rumbullions, and four other highly rated ones. It's a great way to try out some new ones without risking spending a lot on a bottle.

7 years ago
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Thank you for the very detailed informations ! No need to say, I guess, that my todrink list is bigger again ?
Also thanks for contributing a GA :)

7 years ago
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