Description
Beth Dantin Donner was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Beth received her BS in International Trade & Finance from LSU and an MBA from FSU. She moved to Thibodaux in 1995 with her husband Tom and their 2 children Alexandra & Jack. When she’s not working at the distillery, she’s either on the tennis courts or training for her next triathlon. Her “new” drink of choice is simple: LA1 Whiskey on the rocks. Jennifer Naugher Peltier, although born in Arkansas, has spent the majority of her life here in Louisiana. After living in Monroe, Alexandria, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, she finally settled down in Thibodaux with her husband Henry and their four children Porter, Davis, Judith Grace and William. With a BSN from the LSU School of Nursing, she helped her husband build a successful pediatric opractice and has continued working with him for the past 17 years. Ironically, both of Jennifer’s parents were born and raised in dry counties. I’m sure they never imagined that their daughter would be making vodka and rum in Louisiana one day. Jennifer’s favorite cocktail is an Oryza®® and tonic on the rocks with a twist of lime. Tom Donner is a lifelong Louisianian. He grew up in Thibodaux, and now lives there with his wife Beth and his children Alex and Jack. A practicing neurosurgeon, Tom spends his free time hunting, fishing, and doing Ironman races. Because his home is surrounded by sugarcane fields, Tom always wondered why no one made rum from sugarcane in Louisiana. When he searched for an answer, Donner-Peltier Distillery was born. Tom’s favorite cocktail is simple: good bourbon or rum over ice.
Rougaroux Sugarshine Rum
DPD Spirits Tasting Note
Deep in the heart of the Southern Louisiana Cajun country lurks a mysterious creature called the Rougaroux®, (Roo ga roo). It lingers in the sugarcane fields, emerging only during the full moon to exact justice on the wicked, its curse lasting 101 days. Our American Style 101 proof rum delivers monstrous power, with a bold molasses flavor and a lingering sweetness unique to sugarcane grown in Louisiana. We start with sugar grown and milled from a family owned farm just down the road from our distillery located in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Handcrafted each step of the way – from farm to bottle and cane to cocktail. Our clear rum is not your grandmother’s clear rum! We purposely decided to deviate from conventional wisdom and produce a “Rum Moonshine” – hot, bold, massive, with enough punch to sear right through you. And that’s what Sugarshine does. However, a funny thing happened on the way to the bar: we discovered that the thick molasses and brown sugar character of Sugarshine is absolutely fantastic in cocktails. If you want your rum and coke to taste like coke, buy something else. If you want it to taste like rum, you’ve found your nirvana.
Distiller Tasting Note
Rougaroux is a creature of Louisiana Cajun folklore who is known for lurking in the shadows of the cane fields, appearing only at the full moon to exact punishment on the wicked. Its curse is said to last 101 days, hence the proof of his namesake white rum. It’s made from family-grown sugarcane and molasses, with the intention of producing a clear rum that has the punch of moonshine that’s “not your grandmother’s clear rum.” Score- 80
Tastings Tasting Note
Clear. Aromas of vanilla yogurt nuts and coconut with a supple, dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body and a long, warming vanilla cream, banana frosting and nougat finish. A clean, tasty overproof rum. Points- 93
Proof66 Tasting Note
The Rougaroux line of rums from Donner-Poltier.
It is named for what they describe as “they mysterious creature” lurking in the cajun country of Louisiana. It is said it comes out only on the full moon to “do justice on the wicked.” The Sugarshine overproof rum is bottled at a stiff 101 proof–this matching the 101 days long curse the Rougaroux delivers.It is made from a base of sugar grown and milled local to the distillery in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The “sugarshine” is meant to invoke an idea of “moonshine” due to the high proof and clear color; they call it “rum moonshine” with “enough punch to sear right through you.”
Award Winning
SILVER– San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2015
GOLD– Beverage Testing Institute 2014
SILVER– World Spirits Award 2014
SILVER– World Rum Awards 2014
DBL GOLD– SF Spirits Competition 2013
