Häagen-Dazs - Rum Raisin

Rum Raisin - Rum Ice Cream with Rum-Soaked Raisins

 
Today's flavor is Häagen-Dazs' implementation of Rum Raisin.  This has been a standard flavor of the Häagen-Dazs line since the 1980s.  It is based on the old Italian gelato flavor called "malaga".  Malaga gelato is named after Malaga raisins which originate in the Malaga province of southern Spain.  Originally, the raisins for this gelato were soaked in Marsala wine from the province of Sicily.  Marsala is a dry, sweet wine and a dark rum can be substituted for it in many recipes.  From that, the "rum raisin" flavor was born.  The side of the Häagen-Dazs pint states that they use California raisins instead of Malaga raisins and that the raisins have been steeped in rum for 42 days.  That is an amusingly specific number, but Häagen-Dazs has been making this flavor for over three decades, so I will trust their judgement.

Opening the pint shows that the rum base has a very light color and a few of the raisins are visible right away.  I noticed the rum flavoring right away in the very first spoonful.  I could tell that it was a dark rum too by the aftertaste.  I enjoyed that.  The raisin mix-ins were dispersed generously throughout the pint.  They gave me something to chew on but were not too tough.  They contained some rum flavor as well, but not noticeably more than was in the base.

This was an interesting pint.  I had never had a pint with raisin mix-ins before.  The star of the pint is the rum, though.  I should say though that because this is a pre-packaged pint from Häagen-Dazs that this is a PG-rated version of a rum raisin flavor.  I could taste the rum flavor but not the alchohol.  I imagine that a homemade version of this flavor from a restaurant or scoop shop could be quite a bit more intense.  Still, if a grocery store is what you have available then give this a try.