Have you ever wanted to have a drink on a submarine?
Or explore the labyrinthine streets of a circus town?
Lost Spirits Distillery in Las Vegas describes itself as part modern cirque show, part rum distillery, part cocktail party, but that scarcely does the place justice. (It can also be a bit hard to visualize.)
From the Chinese lanterns casting their warm red glows through the passageways of “town” to the golden candlelight of the submarine to the performances themselves, the vibe this place is going for is sultry decadence.
Everything is designed to appeal to some sense (vice) or another, and it does so in beautiful style.
The themed rooms are all ornate and seductive, down to their finest details. This is simply a beautiful place to be in, even without the rum and performances.
At least, these were my impressions as we drunkenly meandered the dark corridors after our Lost Spirits’ 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea dining experience.
I can’t wait to return when I’m not nearly so inebriated to see all of the things we definitely didn’t appreciate.
The Experience
If there is one word to describe our experience at Lost Spirits, it’s overindulgent.
Seriously, the sheer amount of rum we drank/consumed bordered on uncivilized.
(The fact that neither of us puked or woke up with crippling hangovers was a freakin’ miracle. Though there were definitely some shaky moments in the middle of the night.)
It was also just pleasurable.
I don’t know any better way to describe it.
From the dinner to the decor to the tastings to the performances, the whole thing was a very good time.
New and different and unique and relaxing.
And, like I said, we look forward to going back, so it definitely landed well on our experience chart.
The Rum
Since this is a distillery, we feel like we have to say something about what you’ll be tasting.
Now, we don’t know rum. And we don’t drink a lot of rum.
I should probably preface with that.
Generally speaking, hard liquor isn’t something we go around sipping straight up.
So, know that and take this opinion with a grain of salt.
But the rum at Lost Spirits is amazing.
Surprisingly so to two people who simply don’t imbibe this stuff on the regular. (We will be doing it on the semi-regular now.)
We bought bottles of both the pineapple and cherry (for quite reasonable prices, we thought) on our way out.
We did have the passing notion that, perhaps, the rum wasn’t as good as we thought.
We did, after all, begin our night with the 20,000 Leagues dinner, which kicks off with a rum champagne that is so good it’s dangerous and then just keeps pouring the booze on from there.
Point being, we were well past drunk going into our tastings, so there was a reasonable question of “Did we get so drunk because this rum is so good, or is this rum so good because we’re so drunk?”
We’re happy to report, upon our home tasting, the rum actually IS that good.
At least, the cherry one is. Sippable straight out of the bottle.
The pineapple one isn’t quite as pineappley (or as good) as we recall it being at the distillery, but it’s still very palatable. (Not quite a straight-sipper, but it mixes great.)
Of the other three rums we tasted, two of them we dumped down the drain. (They were way too strong for us.)
But if your intention is to get toasted like a pop tart, you’ll probably like them for their proofs.
Hell, you might even like the taste. Bless you if you do.
The People
I don’t know if it was in their job descriptions, but there was a general feeling here that the people, from the performers to the hosts who meet you at the door, actually love their jobs.
This gave the entire experience a bit of a warmer feel.
They were all happy to talk and to help and to just generally try and entertain you.
And, though they sell cocktails and bottles at the exit, there were no hard sells.
Of course, we walked directly up to the cherry rum with ownership in mind on our way out, so we didn’t really need one.
Fair Warning
Pretty sure this is the drunkest either of us has ever been (definitely that I’ve been) or ever will be (if we’re at all smart).
So, seriously, if you’re doing the dinner and tastings, follow Lost Spirits’ advice to get a ride home or back to your hotel.
Because this was how we felt by night’s end –
Would We Recommend It: Unequivocally yes. 1000%.
We also highly recommend the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea dinner, the most interesting dining experience we’ve ever had.
