(One of the Many) Tastes of my Childhood

It is commonly said that smells trigger memories of people, places, and things past.  I certainly can confirm this phenomenon, but I’d like to add (at least for me) that certain TASTES also trigger some of my oldest (and often fondest) memories.

Case in point…   Butter Rum Life Savers.

This year, on my annual road trip to duck hunting camp, I stopped to gas up and grab a bag of Wintergreen Lifesavers.  They are my “go-to” hard candy (especially when you know you are going to do some drinking and cigar smoking).  The convenience store I stopped at had a sale price if you bought two bags.  Not really needing TWO bags, I was going to pass - but out of the corner of my eye I noticed a different flavor (that I normally do not see) – Butter Rum.  On a whim (and a nostalgic impulse), I grabbed a bag of each and headed out.

I don’t eat them often (in fact, it’s been YEARS since I last had one) – but I find that when I pop one of those Butter Rum Lifesavers, I am immediately taken back to my youth.  As a very young child (around five or so years old) my dad would often take me with him while he was out running weekend errands.  

Not always, but just often enough to make it special, he would buy a roll of Butter Rum Life Savers. 

At that very young age Butter Rum Life Savers always made me feel so “grown up”.  Kids (as well as myself as a child) typically tend to steer towards the sweet and simple traditional “five flavors” (lemon, lime, orange, cherry, and pineapple).  On the other hand, Butter Rum seemed so…  I don’t know, sophisticated (?), adult (?), mature (?) - Or maybe a blend of all those things??  

I suspect another part of this is also about the name itself.   Butter RUM.   I knew rum was considered a “grown up drink”, so a candy flavored after a grown up drink must be… grown up.  

Finally, I can and will also confirm that the fond memories may also be taking me back to spending time with my dad.  I really liked hanging out with him while running weekend errands.  The surprise Butter Rums tapered off as I approached my early teens, but dad and I ran our weekend errands up until I started workin' for a livin' (which was frequently on the weekends since I worked in a local neighborhood hardware store).    

Butter rum is and will always be (to me) the flavor of innocence of youth, of hanging out and spending time with my dad, of getting to sit in the front seat of the car next to him (we used to be able to do that back in the day), of being only five years old yet feeling oh so “grown up”.  

It is a taste of so many fond memories of a much simpler time of life.

For the record…  My dad still does this to this day – but not with Butter Rum, and not with me but with my kiddos (and they will confirm).  I suspect that the taste of Butter SCOTCH will forever associated to their grandpa in the same way Butter RUM does for me.