February 22, 2015

Malternatives on Sunday, four more rums

Today we’ll visit St. Lucia, Panama, Barbados and Brazil. Really curious about the Brazilian…

St. Lucia Distillers '1931 Second Edition' (43%, OB, St. Lucia, 81st Anniversary, 2012)

A multi-vintage blend of young St. Lucian rums. Seeing mentions of old-looking vintages and years on some young spirit always slightly… err, stinks in my book. This baby’s also very expensive for its age (75€ for what’s basically 6yo rum). But let’s see… Colour: gold orange. Nose: well, I’m afraid this works, with pretty high esters, some tar and diesel oil, brine, olives, then a little camphor and turpentine, then more molasses and overripe bananas plus pineapples. This is what we’d call ‘proper rum’. Mouth: a little more sweetness but other than that, this is in keeping with the nose, just a little flat because of the strength. Salt and liquorice, touches of pickled capers, sugarcane, a drop of sour lemon, then touches of metal. Maybe copper. Finish: quite long, mostly on liquorice and molasses. Sweet green olives in the aftertaste. Comments: rather some medium bodied rum, with a ‘pot still’ feeling. Not the most complex ever but I find it much to my liking. A good surprise. SGP:562 – 80 points.

Panama 21 yo (40%, Rum Nation, +/-2011)

This should be much sweeter and rounder. Colour: deep amber. Nose: typical South American, with litres of coffee liqueur, then dried figs, raisins, bananas and dates, then quite some pipe tobacco. An enjoyable touch of earth and damp wood in the background, that brings more complexity. Other than that, it’s some kind of super Tia Maria or Kahlúa. Mouth: starts sweet and even sugary, as expected, but I wouldn’t say it’s cloying – the nose wasn’t heady either. More coffee liqueur, but there’s also a little triple sec this time. Maybe a little strawberry liqueur as well, and certainly some banana liqueur. And molasses. Finish: relatively long, with more sugar cane this time, which is something I like. Comments: look, this is not my style at all, but I won’t deny it’s high quality – in its own style/family/genre. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, this is for you. SGP:720 - 80 points.

Epris 1999/2012 (47.7%, L'Esprit, Brazil, bourbon, cask #52, 198 bottles)

I believe it’s my first rum from the Epris Distillery ever. It’s distilled from sugar cane juice – so not molasses – in a column still. Colour: pale gold (hurray!) Nose: oh this is fun! Imagine a blend of liquid shoe polish and fennel liqueur. Sounds unlikely? It’s not. I also find genepy and other anise-y/citrusy herbs (wormwood?), some mint, and just a little tar. The freshness is impressive. An unusual and lovely nose. Mouth: even more unusual. Let’s say Sultanas infused in mezcal, perhaps. Also some shoe polish again, maybe pomelo grapefruits, a touch of clay, bitter herbs, caraway… It’s quite spicy, while being full-bodied, while being very ‘natural’, while being fresh. Finish: long, now salty and slightly smoky. Who said mezcal? Lime juice – a lot. Comments: a surprise, this is no light ‘tropical’ rum for cocktails. A genuine malternative, I’d say. Very smartly selected, L’Esprit! SGP:462 - 85 points.

Foursquare 10 yo 2004/2014 (50%, Silver Seal, Barbados)

Foursquare’s high in my (meagre) rum book. Silver Seal are quite high too. Colour: gold. Nose: there’s much more vanilla than in all the others - even more than in the Panamanian – but underneath that vanilla, we’ve got this sooty, grassy, cane-y, olive-y profile that we love so much at WF Towers. The smell of rain water, ozone, olive oil, wet gravel and all that… With water: fresh fruits! Cherries, apples… Mouth (neat): rich, starting with unexpected notes of Williams pears – and plenty of them. But its true that this baby’s ‘only’ ten years old. Then ripe gooseberries, then more sugar cane, olives again and again, a touch of salmiak… With water: same, with a little more salt. Finish: quite long. Salted pears? Comments: we’re more or less between two worlds, that is to say between ‘western orchard fruits’ and ‘Caribbean tarry sootiness’. Yes, I guess you could call that a bridge. SGP:551 - 84 points.

Check the index of all rums I've tasted so far