
August 14, 2016

A few rums at random

Nothing too serious, no special plans, no order, and no coherence today. Mind you, this is the month of August, and nothing serious may take place in August in France.

Bacardi 8 yo (40%, OB, Puerto Rico, +/-2015)

Molasses-based rum distilled in huge columns, so probably not a very ‘congeneric’ rum. Colour: gold. Nose: extremely light and even evanescent, with touches of vanilla, sugar cane syrup, and ripe bananas. Rather Cuban style, but some Cubans have more depth, especially the Santiagos. At least this Bacardi does not seem to wear too much make up. Mouth: feels sweetish at first, with a sour oaky side (peppery tannins), then we have vanilla and corn syrup. A little cinnamon. Makes me think of many a cheap Scottish blend. Finish: short, with quite some oak, as if the spirit was too light to stand this much oak. Comments: some may have invented the word average after having tasted this newish expression. Not too bad, in my opinion, but totally forgettable. SGP:440 - 70 points.

Diplomatico 2002 'Single Vintage' (43%, OB, Venezuela, +/-2016)

Ouch, just another sugar bomb? This baby’s been finished in sherry. Colour: orange. Nose: jams, praline, chocolate cream, maple syrup, banana cake, raisins, perhaps litchis and pineapples… Not unpleasant, but some aspects suggest this baby’s been heavily ‘arranged’. Like when some good people let some fruits macerate in rum. Mouth: very sweet and sugary, as expected. A blend of Kahlua (coffee liqueur) with Dutch pineapple liqueur. The Dutch know how to make liqueurs out of just any raw materials ;-). Finish: short, sticky, sugary. Some pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: what’s the purpose of bottling some single vintage rum when it’s obviously been ‘arranged’ and contains around 50g of sugar per litre? Would any ‘vintage effect’ remain? Some very liqueury rum. Read ‘adulterated’ if you wish. SGP:720 - 60 points.

Dictador 20 yo (40%, OB, Colombia, +/-2015)

Dictador 20 yo (40%, OB, Colombia, +/-2015) Advertised as a 20 years old, but it’s one of these

nasty soleras where any figures seem to be very shady. The price (+/-50-60€) suggests it just cannot be genuine 20 yo rum. Colour: amber. Nose: totally on coffee liqueur. There’s even more coffee liqueur than in the very similar Diplomatico. Similar as far as styles are concerned, because the Diplo was fruitier on the nose. So coffee liqueur, and perhaps a touch of parsley. Mouth: even more of that feeling of coffee liqueur, plus some honey and some raisins. Another one that’s more a liqueur than proper rum, unless you use a very loose definition of rum. Finish: short, with a touch of sour fruit. Ginger and nutmeg in the aftertaste, and of course more coffee. Comments: there was much less happening in the Bacardi, but at least it tasted kind of ‘natural’. Now if you like coffee… Having said that, according to several sources, there’s less sugar in this Dictador than what we ‘feel’, which I find mysterious. SGP:730 - 65 points.

All right, since we’re having sugar bombs…

Arcane ‘Delicatissime’ (41%, OB, Mauritius, +/-2015)

I had found the ‘Extra Aroma’ rather good despite the ultra-heavy sweetness (WF 70), but this one’s another expression. The light colour feels rather ‘honest’. But apparently, it is only 18 months old. Colour: pale gold. Nose: much nicer! Fresh sugar cane, grass, green bananas, some kind of curry powder, caraway, fennel, ginger… And even a little gingerbread. So far, so nice! Mouth: there is a sweetness again, but it’s much better integrated this time. Pineapples with caraway and cloves, then a funny feeling of young calvados. Finish: medium, fresh, and quite spicy. Pumpernickel dipped into cane syrup. Comments: I find this very good, we’re almost at 80 in my book. It’s pure cane juice distillate, so kind of agricole. I had feared this would be just another sugar bomb, but it was not. Phew! SGP:641 - 79 points.

Barbancourt 2004/2016 (46%, L’Esprit, Haiti, cask #BB86, 228 bottles)

Another one from that excellent little house called Whisky & Rhum. They’re located in Brittany, in Rennes and in Vannes, you’ll easily find them. This is ‘column’ Barbancourt, as they switched from pot still to continuous distillation in 1990 according to more knowledgeable sources (more knowledgeable than me, that’s for sure). Now it always remained pure cane juice. Colour: straw. Nose: instantly more interesting than the others, even than the good Arcane. There’s much more depth, more sugar cane, more grassy/earthy touches, and a rather lovely feeling of camphor plus just faint hints of sawdust. Mouth: excellent! Not too sure at which strength it flows out of the columns (around 90% vol., I wager) but the cane-iness was kept. I also enjoy these notes of green apples, liquorice wood, and gingery marmalade. Finish: medium to long, always pleasantly grassy and cane-y, with just a little liquorice and oak spices in the aftertaste. Comments: very good. There’s also a version at cask strength but we’ll rather have it on another Sunday. Mind you, 66.2% vol.! The sugary ones have been too tiring. SGP:451 - 86 points.

I was wondering, since more an more good people are considering that sweetened or additive-ed rums shouldn’t be entitled to call themselves ‘rum’, while other good people are claiming that ‘they always did it that way’ hence that adulterated rum is still a traditional category, may I humbly suggest that natural rums would call themselves ‘straight rum’ if they wished, whilst the made-up ones would simply be ‘rum’? Wouldn’t the word ‘straight’ work? What’s sure is that we only had one, or perhaps two straight rums today.

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