
May 21, 2017

Five rums as they come

Really at random! You may expect some rollercoasting… And hopefully one or two proper malternatives.

Secret Distillery 18 yo 1999/2017 (46%, Van Wees, Ultimatum, Nicaragua, barrel #50, 333 bottles)

333 bottles, isn’t that half-devilish? Colour: gold. Nose: this is Spanish style rum, but it’s fruit-driven and I don’t seem to find any molassy notes, rather a nice combination of copper and pineapples, then overripe apples and bananas. So it’s Latino rum au naturel. Mouth: it’s clean and it’s fruity, and there are bananas, papayas, and touches of coconut. No molassy notes, rather a little honey and, perhaps, sugarcane syrup. Candy sugar. No deep rum, but it does the job. Finish: medium, clean, just a tad sugary, which is normal given the style and the country. Nice hints of cut grass. Comments: there’s a sucrosity, but not sugar as such. One of my favourite Latino rums this year! SGP:540 - 82 points.

Black Rock 16 yo 2000/2017 (57.6%, The Whisky Barrel, Rabbie’s Rum, Barbados, cask #18 BRS)

Aw, this should get crazy… The other name for Black Rock is West Indies Rum Distillery (W.I.R.D). Colour: straw. Nose: high esters, Jamaican-style Barbadian rum, coming complete with UHU glue, tyre repair kit, pineapples, olives, and fermenting seaweed. What could go wrong? With water: plus ink, carbon paper, and fresh concrete. Mouth (neat): totally the opposite of the Nicaraguan. Brine, apple vinegar, olive brine, smoked oysters, lemon juice, and raw mezcal. Hits you right between your eyebrows. With water: more salt, smoked stuff, and lemony extravaganzas. Finish: very long, papery, in a good way. Smoked cardboard and burnt fish. Or the other way ‘round… Comments: these Black Rocks are not debatable. Having said that, it’s a distillery I’m not too familiar with, don’t we learn every day? SGP:464 - 90 points.

Botran 15 yo ‘Reserva Solera’ (40%, OB, Guatemala, +/-2017)

Ouch. Let’s be honest, the use of the word ‘solera’ with anything but sherry (and a few other wines) often sounds like ‘we’re trying to cheat on you’. But you never know… Colour: gold. Nose: of course, after the uproarious Black Rock, we don’t feel much. Hello? Molasses check, caramel check, corn syrup check… But other than that… Hello? Mouth: good news, it’s not sugary, it’s even pretty dry. Now it wouldn’t talk much, there are bananas, there’s some tinned pineapple, there’s some vanilla, and there are a few, very tiny winey touches. Let’s call them fermenting raisins. Finish: short, a little burnt. Comments: some shy rum, rather dry, a little boring, not quite a sipper in my opinion, but no scandals to indicate. Let’s move on… SGP:341 - 72 points.

Port Mourant 10 yo 2005/2016 (55%, Cave Guildive, Guyana)

So from Diamond, made in the old Port Mourant pot still, and bearing the MPM mark. I can’t see what could go wrong, especially since a Hampden by the same very distinguished Swiss bottler just blew me away a few weeks ago. Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s the young age that does the trick. We’re used to older, rather smoother Port Mourants (or Morants), but this is different, very briny, mezcaly, intense, rubbery (in a good way)… We’re almost nosing brand new wellies in a small shop somewhere in the Highlands of Scotland. Or a brand new Macintosh (yes we’re following through on those matters)… With water: I remember, a long time ago, having been a passenger in a fairly new Trabant, in East Berlin. And, just a few months ago, in an old Polski Fiat in La Habana. Mouth (neat): bang. Salt, lime, rubber, tar, smoked fish, and an ‘old’ pineapple. With water: salted leatherette and, oh miracle, touches of melons. Finish: the tail of the comet, with only lime and salt. A funny feeling. The rubber’s back in the aftertaste. Comments: such a smart selection. Uff Widerluege! SGP:463 - 90 points.

Eenie meenie…

Prichard’s Fine Rum (40%, OB, USA, +/-2017)

This was distilled in Tennessee, and apparently, it’s meant to be ‘the first authentic American Rum to be distilled in the United States since the early days of America’s history’. Yeah and? Now it’s also ‘a historically accurate recreation of the Colonial rums produced over 200 years ago.’ Uh… Colour: gold. Nose: it’s okay. A little varnish, some vanilla, a few marshmallows, and a touch of oak. Indeed this is relatively ‘fine’, and the wood was good. Mouth: seriously, this is relatively honest, and clearly unusual. It’s just as if you were eating (yes, eating) a whole pack of pipe tobacco. I don’t think I’ve ever found this much tobacco in any spirit. Smokers who’ve smoked untipped Cravens or Bensons in their younger days will understand what I mean… Finish: rather long, pleasantly sour, and indeed, totally tobacco-ish. Some caramel in the aftertaste. Comments: it’s a good surprise. The stories are a bit unlikely, but the product’s interesting. Distilling tobacco, that’s not a bad idea… ;-). SGP:372 - 77 points.

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