More rums on Sunday


January 22, 2017

More rums on Sunday

I know we’ve said we’d do a verticale of Appleton today, but that’ll happen next time, not enough time for that just know. So let’s rather do another freewheeling rum session, that’s much less time-consuming!...

Plantation Trinidad 2001 (42%, Plantation, Trinidad, +/-2014)

Plantation Trinidad 2001 (42%, Plantation, Trinidad, +/-2015)

I find what Plantation and their owners Cognac Ferrand are so successfully doing quite fantastic, but I’m not a sucker for most of their rums – and that’s just my own taste – because they are adding a little too much sugar for me. I insist, if you like your rum sweet(ened) go for them! Oh and I love to know about distilleries… By the way the label mentions a ‘grand cru’ but I suppose that’s a fantasy appellation. Colour: gold. Nose: literally bursts with pineapples and honey. Mango chutney, a little cinnamon, and a few tarry notes flying around. Very pleasant nose, but problems usually only occur on our palate… Mouth: sweeter than necessary, but not too sweet or too cloying, so I think balance has been preserved. More candied tropical fruits (pineapples first) and a little more molasses and oak. Walnut cake. Finish: rather short, but clean. Cracked pepper on pineapple jam. Comments: it’s not heavy Caroni, but this goes down nicely. No treachery here despite the obvious doctoring, but you’ll still feel the need to brush your teeth, even after half an hour. SGP:730 - 78 points.

Matugga ‘Golden Rum’ (42%, OB, UK, +/-2016)

It’s supposed to be ‘Expertly Crafted Premium Rum’, and it’s distilled in pot stills in the UK, from imported East-African molasses. I say why not! Colour: gold. Nose: hey hey, this is nice! Totally English-style rum, that is to say rather petroly and phenolic, with everything we love in these English rums, that is to say olives, brine, oils, bakelite, tar… In short, this is quite Jamaican. Does the distillery lie in Brixton? Mouth: yes, good, albeit pretty ‘different’, both rounded/sweet and petroly/olive-y. Really good, well done! Like the notes of tarry pineapples. Finish: medium, a tad fruitier and easier. A lot of liquorice in the aftertaste. Comments: really, this is very good English-style rum. Beats most El Dorados if you ask me. Surprise surprise. SGP:533 - 83 points.

Don Q ‘Gran Anejo’ (40%, OB, Puerto Rico, +/-2015)

Puerto Rico is not exactly my favourite rum-producing place in the world (often too weak or too industrial), but you never know… This is supposed to be quite old, but again, you never know… Colour: gold. Nose: hello? Anybody in there? It’s extremely light and even diaphanous, the youngest Havana Clubs pack more punch. Perhaps hints of pineapples? Mouth: definitely Cuban-style. Light, a little spirity, without much depth. Some candy sugar. Finish: short, drier than expected, despite the vanilla. Comments: really very soft and light. What’s better I that they do not seem to have added much sugar or other additives. But it’s totally not a malternative – rather in the J&B category, in other words. SGP:430 - 70 points.

Rum, let’s talk…

South Pacific Distillery 10 yo 2003/2013 (54.8%, Fiji, Duncan Taylor, cask #18, 284 bottles)

We haven’t tried many, but these Fijians have been surprisingly excellent. Let’s check this one… Colour: straw. Nose: starts extremely well, quite tarry and petroly again, and brine-y at that, but quite bizarrely, it tends to lose steam and to fall on… tinned pineapples. With water: more bizarre behaviours, water makes it much shier and almost voiceless. Granted, not as voiceless as our Puerto-Rican friend, but still… Mouth (neat): seriously, this is very good, right between some tropical agricoles and some more phenolic Jamaicans. Tangerines, tar, liquorice, grapefruits… All good, all very good. With water: not sure it likes water much. A cat-rum, in other words. Gets a little dirty, but not quite dunder-dirty. Rotting pineapples? Finish: rather long, still a bit between both worlds. Comments: please do not get me wrong, this is excellent rum – certainly better than 99% of the world production. It’s just that we were expecting even more. SGP:542 - 82 points.

Jamaïque 2010 (63.4%, Ferroni, bourbon and rye, +/-2016)

A very interesting bottle by some very friendly people in Marseilles. First matured in bourbon wood, this anonymous Jamaican was then finished in ex-rye casks. In France, I suppose. Colour: gold. Nose: really unusual, and yet not totally un-classic. What strikes first is the wood, with shavings and sawdust, but the spirit is big enough to stand that and to complement the oak, creating unexpected aromas of aromatic herbs and flowers. Chartreuse in rum? In fact this seems to work. With water: as often, the oak comes out more. Tarry sawdust. Mouth (neat): extremely punchy, but that’s normal. The distillate’s also really got the upper hand here, and it’s very salty, tarry, and liquoricy. Flower jelly. With water: gotcha! At around 45% it becomes almost perfect, superbly fruity, admirably tarry/phenolic, and absolutely not oaky. Finish: long, and it reminds me of some old sweets by Krema we still have in France, called ‘Batna’. That’s not, mind you, a Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement, it’s some soft gum flavoured with both caramel and liquorice. Still love those… Comments: really super good – even if I may have liked the untouched spirit even better. Whether Worthy Park or not. SGP:542 - 83 points.

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