
July 29, 2018

Yet another little bag of rum

New stuff, or stuff that we’ve got a few months ago, let’s see what we have…

C.A.D.C. 12 yo 2006/2018 (43%, Compagnie des Indes, Venezuela, cask #VCA1, 384 bottles)

C.A.D.C. 12 yo 2006/2018 (43%, Compagnie des Indes, Venezuela, cask #VCA1, 384 bottles)
C.A.D.C. stands for Corporacion Alcoholes Del Caribe, a distillery’s that’s making Ron Cañaveral, which I’ve just never heard of (but then again, I’m strictly no rum expert). Colour: gold. Nose: a rather easy and rounded style of rum, very soft, with a little vanilla, some corn and maple syrups, cappuccino, café latte, and then a little earth that’s quite pleasant. No big rum but at least it doesn’t reek of ‘assorted flavourings’. Mouth: good! Again, it’s easy, but it’s got an orange-y freshness that works pretty well. More café latte, roasted nuts, Jaffa cakes… And no extra-sugar! (let’s not use that BS word, ‘dosage’, that some makers are trying to push these days as if their rums were champagne.) Finish: medium, clean, rather on oranges and milk chocolate. A touch of demerara sugar in the aftertaste. Comments: a clean, easy, well-balanced South-American. Good!
SGP:540 - 80 points.

Westerhall Estate ‘No. 10’ (40%, OB, Grenada, +/-2017)

Westerhall Estate ‘No. 10’ (40%, OB, Grenada, +/-2017)
I remember their ‘Plantation’ (not from the indie company) that was pretty okay (WF 75). Colour: amber. Nose: it’s rather fragrant, with rose petals and orange blossom at first, but it gets then more molasse-y, although there would also be a little aniseed and liquorice. Quite some coffee liqueur (Kahlua and Tia Maria and stuff) and charred/burnt oak. Mouth: I could quaff this! It’s rather rich, perhaps mildly sweetened, and certainly with even more coffee and liqueurs made thereof than on the nose. Burnt molasses, caramel, toffee..; What’s really good within this style is that you don’t feel that it’s been doctored/sugared. Finish: medium, perhaps a tad sweeter this time, but that’s okay. More Kahlua. Comments: I’m certainly not against this style. Very Latino, without the excessive sugar that often encountered when trying these.
SGP:550 - 78 points.

Sancti Spiritus 18 yo 1999/2018 (46%, Kill Devil, Cuba, 344 bottles)

Hunter Laing managed to find a nice niche within the rum world. Well done! Colour: gold. Nose: superb, one of the nicest – or at least the most characterful – Cubans I could try. Imagine a blend of plasticine with fresh mushrooms and almond oil. Funny and very nice – and pretty intriguing. Really curious about the palate, as other Sancti Spiritus I could try have been more, say ‘middle-of-the-road’ (yet good)… Mouth: it’s as if there was some pot-still rum inside. I think they have some, by the way. Liquorice, grapefruits, more plasticine, aniseed, caraway, a little tar, a drop of brine… Finish: medium, tarry, a tad metallic. Comments: it’s rather less fresh and easy than other Sanctis I could try. I like it quite a lot, we may even call it a little ‘aguardiente-y’. I know, I know…
SGP:452 - 84 points.

Foursquare 2005/2018 (59.8%, Liquid Treasures, joint bottling with The Rum Mercenary, Barbados, barrel, 312 bottles)

Foursquare 2005/2018 (59.8%, Liquid Treasures, joint bottling with The Rum Mercenary, Barbados, barrel, 312 bottles)
Let’s see if this one’s as potstilly as others. What, don’t you like that new barbarism? Colour: deep gold. Nose: no, no full pot-still character here, rather a rounded, gently charred/caramelly profile, with some toffee and roasted peanuts and pecans. With water: some earth coming through, as well as a little sawdust. Mouth (neat): tense, orange-y, cake-y, caramelly. Notes of burnt sugar. With water: the oranges win it. A little caramel, a little cane syrup. Finish: medium, toasted, gentle. Comments: very good but not quite my preferred style of Foursquare. That’s the thing with some rum distilleries, they produce various styles and the name alone doesn’t always mean much. In other word, they’re not Lagavulin.
SGP:541 - 81 points.

As we often do, let’s simply have a wee Jamaican for the road… (that expression will soon get streng verboten!)

Hampden 16 yo 2001/2018 (60.7%, Hunter Laing for The Whisky Barrel, Jamaica, 265 bottles)

Hampden 16 yo 2001/2018 (60.7%, Hunter Laing for The Whisky Barrel, Jamaica, 265 bottles)
It’s always reassuring when bottlers would admit that these kinds of bottlings are ‘cask strength’. Colour: light gold. Nose: may we see the marque? This is pure pressed cucumber with liquid smoke and olive oil, plus fermenting seaweed and Exxon’s best diesel oil. Wonderfully extreme. With water: amazing. Caper, samphire, new plywood, formica, bakelite, all that. Mouth (neat): extreme indeed. Black olives, smoked, plus anchovies, smoked. All that having being cooked in some insane kind of tar-and-liquorice sauce. With water: what, strawberries? Indeed, there’s that funny molecule in some heavy spirits, can’t quite remember the name just now. Rather strawberry yogurt. Finish: long, wonderfully salty, brine-y, tarry. Comments: this style would make Ardbeg taste like Glenkinchie in comparison. Now it’s the kind that we shouldn’t like too much, according to a new doxa that’s slowly making inroads into digital rumdom. Like, we shouldn’t like Sharknado or Dawn Of The Dead. Pfff…
SGP:363 - 91 points.

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