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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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March 21, 2021 |
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Good idea! (Are you expecting any monies for that, S.?) |
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Mhora 'Pot Stilled' (43%, OB, South Africa, +/-2020) 
White rum distilled from ultra-fresh local sugarcane called 'Nkomazi'. There's a whole story behind it but this is Sunday, is it not? Colour: white. Nose: ah, plasticine and French-army shoe polish, olives, anchovy brine, plaster dust, model glue, new Chinese electronics (well, electronics) and pickled gherkins. Reminds of those French/Thai rums they make in, well, in Thailand. Mouth: pretty good stuff, appropriately dirty, perhaps a tad sweet too (raw sugar) and not immensely deep, but nicely fermentary and fat. Now I liked the nose better. Finish: it's lost its esters and got really sweeter, with strawberry yoghurt, bananas and pineapples. Comments: an entrancing nose, a cool arrival on the palate, but it went a little pear-shaped after that. Worth trying.
SGP:642 - 75 points. |
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HSE 'Small Cask 2004' (46%, OB, Martinique, +/-2019) 
Habitation Saint-Etienne's own Quarter Cask version, except that there's a vintage statement. No no-age-no-vintage blandola here. Colour: red amber. Nose: all overripe banana and coconut wine, ylang-ylang and jasmine, hibiscus tea, then mangos, probably from the QCs. It's very fragrant, perhaps even a tad too fragrant to a malt enthusiast, with a bourbony side that's even hinting to rye. Perhaps a little heady, to tell you the truth. Mouth: the oak's very apparent, with a lot of liquorice, teak oil, black tea, some cinnamon, rosehip tea, more black tea, even more black tea, then more liquorice and mint… Feels a bit 'lab', but the lab was good. Finish: long, sweet, still extremely aromatic and floral. Comments: a little extreme, a little pushy and engineered. Wood technology in rum, that was bound to happen. But of course it's good…
SGP:741 - 82 points. |
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St. Lucia 11 yo 2005/2016 (53.8%, Plantation, Extreme N°1, 60th Anniversary LMDW)
Sadly finished in cognac casks, the equivalent to adding pineapples to pizza, but there… Colour: deep gold. Nose: nice, really, on spicy and aromatic woods, balsa, also hibiscus, wisteria, liquorice, olives, cinnamon cake, cedar wood, hawthorn tea… It's all pretty gentle so far and certainly not extreme. With water: really nice, on more balsa wood, cedar wood, cinnamon, rather a little earth, rosewood, raspberries, incense, rose petals… Mouth (neat): very good heavy style, very liquoricy, rich, herbal, with many rotting fruits and wee bits of salted anchovies. With water: a curious Islay style, some sour fruits, preserved peaches and mangos, some brine… A bit loose perhaps, not truly focused, but good for sure. Finish: rather long, curiously dissonant. Hope that's not the cognac. Mint, raspberry, peaches, olives and salted liquorice, perhaps not the most coherent of all combos. Comments: really good for sure, but a little too multidimensional for me.
SGP:642 - 80 points. |
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C.A.D.C. 2005/2019 (49%, Silent Ambassador, Venezuela, 132 bottles)
Rum from Corporacion Alcoholes Del Caribe. Remember, as they would tell you on the label, 'bibere humanum est'. Poor Venezuela… Colour: deep gold. Nose: white chocolate and custard, sweet pudding, vanilla fudge, wee whiffs of balsa wood, blancmange, iced nougat, cassata… I'd call this 'very gourmand' so far. Mouth: some lighter style of rum, but there is some depth to it, with bamboo shoots, vanilla, touches of salt, cane syrup, demerara sugar, cake, shortbread, matcha tea… Finish: medium, sweet, a little earthy. Comments: not earthshattering, and 99.5% of all rums aren't anyway (to a mat lover), but clearly good and pleasant. A thinner style, but at least no one's tried to disguise the reality here, it is thin, dispensable columny spirit indeed, but a very good one within this style.
SGP:630 - 81 points. |
Some power and some depth please… |
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Lluidas Vale 14 yo 2006/2020 (56.8%, The Duchess, Jamaica, cask #38) 
This is Worthy Park. Apparently, they have restricted the use of their brand name, which is a pretty stupid move that a few arrogant Scots – their name escape me - have been trying to do for ages. Alert, dead-end street! Colour: deep gold. Nose: menthol and liquorice, acetone and ammonia, green walnuts, mustard, olives, overripe bananas. With water: same. New plywood at Ikea's, new plastics, new Tesla, leatherette… Mouth (neat): so very good, acetone-y at first, ultra-dry and grassy, then marvellously liquoricy and salty. With water: Worthy Park as usual. Salty, olive-y, tarry, with rotting bananas at the fruit section. A little stewed cabbage, perhaps. Finish: long, focused, salty, tarry. Tiny pickled lemons in the aftertaste. Comments: I don't quite remember which distillery this was stemming from, but it's wonderful high-ester rum for sure. Monymusk, am I wrong? In any case, an Islayfication of Jamaica by the owners would not be such a good idea, if you ask me. Way too soon! Wait, wasn't this Long Pond? High-ester Appleton?
SGP:463 - 88 points. |
 Check the index of all rums we've tasted so far
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