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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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October 16, 2022 |
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Again, rum at random
As they come, with just one relatively silly apéritif… But first... |
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A word of caution
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are done from the point of view of a malt whisky enthusiast who, what's more, is aboslutely not an expert in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or any other spirits. Thank you – and peace! |
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Abuelo XII anos 'Two Oaks' (40%, Panama, +/-2021) 
Is this really XII – 12 – twelve? As long as it's not 2 years and 12 oaks… Colour: orange gold. Nose: molasses everywhere, plus corn syrup, stuff from Kellogg's, and a grassy development that I'm certainly not finding un-nice. Towards sugarcane, which is obviously pleasant. Nutshell, a pleasant nose. I know, minimum service. Mouth: way too sweet, as expected, but with a ton of crushed ice and the juice of one large lemon, I would imagine I could drink a small glass of this. Finish: long but extremely sweet and cloying. Perhaps at 5 or 6°C? Comments: ridden with spirit caramel and probably for cocktails only. Very unpleasant sugariness remaining on your tongue for a long time.
SGP:830 - 60 points. |
Right, everything will fetch 90+ now… (grin) |
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Mount Gay 6 yo 'The Madeira Cask Expression' (55%, OB, Barbados, Master Blender Collection, 2706 bottles, 2022) 
Not a brand we're trying very often, and that's probably a shame. Colour: gold. Nose: it's true that as whisky drinkers, we'd rather have our rums without any obvious wine influence, al natural. On the other hand, as it is in Scotland, it is traditional to reuse empty wine barrels that used to be shipped to the Caribbean. In this case, the result is rather dry and shy, grassy, certainly pleasant, but with a feeling that it'll rather happen on the palate. With water: leafy. Some cigars, some fruit skins (banana), a touch of camphor. Mouth (neat): way more expressive than on the nose, with bananas stewed in curry sauce, some tobacco, and some lovely citrusy notes that would indeed lift it. With water: gets a little sweetish, which is not quite for us, but there's a nice balance and once again, some bananas in curry sauce, with a touch of mustard and honey. Finish: medium, a little sweet indeed. Comments: wondering if it's been 'adjusted' at some point, but if they've used sweet malmsey casks, well, we do know the attacker.
SGP:641 - 82 points. |
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Foursquare 2021 'LFT White' (62%, Habitation Velier, Barbados, 2022) 
Right, 100% pot still, 100% Barbados cane and half a kilo esters per hlpa, I think we've been expecting this since around 1920, even if it's only white… Colour: white. Nose: full on acetone, ammonia, crushed olives, brand new wardrobe from Ikea's, Russian-made wood varnish, capers, elderflowers, gherkin brine and then the blackest black salted liquorice. I can't see what we shouldn't like here. With water: little change. Mouth (neat): superb. Salted strawberries, tarry peaches, smoked bananas, and indeed olives, gherkins, tiny pickled lemons and onions, plus capers everywhere. Have we mentioned varnish? With water: even better, with pure sugarcane juice chiming in (yet it was molasses, right?) as well as small earthy pears as they have in Domfrontais calvados. A little less on gasoline when skilfully reduced (yeah yeah yeah). Finish: long, with some salted lemon now, and those pears but that may be the youth. Salty finishes work better than a Jimmy Page solo. Acetone is back in the aftertaste; this baby wouldn't leave you alone. Comments: hell and pestilence, this is perfect white rum!
SGP:563 - 90 points. |
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Foursquare 17 yo 'Isonomy' (58%, OB, Barbados, 2022) 
Seventeen years, that's a proper age! This is a 'single blend', so batch + column, so I suppose we shouldn't expect the same kind of knack this time. As for the name here, I would suppose the next bottling will be named 'Democracy'. We cannot wait… Colour: amber. Nose: the tropical aging starts to feel, with some thicker tar, more concentrated flower essences, whiffs of sandalwood, even incense, garam masala… It's as if at this age, the pot-still part would be winning over, although this remains delicate and 'kind of lighter'. Well, after the White, they're all going to be lighter. With water: flowers and varnish, honeysuckle, acacia... Mouth (neat): caramel, curry, allspice. With water: indeed, fudge, Frappuccino (apologies), hazelnut liqueur, even Bayley's (renewed apologies), and triple-sec. The column is having the upper hand this time. Finish: medium, easier, sweeter… And moreish. Comments: I don't think you could really beat the white LFT, but we're close. I hope they are keeping some mature 'pure' pot-still FS for later.
SGP:641 - 89 points. |
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Foursquare 16 yo (61%, La Maison & Velier, Barbados, Magnum series #1, Elliot Erwitt Edition, 2022) 
A story about the Magnum agency and magnum bottles. We've been at the launch event in Paris, it was lovely. But we are Philistines… Colour: gold; Nose: whiffs of burnt tyres (Avons, not the best) and cakes, pinecones, Golden Grahams, then hibiscus and jasmine (a little)… With water: some notes of piney cognac or something. Young Borderies ex-new Limousin. Mouth (neat): very Foursquare this time, close to the Isonomy, with something a little earthier. Perhaps. With water: a sweeter Foursquare, more on triple-sec (triple sec is not sec at all, go figure) and cane syrup. Finish: rather long, with touches of liquorice and menthol on top of cane syrup. Comments: a tad more sweet and syrupy, but still super-good. Oh and 1.5 litres!
SGP:651 - 86 points. |
Another one from that spectacular Magnum series by Velier… |
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Hampden 5 yo 2016 (60%, La Maison & Velier, Jamaica, Magnum series #1, Elliot Erwitt Edition, 2022)
This should be a HLCF, which means 500-700gr esters/HLPA, so pretty high. This note will be very short, I haven't much of it even if it's a originally a magnum. Ha! Colour: light gold. Nose: the usual olives kept in mango vinegar and brine, plus a softer side, with quinces, mirabelle tarte, some mint and some camphor… It is pretty delicate, not an Hampden that will tear you apart. With water: some chocolate liquorice. Or chocolate-flavoured liquorice allsorts. Mouth (neat): heavy yet elegant, starting with williams pears, going on with a lot of salted liquorice and even a wee cup of mezcal. With water: same plus pineapples and more olives. Finish: long and pretty coastal. Seawater, olives, liquorice, chocolate, grapefruits. Comments: very classy, feels rather older than just 5.
SGP:562 - 87 points. |
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Saint James 15 yo 2004+2006 (45%, La Maison & Velier, Martinique, Magnum series #1, Elliot Erwitt Edition, 2022)
In my modest experience, some relatively lighter strength goes well to Saint James' agricoles. Colour: orange amber. Nose: epitomically agricole indeed, with some warm praline and marmalade, some chiselled cane juice honey, then an extremely long savoury and mentholated development. Extremely brilliant and even pretty fascinating. Sumptuous notes of caraway, clove, jasmine, old unlit Virginia cigarettes and beeswax. A lot of beeswax, always for the better. Mouth: a little extractive, with touches of sour old wood, but that's not a problem at all and would rather remind us of some very old cognacs. Many dried fruits, pears, apricots, raisins, pineapples, then a touch of leather and the aforementioned tobaccos, with some liquorice progressively moving to the front. Finish: long and indeed pretty much on liquorice, tobacco and marmalade. Some fresh citron eau-de-vie in the aftertaste, plus that old cognac. Comments: probably my favourite within the magnums. There's also a Mount Gay but we'll try that one next time.
SGP:661 - 88 points. |
Another French rum please… |
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Bellevue 23 yo 1998/2021 (61%, HNWS Taiwan, Guadeloupe, bourbon barrel, cask #17, 109 bottles)
This baby was bottled in Scotland. We've already tried some stupendous Bellevues, it is the largest distillery in Guadeloupe (which indeed includes Marie-Galante), with almost 1mio litres of rum of agricole type per year. … Colour: gold. Nose: perhaps a little blocked, shy, but I'm sure that's the high ABV. Gentle and vanilla-ed. Let's move on… With water: and bingo, dandelions, beeswax, honeysuckle, wisteria… Mouth (neat): a little hot. Pineapple liqueur, caramel, a little varnish, even notes of gin? Nah… With water: and voilà, salted liquorice, olives, pinewood, pepper… Having said that, I believe it remained a little softer than other Bellevues 1998, even if some chili-like touches would pop out too later on.. Finish: long and really very caney this time. Oranges and chillies in the aftertaste. Stings a little. Comments: this is why God invented water after having invented rum/rhum (gee-ee-ee, S.!)…
SGP:651 - 86 points. |
Let's make the last one a Caroni, as we often do… |
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Caroni 24 yo 1998/2022 (61.9%, Whisky Concerto, refill American oak, cask #12)
Aged for 11 years in the Tropics, then in Europe I would suppose. Bottled for our friends in Hong Kong. Colour: full gold. Nose: it is a rather deviant and intellectual Caroni, really all on old books, furniture polish, old library, miso soup and umami sauce, old pinewood, parsley, turpentine, old black tea… A monk's study (from any religion, really). With water: more of all that, with a beautiful dryness. An old humidor full of old Cuban puros… Mouth (neat): you would be forgiven for believing this is a very old agricole. Thick and heavy pine resin, propolis, pipe juice, miso indeed, wax, half-evaporated triple-sec and chartreuse, even Underberg…… With water: rather huge camphor, liquorice, cough syrup, then apricot liqueur and jam to round this off. Or what our Swiss friends call Apricotine. Finish: rather long, appropriately softer, with a citrusy signature, plus black tea. Comments: did it come through that I liked this very herbal one really a lot?
SGP:572 - 91 points. |
Because life is short. And this time again, this will start with a humble apéritif... |
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Old Man 'Project Three Dark Expression' (40%, OB, blend, +/-2021) 
Some blended rum by a fairly recent German company named 'Spirits Of Old Man'. Colour: gold. Nose: rounded and molassy, with hints of chicory coffee and pancake syrup, plus rather a lot of caramel and chocolate. Nothing bad to say, well not much to say altogether. The devil usually lies on the palate… Mouth: light and sugared, pretty much all on coffee and caramel, as if Starbucks would be behind this brand. It is not totally unpleasant, but it's clearly too sugary to the malt drinker. Kahlúa! Finish: medium, too caramelly and liqueury, but it's rather clean. Comments: I would suppose no one's using this baby as a sipper anyway but I'd say it's a good rum – within this style of rum.
SGP:720 - 72 points. |
Good, the gloves are off… |
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Outlaw Rum 'Double Cask 2021 Edition' (43%, Outlaw Rum Co., 1400 bottles)
Some Caribbean rum aged in Speyside and Highland single malt casks and bottled in Scotland. We tried their Islay Cask earlier this year and thought it was pretty good (WF 82). This should be gentler and more logical, in a way. Colour: light gold. Nose: fresher, more on pears and apples, with touches of putty and paraffin. Very pleasant sugar cane, vanilla, camphor, menthol… All this really works, with a pleasant freshness. Mouth: rather grassier, with some liquorice this time, marmalade, soft liquorice, a tiny bit of black olive too, then rounder flavours, toffee apple, fudge, butterscotch… Finish: medium, fresh, a little more on oranges, liquorice again, touch of salt (olives)… Comments: very fine. I would suppose a version at 46% vol. would work a little better yet.
SGP:551 - 82 points. |
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Vieux Sajous 5 yo 2017/2022 (52.14%, La Maison & Velier, clairin, Haiti, Caroni cask)
A Caroni cask ? I would suppose with this new mania of reusing 'branded' casks, we'll keep seeing the name 'Caroni' on bottles even after the year 2100. I mean, what's the lifespan of a 'refill ex-Caroni cask', from a marketing POV? And does a clairin need Caroni anyway? But at least this is fully aged in that cask, so enough chitchat… Colour: white wine. Nose: enough twaddle indeed, this is immense, shock-full of acetone and olives, with mangos, green tobacco and vanilla waiting in ambush. With water: some more delicate notes of vegetables, artichokes and eggplants, plantain, then turpentine and many kinds of varnishes, plus fermenting fruits. Fermenting plums, perhaps? Mouth (neat): oh! Whether you should rather call this a Haitian-Trinidadian blend or not, I just love this olive + liquorice + varnish combo. No prisoners taken. With water: special woods, pine perhaps, some kind of mango liqueur with a little tar, olives… Finish: same for a very long time. The varnishes have never totally left, but they would just work. Comments: massively good. Now go try to tell what was Caroni and what is clairin in this fantastic combo…
SGP:562 - 89 points. |
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Caroni 20 yo 1999/2019 (47%, Alambic Classique, Trinidad, cask #19099, 123 bottles)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: it is a more extractive one than usual, with more pine and fir woods, more tar, turpentine and linseed oil (a painter's workshop), putty, carbolineum, fir bud liqueur, Fernet Branca… A little intriguing, but as far as I'm concerned, this old-school herbal-liqueur-type nose just does it. Let's check the palate… Mouth: some rather heavy wood, more fir, cones, needles, also rotting oranges and bananas (no big deal), and first and foremost, a lot of tar. I'm not sure the entire world would like this as much as I do, but after all, there are/were only 123 bottles. Finish: long, tarry, extractive, piney. In short, not changes. Pretty drying aftertaste. Comments: extreme in its own, tarry way.
SGP:473 - 87 points. |
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Ghana 2020/2022 (66.5%, The Nectar of The Daily Drams for LMDW, Antipodes, Ghana)
The great people at The Nectar etc. were particularly proud of this young African rum at Whisky Live Paris this year, and if you ask me, rightly so. It's made from fresh cane juice, with some long fermentation and a distillation in pot-stills. Colour: gold. Nose: massive but noseable, with a little acetone once more, ylang-ylang (and bigly!), green oranges and really a lot of kirschwasser. That could be the young age and the high strength, let's see… With water: fresh sawn plywood, paraffin, pumpernickel, young malt whisky, even rye… Another one that's a little 'meta'. Mouth (neat): oh… Lapsang souchong, overripe bananas, menthol cigarettes, guavas, mirabelles, apricots… And varnish. Let's tame it. With water: back to pure rum, back to varnish, liquorice, overripe bananas, olives, putty, paraffin… Tends to lose a little bit of focus now, but it is only 2 and is probably already better than 99.9% of the world's production. Finish: long, on putty and paraffin, with some saltiness in the aftertaste., as well as a floral side. Geranium and banana. Comments: rather a revelation.
SGP:562 - 87 points. |
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Barbados 21 yo 2000/2022 (49%, Rum Sponge, 241 bottles)
Our friend The Sponge is at it again, this one too was a hit at WL Paris. Colour: deep gold. Nose: a thicker, heavier Bajan, with more tar, violets, liquorice, rye, linoleum, turpentine, thin mints, amaretti… It is really intriguing because you would expect something lighter and less 'fat' from Barbados. Let's dig deeper… Mouth: totally, unexpectedly, superbly fat and heavy, petroly, salty, almost thick, oily… And these notes of tarry butterscotch (I'm sure I've had something like this when I was a kid, in the 1960s…) are very lovely too. Big surprise. Finish: long, salty, tarry. Marmalade and tar liqueur in the background, to keep it civilised. Superb piney oak integration. Comments: I'm absolutely not sure about the distillery here, and sure it is actually a tad oaky/piney, but I just love this kind of tarry heaviness. And 49% vol. is a perfect strength too.
SGP:472 - 90 points. |
Since we were in Ghana just two minutes ago… |
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Mhoba 2017/2022 'Rare Cask' (60.8%, LMDW, South Africa, Antipodes Collection, cask #9, 286 bottles)
Pardon me? South Africa? We've only tried a Mhoba once, two years ago, and it was a white one at 43%. There was a little too much strawberry yoghurt, according to my note, but (troubled) waters have passed under the bridge since back then, have they not… Colour: deep gold. Nose: carbon dust, fresh concrete, olives and capers, spent engine oil, leatherette… Well this is a little 'Jamaican', is it not? With water: between hardwood sawdust and damp plaster, with these tarry and piney notes flying around in the background. Mouth (neat): between us, I find it great that many young niche-y distilleries around the globe would now try to kind of replicate the Jamaican (and Caroni's) style, Carbon, diesel oil, tar, olives, varnish, high-concentration raspberry spirit… With water: well done, even if you should not add too much water. Brine, wee bits of Swiss cheese (or rather Comté), a little caraway, violets and lavender sweets… Would tend to become gentler over time. Finish: sameish. Butterscotch in the aftertaste. Comments: once again, I am impressed. The whole world is making excellent spirits these days, if global warming and wars do go on, this will all end like a gigantic monk orgy. Amen.
SGP:363 - 85 points. |
Indeed, spirits are like Champagne, in victory you deserve them, in defeat you need them (W. Churchill). Anyway, a last one… Let's make it a Jamaican. |
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Jamaican Rum 14 yo 2007/2021 'JMWP' (58.1%, The Whisky Blues, for The Alcohol Bar & The Whisky Seeker, cask #025, 274 bottles)
With a marque such as JMWP, this cannot not be Jamaica's Worthy Park, let's see… Colour: deep gold. Nose: someone's smoked butterscotch and charred beechwood while we weren't watching. There's rather a lot of custard too. With water: metal polish, putty, engine oil, wee olives (those small pink ones). Mouth (neat): absolutely splendid. Varnish yet again, deep-steeped green tea, some bitter pine needles… Actually the jury's still out, this is getting a little tough – but yeah, 58.1%. With water: we got it exactly right (no, no shame at all) with some bananas coated with liquorice and tar syrup. Finish: long, dry, excellent, salty. Comments: WP's got a narrower and straighter style, no? Unless JMWP would rather mean something else, it is not an official Worthy Park marque/mark anyway, those would rather look like WPL, WPM, WPH, WPE etc.
SGP:462 - 88 points. |
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Hampden 12 yo 'HGML' (63.6%, OB for LMDW, bourbon barrel, cask #23, 2022, 275 bottles)
The marque HGML suggests 1000 to 1300 grams esters per hectolitre pure alcohol (HLPA), which is pretty huge, but not the hugest. Colour: gold. Nose: these heights lead to carbon notes, ammonia, brake pad dust, lots of leaves, or fig stems and leaves (with that 'milk')… With water: glue and varnish, bitter almonds, olives, rosehip… Mouth (neat): acrid, rather extreme, with notes of herring, rollmops, pipe tobacco, rotting fruits, black olives… With water: rotting fruits and more pipe tobacco, as well as very heavy and heady molasses. Muck! Finish: long, a tad sweeter, full of liquorice and even more pipe tobacco. Olives are back in the aftertaste. Comments: olives running the show. Do they grow olives within Hampden Estate? This one's just superb.
SGP:373 - 90 points.
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 Check the index of all rums we've tasted so far
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