
July 17, 2022

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!

More rather lethal Jamaicans

Good, we had planned to do many Jamaicans last time, but we ended up tasting only Worthy Park and Hampden. I agree, no mean decision but as this is public service (yeah right), we need to try a few other Jamaicans today. Ethics, you know, while we'll do that only because no one could force us to do so. See what I mean…

Only problem, all these rums have been bottled at strengths so high that they could tear you apart if you're not careful. But we're strong (or we would have died ages ago)… (Wonderful little map done by those artists at The Whisky Exchange)

Long Pond 23 yo 1998/2022 (59.6%, Rest & Be Thankful, Jamaica, American oak barrel, 188 bottles)

107 gr esters/HLPA, that's pretty light. Not obligatorily a bad thing, in my book extreme Long Ponds can be a little challenging. Colour: straw. Nose: light? Say that again? This is pure earthy woods, eucalyptus, liquorice, gentian and celeriac, salsify… Nice and intriguing indeed, with probably 'the work of time'. With water: new sneakers and smoked rhubarb and cress. Brake fluid and diesel oil. Mouth (neat): whichever the esters, this is very tight, gherkiny, acetic, only slightly rubbery… And smoky, almost 'peaty'. With water: H2O works very well, making it loose and easy, more on cane juice and just bananas, plus mangos and old chardonnay. Finish: rather long, yet balanced and elegant. A salted and smoked fruit salad. Comments: holy featherless crow, we're too high already.
SGP:563 - 90 points.

Perhaps stay with Restful etc and drive to Clarendon/Monymusk…

Monymusk 21 yo 2000/2022 (62%, Rest & Be Thankful, Jamaica, American oak barrel, 144 bottles)

258 gr esters/HLPA this time. My, this is getting as silly as the ppm race at Bruichladdich, is it not? Colour: white wine. Nose: Chinese general store circa 1980, old riesling, sage and tarragon, pineapple wine, moutai, dried rambutan, tons of old raisins… This Jamaican is furiously Chinese, really. With water: stunning notes of Woolite and a whole pile of fresh-ironed cotton sheets. Whatever, I'm sure you get the picture. Mouth (neat): rather a little extraordinary, to put it mildly. Countach-level amounts of petrol and some hottish Indian curry, plus indeed bags of raisins. With water: saltier, more coastal, more on black olive brine and just big fat oysters. Do they have and eat oysters in Jamaica? Never been there, but it's in the pipe. Finish: very long, there. Wine vinegar, ashes and tar. Comments: do grs ester/hlpa correspond to ppms peat? Answers via email, you've got thirty minutes.
SGP:464 - 90 points.

Blasted, they've got more…

Monymusk 23 yo 1998/2022 (62%, Rest & Be Thankful, Jamaica, American oak barrel, 179 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: love this, there's branches, asparagus, salsify, parsnips, liquorice wood, turmeric and ginseng, in short a very lovely rooty earthiness. By the way, there are 232 gr esters/HLPA this time, which remains rather light and civilised. With water: paraffin, shoe polish, plasticine and, once again, Woolite and new sweaters by international brands, straight from the Champs-Elysées. Let's work beyond brands, if you agree (S., this is not the place!) Mouth (neat): saltier, rather more brutal, wilder than the 2000, with more gritty herbs, mints, earths… With water: no, this is equivalent. Salty lemon juice plus various herbs and grasses, oysters, clams… Not too sure about those clams (apologies, clams). Finish: long salty, awesome. We could quaff this with a seafood platter, chilled. Comments: same ballpark, we will never do halves, quarters or decimals anyway. Swollen heads, no thanks.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

All right, Rest & Be Thankful, three 90s in a row, and I mean them. Wait, they have yet another one (this is getting a little tough…)

Monymusk 21 yo 2000/2022 (59.4%, Rest & Be Thankful, Jamaica, American oak barrel, 181 bottles)

This time the ester count would be rather lower, with only 117 gr esters/HLPA. Colour: white wine. Nose: it is a little softer indeed, but it is still estery (let's not use that stupid word, funky) We're finding varnishes, putties, gums, notes of caramel, ultra-soft liquorice, fresh pinewood, a drop of mercurochrome… With water: cooling fluid and new sneakers, small sizes. I mean, the rubbers aren't that big this time. Mouth (neat): it's like peat, esters one day, esters always. What I mean is that even small amounts can decide on the overall profile, which, in this very case, would be pretty tarry. Pine needles too. With water: careful, this one does not swim too well. Old salty oils, pass. Finish: medium to long, very good, just not easy to pin down. Comments: very good, once more, it's just that the others were more assertive.
SGP:363 - 87 points.

Remember, Monymusk is Clarendon. It's not that we do not learn, it's that rum remains uncertain and that some main figures and characters are a little noisy, if I may. As they say, they wear Hawaiian shirts in their heads too.

Clarendon 1996/2022 (67%, The Colours of Rum, Wealth Solutions, cask #435094, 253 bottles)

You mean sixty-seven percent alcohol? May I call my lawyer? Colour: deep amber. Nose: the magic of European aging. While I fully understand the rationale behind 'keeping added value to location', in your glass, these old European ones are simply superior. Extraordinary ointments and embrocations, oils, precious woods, balsa.. and, right, sixty-seven percent. With water: varnishes. There isn't much you could do; it was a little extreme in the first place and will never quite become approachable. Mouth (neat): stop stop stop stop, this is way too strong, while we need our palate. Attempted murder on poor whisky blogger, this will cost you dearly, Mr Colour of Rum. With water: I think we got it right, by chance. Pencil shavings, kerosene, varnishes, tobacco, ultra-green green tea… It's just that water would make it even tighter, moe extreme, and dry. Dead end, no exit. Finish: very long, very extreme, totally dry and extremely huge. Comments: frankly, it was tough. Your brain would think it's great, but you heart (or belly) will preach patience and prudence. Seriously, it's a very tough and very dry drop.
SGP:372 – 86 points.

Perhaps more extremitie, so to speak (while I'm calling my lawyer, let's make a break)… Good, we're back.

Clarendon 26 yo 1995/2022 (65.7%, The Colours of Rum, Wealth Solutions, American oak, cask #433947, 260 bottles)

What a colour! Colour: old cognac. Nose: it's got the colours of an old cognac and indeed, it would start with notes of old cognac, but let's remember that aged spirits would tend to converge anyway as long as they're aged in similar woods. Raisins and pine resin, fir needles, eucalyptus, roasted peaches… and a rather massive quantity of ethanol. Let's remain careful as ever… With water: essential oils (thyme, mint), some camphor, the yearly production of a Scandinavian liquorice factory, plus really, loads of pine and fir needles. I believe this was aged in the tropics. Mouth (neat): heavily concentrated, with heavy liquorice fighting resins, ristrettos and oils. Water please… With water: in fact I love heavy piney and liquoricy flavours. There's even a wee saltiness (but there's no salt in rum), as well as some stewed fruits (peaches again) that would bring a semblance of fruity lightness. Quite. Finish: Comments: heavy and certainly oaky, but a little less tough than the 1996, and better balanced would I say. A perfect example of some weighty oakiness being a brilliant asset, as good oak and these kinds of power rums can tango extremely well.
SGP:463 - 91 points.

New Yarmouth 1994/2022 (66.7%, Swell de Spirits, Flashback Series, cask #435058)

Looks like retro-futurism has inspired yet another excellent bottler. Talking about the label, not about the spirits. This appears to be mainly tropical ageing too. In fact, it spent 24 years in the tropics, then 3 years in Europe for a good rest. Now careful, these cousins of Appleton can be extremely, well, extreme and shelter up to 1600 grs ester/HLPA. Colour: honeyed amber. Poetic license, you know. Nose: no, it's not heavy at this point, rather cakey and with fudge and nougat, rather ala Appleton. You cannot not think of some good agricoles, but at 66.7%, we shan't pursue this topic before we've added water. With water: gentle and firm, certainly caney, very nice, certainly more chamber music than pure funk. Vivaldi rather than Funkadelic. Mouth (neat): indeed, it's not heavy New Yarmouth. Some nuts and burnt sugar, corn syrup, coconut, and even a feeling of bourbon but that may be the super-high strength. Nougat. With water: very good, in my book and according solely to my own taste, this is the best you could find within this style. Moist orange cake, tangerine sherbet… Finish: medium, light-style, fresh and dapper. Comments: don't get me wrong, this is no gossamer rum, if you see what I mean, but it is the easier side of Jamaica.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Good, a little digestif and back to normal life. Let's find something 'segmenting'…

Jamaican Distillery 2019/2020 'Cuvée Daniel' (85.6%, L'Esprit, Great White Collection, still strength, 279 bottles)

Still strength indeed. I start to like to end our wee rum sessions with a white, I'll try to do that more often. Even when said white rum might be lethal and not covered by insurance. Colour: white as water. I remember, a few years back, we had distilled a few dozen litres of mirabelle and since I wasn't having enough bespoke empty bottles, as the yield had been surprisingly high, I had also filled a few empty bottles of mineral water. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, one of them eventually ended up on the work top in the kitchen. It's easy to guess what happened next… Nose: solvents, rotting bananas, olives, liquorice, pears, orange essence. Is it normal that I would be finding this very lovely? With water: these are very easy to reduce, ½ spirit and ½ water, swirl, and basta. Some fresher tropical fruits come through, as well as some rubber, waxes and tar, which would suggest this could be a useful Distillery starting with a W. Mouth (neat): you could take a few drops, you'd find more olives, varnish and a rather high quantity of esters. Cough, cough. With water: it's incredible how it got warm after reduction, first time I'm experiencing this well-known effect to this extent. Alcohol + water = heat. Other than that, indeed, could be a WP. I'm having their 'Rum Bar Overproof' on the side as we speak, and the parentage seems obvious, even if you cannot be 100% sure (and I'm no rum expert). Finish: long, sweet, olive-y. Comments: that's the main advantage of rum over whisky, you can have rum unaged and find it as brilliant as this one.
SGP:563 - 88 points.

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