Must say I liked the experience of Rumish, the NA spirit, I'm about to finish the 350ml bottle. So there is the possibility to feel that "bite" also for us who have decided to move on from alcohol.

To my disappointment there appears not to be a single NA whisky easily available, but many other NA spirits, probably meant to be parts of cocktails, but I have always preferred neat. Think I will try them, maybe a bottle a month. Will report next time I get an NA rum!

Oh duh, for some reason I thought it was a brand of rum.

I propose one of the animatronic pirates from the pirates of the Caribbean as an avatar for our rum pirate captain Viggorous.

As I scrolled through those pics, I couldn't help but sub-vocalize what each of them says/sings. I guess I went to Disneyland a bit too much.

Well, I've gone and done it (I supposed I'd best oblige to suppress any mutinous itches ITT).

This one was the only one that didn't give me the creeps to look at, **** I hate dolls.

All I need now is a fitting undertitle. Just kidding... Unless?

Next rum tasting has been purchased, bit of a mixed bag this time, with the flagship being a Bristol Spirits Cuban 13 year Sherry Cask finish at 43%. A couple of intriguing rhums included, too. Can't wait.

It's cool to learn of the Rumish, I'd never realized there was alcohol free liquor. I know somebody who would greatly appreciate to be able to drink rum but without the alcohol.

Wow I was kinda of kidding, wow you truly are a rum pirate now.

I wouldn't think of it as "alcohol free liquor". It's a non-alcoholic drink that's supposed to taste like liquor.

There's no fermentation process or anything else that would create alcohol. So the process is fundamentally different from that of making regular rum. OTOH, alcohol free beer is truly that. A regular beer that has no (or less than 0.5%) alcohol because the brewing process has an extra step in the end to remove the alcohol. Or the brewer used low sugar grains and a different kind of yeast to create no/little alcohol.

Good call.

So just at a bar atm and had the El Dorado 12yr old out of curiosity - have to say despite the suggestions it would have vanilla there is nothing on the initial taste or finish that I can tell really has that taste to it. So accordingly am a fan and will purchase a bottle.

It's indeed a great rum. I find it pretty vanilla-y, which goes for all El Dorado rums I've tried, but I suppose impressions differ.

Speaking of El Dorado, I just learned that there is a new 2021 version of the 15 year, which is one of my all time favorite rums, and the new one supposedly has zero added added sugar. This is very intriguing, I've gotta get me a bottle.

Oh really I’ll also keep an eye out for the no sugar added El Dorado 15.

Interesting

I've read a couple positive reviews about the new one.

The issue I have with El Dorado is that they've always claimed they don't add sugar to their rums even though hydrometer tests show otherwise. I've read somewhere that they claim the rum was so sweet because of having caramel in the barrel during the aging process. The problem with that official explanation is that caramel isn't even that sweet and that they add E150a for coloring anyway.

Since they started selling that new 15yo earlier this year, I'd assume you get that one if you buy today in a liquor store with decent turnover?

Yeah, I read something similar; they don't want to announce it as a new one because it would be confessing that the old one had added sugar. But it's not exactly a secret that it did, so it does seem rather silly.

I'd think so, I believe you can tell from the packaging, as the new one is in a dark box, while the old was in a lighter one, but don't quote me on that.

Just picked this up (the mysterious box, not the for-scale-banana).




It is this year's rum christmas calendar, a great addition to my Christmas traditions.

This year I've gone a different route than 1423's "24 Days of Rum". I found out that Rum Nation are doing a calendar too and it seems the rums are of a higher quality (cost) than those of the other one, even though the price for the box is the same (€70ish). Doesn't include glasses though, but I care more about what's in the glass so I'm not too bothered.

This one features 24 Rum Nation rums, the names of all written on the box, so the surprise factor won't be there. They come from 10 countries, so I'm going to miss out on some peculiar rums from strange places.

It seems like a fair trade-off, though. The rums in this one average 49.5 ABV and includes 6 of their "Rare Rums" small batch series, all of which are fairly pricey (>€100+) and relatively old (9-18 years), from reputable distilleries, including Worthy Park, Hampden and Savanna, to mention some household names.

Rum Nation buys barrels from around the world that age locally, then bring them to Europe, either Italy or England, and continue aging them there, often in other barrels to give a "finish". They blend it and di other finishing touches (sugar, occasionally), too.

Rum Nation was founded by Italian Fabio Rossi, who's also behind the whiskey brand Wilson & Morgan, but the Rum Nation brand was taken over by Danish importer MacY a couple of years ago.

I've had some Rum Nation rums, and in my experience they've mostly been good to very good, but rarely great. Though it bears mentioning that I haven't tried any of their higher end rums yet so that's probably part of why I haven't been blown away yet. I hope that will change over the coming month.

Love the banana for scale callback.

Looks like a happy December...

The banana reminds me of a great fried banana dessert I had when living in London that was glazed with a rum sauce. Extremely tasty.

Sounds delicious.


It's December 1st, a blizzard is raging outside, and I have a rum to enjoy, very lovely. I was hoping for something strong that would warm the bones, but it seems that it will be a soft start.

Rum Nation Panama 10 years, 40%.

Aged 10 years in ex-Jack Daniels casks, light color. Light, sweet nose, fruit and honey. A really nice nose.

Quite sweet in the mouth, a fair bit of oak, orange, dried fruit, milk chocolate, some spices. Aftertaste is not particularly interesting.

It's definitely not bad but this is like so many other Spanish rums out there, and for a €45 rum, that's somewhat underwhelming compared to what else you can get at that price (unless light Spanish style rums are exactly your thing, in which case you probably wouldn't regret buying this). The nose is nice. 7/10.


Rather boring start to the calendar, but otoh when I looked over the rums on the list, this one (and it's Guatemalan counterpart) are probably the least interesting ones on paper, and if this is the least interesting rum that's a good sign. There are two more Panama rums included, too, but both of them are considerably pricier.

Speak of the devil...

2. Rum Nation Guatemala Gran Reserva, 40%.

Not sure how old it is as it seems to have been aged twice, but at least 4 years in ex-Bourbon casks.

Light color, sweet honey nose, abricot, dried fruit, nice nose. Very typical, but not in a bad way.

In the mouth it's sweet, soft, similar impressions as the nose, some spices, nuttiness, mint, a bit of warmth which is pleasant. Aftertaste lingers a bit but is nothing special.

As far as more or less run-of-the-mill €45 Spanish style rums go, this isn't bad. But again, it pales in comparison to many other rums available at that price range . 7/10

Fingers crossed #3 was more exciting. Really enjoy your reviews, thanks for doing that!

Much obliged - I was pleased to find a very different type of r(h)um today!

Todays rum comes from Madeira, specifically the Engenho Novo distillery. The same distillery is also behind the William Hinton brand that I've come across in previous rum calendars, which iirc I liked.

3. Rum Nation, Ilha de Madeira naturel agricole, 50%

The liquid is crystal clear, which makes sense as I believe it is unaged.

Strong nose, quite boozy, lots of "salty sea". After the initial booziness wears off more is revealed, a bit of sweetness.

Strong immediate impression in the mouth, but quickly softens and reveals some sweetness. A bit of pear and other common agricole notes. It evolves nicely and lingers in the mouth.

This can be drunk straight if agricole blanc is your thing, but it's probably mostly to be used as a mixer. I imagine it would make an excellent ti punch. It costs €33 which is pretty common for 50% agricole blanc in my experience. 8/10.

Very nice and pleasantly different from Spanish rum. 2 more rhums from this distillery awaits, one of which is a "Rare rum", I look forward to them.

Add me to the list thanking you for the efforts. Unlikely I'll ever be into rum enough to try the stuff you're tasting, but always interesting to hear thoughts.

Was drinking some Captain Morgan's spiced last night - first time drinking it in awhile. A real pirate's rum. Just shows for me how under-rated spiced rums are for me knowing there are better ones out there.

Seems interesting love to see it aged 5+ years.

Thanks for posting as you open these from your advent calendar.

Start stocking up for Christmas! Avoid the rush.

Was out on the town Saturday and did not feel particularly excited at the thought of alcohol yesterday, so I'm a bit behind on my calendar.

There are some very interesting rums ahead, the first from Guyana and the Demerara Distillers Ltd. distillery who are also behind El Dorado and other rum brands.

4. Rum Nation British Guyana, 7 years old Cask Strength, 59%.

Aged 7 years in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.

A powerful nose, boozey, fruity sweetness, other unspecified things going on, very interesting.

Sharp in the mouth, but the alcohol is by no means overpowering, it is very pleasant to drink straight. Oak and sherry is noticeable, fruitiness, sweetness and spiciness. Quite dry. Aftertaste lingers for a while and brings a lot of warmth and new impressions.

This rum is definitely the most interesting rum so far, this is something out of the ordinary. It's very balanced, it is sweetish, but less than other Demerara rum I've tried, it is very delicious and well-rounded. This is considerably pricier than the former three (€65) but even then there's a lot of bang for your buck. Simply an excellent rum. 8.5/10.

A 10 year version of the same rum exists (and costs the same), I would love to try that one as well.



The next rum is another step up, at least on paper, as the first of (thankfully!) several stops on Jamaica is made. A place I've come to absolutely adore rum-wise, and, along with agricole, probably my favorite type of rum at present.

This is from Worthy Park, an excellent distillery that I've already had the pleasure of getting acquainted with through a rum tasting.

5. Rum Nation Worthy Park 11 years, 2006-2017, 57%

11 years old, it is a blend of 4 rums from different second-fill Bourbon casks, 100% pot still.

Just a wonderful Jamaican pot still nose, so much fermented fruit and stuff going on, one could nose this for days and not exhaust the depth of this. Sharp and very fruity.

An explosion of impressions in the mouth, very estery, so much fruitiness that just unravels along with a prickling sensation in the mouth, wood, spices. Just what you dream of when you think Jamaican funk.
So much going on, it evolves and brings warmth and lingers for what seems like forever.

57% is not one fraction too high of an ABV, it carries the alcohol super well, and it would undoubtedly be a less interesting rum if that was lowered. It's incredibly well balanced considering how much is going on, just fantastic.

This is one of the rums I was most excited to try and it does not disappoint. It's a €110 rum so for mortals like me, it's a top shelf rum, but it is definitely one that justifies a high price. It makes me reflect on the fact that it might be a blessing in disguise that I'm not wealthy enough to consume copious amounts of rum of this quality on a daily basis, because that would be severely tempting if I could. This is definitely up there somewhere on the list of my all-time favorite rums. Magnificently delicious stuff. 9/10.