Drinking RUM before noon makes you a pirate, not an alcoholic.
12-08-2022
, 12:54 PM
Happy birthday Garick, I hope you didn't drink all at once 
I've been drinking a fair bit of rather similar brandy the past 8 days.
1. Joy bas VSOP armagnac (€52)
5 years in French oaks
Light amber
Fruit, a bit of honey, marmalade on the nose. A bit of wood, it's nicely elegant. Could've easily fooled me into thinking this was an agricole.
More power on the taste than I was expecting, oakiness, some warmth. Some fruit emerging gradually. The taste is a bit less vegetal than many agricoles, probably because it's made of grapes rather than fresh sugar cane juice, but there are many similarities.
I have no frame of reference but this is quite nice. 7.5/10.
2. Calvados VS DOZ de Dauzanges (€29)
At least 2 years in oak casks
Not so surprisingly, the nose is heavily apples. Some floral notes as well.
Taste is also apples, a bit or spice.
Tastes nice but isn't particularly interesting, though at less than $30 for a bottle it's probably fair enough. A decent cheap dram. 7.5/10.
3. Drouet VSOP Cognac Grande Champagne (~€52)
Up to 8 years in oak casks. Interesting considering the required age for calling something VSOP is just 4 years.
Most depth to this nose than the previous two, light, dried fruits, some sweetness, floral notes.
Quite sweet, very fruity, smooth. A bit of some spice I can't discern that gives a bit of edge to an otherwise homogenous impression. A bit of wood on the aftertaste as well.
Very easily drinkable and with just a bit of complexity that adds something more. 8/10.
4. Fransac Cognac XO (€75)
A mix of brandy eaux-de-vie, aged minimum 10 years in oak.
Nose is sweet, fresh fruit with ripe apples and floral notes. Easily the best nose yet. Elegant with a lot of different nuances.
Very smooth but more complexity emerges. Warmth, wood, floral and subtle sweetness, a bit of acidity. Very agricole-y. 8/10.
Easily the best so far.
... But not for long
5. Deau Cognac XO (€120)
Minimum 15 years of aging.
Wonderful nose, very rich, very elegant. Fresh and dried fruit.
Lots going on, fruit, some oak, sweetness. So smooth and refined.
Very delicious, but also rather pricey. 8/10
And now to something completely different
6. Drouet Pineau des charentes, 17.5% (€24)
A dessert wine of sorts. I quite like sweet wines, so it'll be nice to try.
Lots of sherry on the nose
Sweet, fruity. Reminds me of a pedro ximenez dessert wine I had a Spanish restaurant (but this is less excruciatingly sweet - still very sweet though).
This is so far away from everything else and not really comparable so I rate this a dessert/10.
7. Joy bas armagnac XO (€60)
Minimum 8 years in, you guessed it, French oak
Nice nose, smooth floral sweetness, elegant.
Relatively powerful in the mouth, a lot happening at once that gradually turns into distinct notes of predominantly oak, but also some spice.
This feels more rustique than the others, a bit less refined and a stronger first impression. Very nice. 8/10.
8. Fransac Cognac VSOP Heritage (€53)
Minimum 4 years
Lovely nose, light, fresh fruit and some sweetness.
Quite rich, wood, rather dry. Some spiciness.
I could almost copy paste these reviews so far. I'm hoping for something differently. 8/10.
Thoughts after 8 days on the mainland of France: I yearn for the Carribean sea.
While these drinks are quite delicious, I miss the surprise element of rum, such as the kick in the teeth by a high ABV rum that offers something extraordinary. I lack a bit of rowdiness, which I suppose might be the antithesis to the elegance and refinement of many/most brandies.
I'd happily drink most of these, and I might pick up a bottle or two for when I feel like a smooth drink, but I don't see myself "getting into" brandy much further than that.
I've been drinking a fair bit of rather similar brandy the past 8 days.
1. Joy bas VSOP armagnac (€52)
5 years in French oaks
Light amber
Fruit, a bit of honey, marmalade on the nose. A bit of wood, it's nicely elegant. Could've easily fooled me into thinking this was an agricole.
More power on the taste than I was expecting, oakiness, some warmth. Some fruit emerging gradually. The taste is a bit less vegetal than many agricoles, probably because it's made of grapes rather than fresh sugar cane juice, but there are many similarities.
I have no frame of reference but this is quite nice. 7.5/10.
2. Calvados VS DOZ de Dauzanges (€29)
At least 2 years in oak casks
Not so surprisingly, the nose is heavily apples. Some floral notes as well.
Taste is also apples, a bit or spice.
Tastes nice but isn't particularly interesting, though at less than $30 for a bottle it's probably fair enough. A decent cheap dram. 7.5/10.
3. Drouet VSOP Cognac Grande Champagne (~€52)
Up to 8 years in oak casks. Interesting considering the required age for calling something VSOP is just 4 years.
Most depth to this nose than the previous two, light, dried fruits, some sweetness, floral notes.
Quite sweet, very fruity, smooth. A bit of some spice I can't discern that gives a bit of edge to an otherwise homogenous impression. A bit of wood on the aftertaste as well.
Very easily drinkable and with just a bit of complexity that adds something more. 8/10.
4. Fransac Cognac XO (€75)
A mix of brandy eaux-de-vie, aged minimum 10 years in oak.
Nose is sweet, fresh fruit with ripe apples and floral notes. Easily the best nose yet. Elegant with a lot of different nuances.
Very smooth but more complexity emerges. Warmth, wood, floral and subtle sweetness, a bit of acidity. Very agricole-y. 8/10.
Easily the best so far.
... But not for long
5. Deau Cognac XO (€120)
Minimum 15 years of aging.
Wonderful nose, very rich, very elegant. Fresh and dried fruit.
Lots going on, fruit, some oak, sweetness. So smooth and refined.
Very delicious, but also rather pricey. 8/10
And now to something completely different
6. Drouet Pineau des charentes, 17.5% (€24)
A dessert wine of sorts. I quite like sweet wines, so it'll be nice to try.
Lots of sherry on the nose
Sweet, fruity. Reminds me of a pedro ximenez dessert wine I had a Spanish restaurant (but this is less excruciatingly sweet - still very sweet though).
This is so far away from everything else and not really comparable so I rate this a dessert/10.
7. Joy bas armagnac XO (€60)
Minimum 8 years in, you guessed it, French oak
Nice nose, smooth floral sweetness, elegant.
Relatively powerful in the mouth, a lot happening at once that gradually turns into distinct notes of predominantly oak, but also some spice.
This feels more rustique than the others, a bit less refined and a stronger first impression. Very nice. 8/10.
8. Fransac Cognac VSOP Heritage (€53)
Minimum 4 years
Lovely nose, light, fresh fruit and some sweetness.
Quite rich, wood, rather dry. Some spiciness.
I could almost copy paste these reviews so far. I'm hoping for something differently. 8/10.
Thoughts after 8 days on the mainland of France: I yearn for the Carribean sea.
While these drinks are quite delicious, I miss the surprise element of rum, such as the kick in the teeth by a high ABV rum that offers something extraordinary. I lack a bit of rowdiness, which I suppose might be the antithesis to the elegance and refinement of many/most brandies.
I'd happily drink most of these, and I might pick up a bottle or two for when I feel like a smooth drink, but I don't see myself "getting into" brandy much further than that.
01-04-2023
, 01:06 PM
Christmas is behind us - I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy some delicious rum over the holidays.
I failed to keep up with my brandy calendar, but I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, as a way to provide some counterbalance to the refined brandies, I've picked up three bottles of highly explosive white rum.
Two bottles are from the Savanna distillery of Réunion, HERR (High Ester Reunion Rum) and Lontan Grand Arome, both 57%, with long fermentation and high ester counts.
"Lontan" means long fermentation, and this rum has fermented for 6 days, while the HERR (High Ester Réunion Rum) has fermented for 11 days. As if that wasn't counterintuitive enough, the HERR "high ester" rum has half as many (423g/hL) esters as the Lontan (811g/hL) (although a high concentration of a specific ester). I think they may have sampled the products a bit too extensively when settling on the names.
These rums bring myriads of impressions, so much going on in the nose and the mouth as well. So much fruit and other things, notably elephant cage/stables, and the Lontan is heavily pineapple.
These rums are both molasses-based even though they're from a French territory, and they give off a strong Jamaica vibe, while at the same time being totally different and unique. Both of them are very interesting, but initially I prefer the HERR.
Interestingly, the HERR has spent 13 years in steel casks. So it is aged in a sense, but its expression is the expression of unaged rum. Supposedly something has happened to it over the course of 13 years in steel casks, but nothing like what would've happened in wood, obviously.
Last - but certainly not least - is Saint James Brut de Colonne. As the name suggests, it's bottled straight from the column still without aging or watering it down, resulting in an ABV of 74.2%, a simply astoundingly strong rhum.
As a matter of fact, due to the AOC guidelines putting a ceiling of rhum agricole at max 75% ABV, this is practically as strong an AOC verified agricole as one can find.
The nose on this rum is overwhelming, so much going on, its difficult to distinguish between the dense bombardment of impressions. Initial aroma has some Demerara notes (surprisingly), marzipan, some caramel, but also tons of fruit, especially green underripe fruit, green olives, classic vegetal agricole notes like grass and hay, but this is like a nuclear explosion of everything you'll find in unaged agricoles cranked to new levels. Despite the impression of this rum leading the mind toward thoughts of explosions and sheer madness, it's actually surprisingly well-integrated and, dare I say, relatively balanced. The alcohol is definitely there but it's quite mild considering the ABV, in fact it's surprising how well it's concealed. More unravels as it gets a chance to breathe, more fruit especially.
In the mouth it once again just explodes, waves of impressions, the alcohol is noticeable (not exactly shocking), warmth, and tons of fruit. It's quite fruity-sweet and dry which may partly be the alcohol drying out the mouth. A lasting heat and more impressions emerging.
You can probably make some hefty drinks with even small amounts of this (murderous ti' punch, anyone?), but imo the appeal of products such as this is to try the pure and unadulterated product. And it certainly delivers, it's simply astonishing.
Savannah Lontan 8/10
Savannah HERR 8.5/10
Saint James Brut de Colonne 9/10
I failed to keep up with my brandy calendar, but I'll get there eventually. In the meantime, as a way to provide some counterbalance to the refined brandies, I've picked up three bottles of highly explosive white rum.
Two bottles are from the Savanna distillery of Réunion, HERR (High Ester Reunion Rum) and Lontan Grand Arome, both 57%, with long fermentation and high ester counts.
"Lontan" means long fermentation, and this rum has fermented for 6 days, while the HERR (High Ester Réunion Rum) has fermented for 11 days. As if that wasn't counterintuitive enough, the HERR "high ester" rum has half as many (423g/hL) esters as the Lontan (811g/hL) (although a high concentration of a specific ester). I think they may have sampled the products a bit too extensively when settling on the names.
These rums bring myriads of impressions, so much going on in the nose and the mouth as well. So much fruit and other things, notably elephant cage/stables, and the Lontan is heavily pineapple.
These rums are both molasses-based even though they're from a French territory, and they give off a strong Jamaica vibe, while at the same time being totally different and unique. Both of them are very interesting, but initially I prefer the HERR.
Interestingly, the HERR has spent 13 years in steel casks. So it is aged in a sense, but its expression is the expression of unaged rum. Supposedly something has happened to it over the course of 13 years in steel casks, but nothing like what would've happened in wood, obviously.
Last - but certainly not least - is Saint James Brut de Colonne. As the name suggests, it's bottled straight from the column still without aging or watering it down, resulting in an ABV of 74.2%, a simply astoundingly strong rhum.
As a matter of fact, due to the AOC guidelines putting a ceiling of rhum agricole at max 75% ABV, this is practically as strong an AOC verified agricole as one can find.
The nose on this rum is overwhelming, so much going on, its difficult to distinguish between the dense bombardment of impressions. Initial aroma has some Demerara notes (surprisingly), marzipan, some caramel, but also tons of fruit, especially green underripe fruit, green olives, classic vegetal agricole notes like grass and hay, but this is like a nuclear explosion of everything you'll find in unaged agricoles cranked to new levels. Despite the impression of this rum leading the mind toward thoughts of explosions and sheer madness, it's actually surprisingly well-integrated and, dare I say, relatively balanced. The alcohol is definitely there but it's quite mild considering the ABV, in fact it's surprising how well it's concealed. More unravels as it gets a chance to breathe, more fruit especially.
In the mouth it once again just explodes, waves of impressions, the alcohol is noticeable (not exactly shocking), warmth, and tons of fruit. It's quite fruity-sweet and dry which may partly be the alcohol drying out the mouth. A lasting heat and more impressions emerging.
You can probably make some hefty drinks with even small amounts of this (murderous ti' punch, anyone?), but imo the appeal of products such as this is to try the pure and unadulterated product. And it certainly delivers, it's simply astonishing.
Savannah Lontan 8/10
Savannah HERR 8.5/10
Saint James Brut de Colonne 9/10
01-05-2023
, 06:46 AM
Quote:
Very interesting review, thank for sharing.
I was under the impression that anything >800g/hl wasn't even considered palatable anymore. They're usually used for flavoring other rums/spirits/drinks and baking. (I only found out about the latter when a friend used some mixed with vanilla to make a great banana bread)
I was under the impression that anything >800g/hl wasn't even considered palatable anymore. They're usually used for flavoring other rums/spirits/drinks and baking. (I only found out about the latter when a friend used some mixed with vanilla to make a great banana bread)
I think that is the generally the norm. Having said that, I'm in a Facebook group for Danish rum enthusiasts where high ester Jamaican rum and high ABV white rum in general are very popular. There's a Danish alcohol importer who retails a 85.6%, 1600 ester Jamaican rum, and they're currently on their third batch because the demand is high - and they have a ton of other crazy rum, such as a 93% ABV, 474 ester rum from The Dominican Republic. These are some of the outliers that are (presumably) not frequently used as a dram, but I think that in general even relatively high ester high ABV rum is sought after for drinking straight (or with some water) among some aficionados (but also used in cocktails, naturally).
I have read warnings to use the Savannah rums sparingly in cocktails as a supplement rather than the main liquor, as they'd otherwise be overpowering. I'm thinking of adding a bit of the very pineapple-y Lontan to a Piña Colada or Painkiller in the future.
Quote:
Former zoo employee - LOL snack bar - but I was privy to some behind the scenes stuff. Never would have thought that "elephant cage/stable" would be considered a tasting note. Certainly not a positive one?
Second only to "giraffe birth" for a smell that I will never forget.
Second only to "giraffe birth" for a smell that I will never forget.
It is a bit peculiar indeed, it's something that I usually consider to be a staple (or stable) of Jamaican rum. For example, the Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry also has this distinct elephant enclosure aroma - but I also had another Savannah rum in the agricole tasting I did a while ago which also made me think of the elephant enclosure at the zoo. I'm wondering if it is a particular ester that gives this impression, similar to how some other esters result in distinct fruit aromas, or the smell of glue or medicinal notes. Elephant cage/stable aren't listed in lists of typical esters note, and googling "esters and elephant smell" yields some fascinating articles about elephants' ability to discriminate between different odors, but little about rum.
06-15-2023
, 10:59 AM
Actually, hang on a minute…
I went to a rum tasting Saturday in Aarhus at a rum bar called Oops – which has Denmark’s biggest
selection of rum (for a bar anyways), with 250-300+ bottles. The bar has an annual "Day of Rum" which this year included discounts, a rum tasting, a burger marinated in El Dorado 12, and cheap rum cocktails.
The theme of the rum tasting was cask strength Jamaican rum – right up my alley. I usually say that Jamaican rum is my favorite (along
with some agricoles, but before this day I don’t think I’d even tried rums from New Yarmouth, Clarendon, or Long Pond. You can't consider yourself a Jamaican-rum enthusiast without having tried those any more than you can claim you’re an Italian food aficionado without having had Lasagna or – even more egregious – a Danish food enthusiast without trying pickled herring on rye bread with curry dressing salad. It is borderline preposterous.
I made a few scribbles about what I thought of the rums along the way and some interesting bits of insights from the host, Mads (the guy behind "Romhatten.dk”; naturally I was a bit
starstruck).
Welcome drink was Wray and Ting – except they had no Ting grape soda, so it was ordinary (pink)
grape soda instead. Very nice and refreshing, definitely a good (and super simple) one for summer. Onwards to the main event:
Appleton Estate – 8 (43%)
The rum is a blend of both pot and column still rums minimum aged 8 years.
Quite bourbon-y but also some Jamaican vibes, but it is by no means a super funky fruit bomb – but that is not unlike the 12 I’ve had. It is far more “powerful” than the 12, which I have. It’s not the same rum at different ages, this one is higher ester.
The host liked it a lot, but I can’t say it was my favorite, I can taste that it well made, but I didn’t really get a lot from it, I feel like with more time, I’d like it better. But for now. 7/10.
Fun fact: Appleton Estate make some of the oldest Jamaican rum. They made *the*oldest Jamaican rum ever, which was aged 50 years. Due to the very high evaporation during tropical ageing, however, 500 casks came to be just a single cask when it was bottled – and apparently the rum was terrible. The angels sure do get a nice share in the tropes...
Onward we move to the first of two Romhatten selected casks, this one from Worthy Park.
Worthy Park Rum 2013 Romhatten Cask Selection (62%, €150)
Aged 8 years in ex-bourbon casks (all the rums are aged in ex-bourbon casks). This is some dark stuff, reminiscent of Worthy Parks 109.
Dark fruit, caramel, cocoa, diesel/gasoline and such notes, although in a refined way that is characteristic of Worthy Park (in my experience, Worthy Park tend to be a little more “reigned in” compared to Hampden's more pure madness. Super delicious. 8.5/10
Compagnie des Indes Clarendon Jamaica DJC1, (63%, €190)
Aged 11 years. This is bottled for the Danish market which apparently is something CDI does occasionally.
It’s very dry and the high ABV dries out the mouth, quite fruity, vanilla and other things going on. Quite nice, and I’d love to have had more to get to know it better. 8/10.
Fun/somewhat disgusting fact:
The host recently went to Jamaica and visited some of the distilleries. He said that those on the tour
weren’t allowed to take pictures in one of the fermentation halls of Clarendon. They weren’t told
why, but he figured it was because there were maggots living in the foam in the fermentation vats.
Oh well, it will be distilled anyways.
Hampden Estate HLCF Classic (60%, €95)
This is one that I’ve been dying to try. Aged 4 years.
The nose and the mouth are just quintessentially Hampden. Super mega fruity and powerful. Not super expensive and definitely a rum I might pick up. I have the Hampden LROK the Younger,
which I must confess I regret not throwing in another €20 to get this one (the LROK is nice, but I
like my Hampden rum to be wild, volatile, and crazy – such as this one). A classic – for a reason. 9/10.
We got a long story with lots of info about Jamaican rum and in particular Hampden. Apparently, Hampden makes rum at only two different ester grades: 60g/hL and 6000g/hL - far beyond the
maximum ester limit (1600), which is called “DOK” for Hampden (each distillery has its own "marks" for different levels of ester. For example, New Yarmouth’s 1600 rum mark is not called “DOK”, but “NYE-WK”, which is short for “New Yarmouth Estate Winston Kennedy”. I would not mind if they standardized the system across the distilleries, but on the other hand who doesn’t love pointless, nerdy details). The Hampden rum we just had is “HLCF”, which means 4-600 esters.
Anyways, only Hampden can produce rum at such a high ester count – but they are not allowed to release anything above 1600 esters, because it would distort the competition with the other distilleries. Mads said they apparently use overripe jackfruit during fermentation (which is not allowed and would technically disqualify it from being rum, for example by European alcohol laws about how rum must be made). Overripe jackfruit makes Esters higher, but this is a business secret that isn't really public knowledge (but granted they tell people on the guided tour, I can’t imagine it’s exactly
top secret, either).
During his recent visit, Mads got to talk to the chemist and got a small sample bottle of (illegal) 2800 ester rum (at 87% abv, no less). Got to nose a glass of it and try a tiny amount, the smell was incredibly powerful, reminding me of the worthy park rum base I've tried, just cranked to 11. Just a wall of fruit and power and everything Hampden.
Another fact: even though Hampden rum is sometimes sold to independent bottlers, they are not allowed to call it “Hampden” rum, only single estate rum is called Hampden rum. So you
might find a rum from an independent bottler with the rum being from a “secret” distillery (or "Trelawney", the area that Hampden are from), but no brand name.
Compagnie des Indes New Yarmouth JNE16 (59.5%, €190)
12 years, very light color. Also bottled for Denmark.
Tart, full-bodied, sucks the water from your mouth upon entering and releases it again with a build up of a ton of fruit and some spices.
Very nice, I prefer this to the other CDI. 8.5/10.
We’re informed that the reason for the very light color, despite the age, is because, CDI, being an independent bottler, buy a lot of their rum from the Main Rum Company of Liverpool, who buy rum from various distilleries and store it in Liverpool. They don’t use “new” casks (the standard “ex-bourbon” casks used for aging rum have only been used for bourbon a single time before being
used for rum), and therefore the interaction with the cask is a lot less than it otherwise would have been (additionally it is not fully tropically aged) and therefore we get these very light rums with very little oak and wood despite the relatively high age for a rum.
Velier Cambridge Long Pond 2010 STC<3E (57%, €210)
Aged 12 years, about 600 esters.
Super dark, incredible nose of rich and deep fruit and bubblegum. Very, very smooth, it coats the mouth and then releases a tsunami wave of different notes and impression, extremely flavorful. Lots of oak for the first time today. Very long lasting aftertaste, giving off some Caroni-like notes of asphalt, petroleum-oil and more dark fruits. Exceptional. 9/10.
The final rum was a secret until we got there, it had been advertised as the “Jamaican Slayer” – a Jamaican-y rum from another place. I had actually told the friend I went with that I was convinced
it’d be rum from Savanna, as they make some very Jamaican-y rum, but that proved to be wrong, and although I adore Savanna rum, I was not disappointed by the selection...
Chairman’s Reserve 1999 John Dore 1 Romhatten Cask Selection #5 (66.5%, €270)
This was what I was alluring to in the opening sentence of this post – I can no longer claim I haven’t had some of the higher end Chairman’s Reserve rum. It’s actually a rum I’ve been wanting to
try for a while, but the price point is a bit (a lot) above my budget, so I was thrilled to see it here.
Aged 21 years.
Some dark, dark cherry, lots of wood, very dry and depletes the mouth of water (that ABV will do that), but the flavor is at once both extremely powerful, deep, nuanced, and concentrated.
Easily the
most "unreferable" rum today, very unlike any others I’ve had. Fantastic. 9/10.
This concluded the actual rum tasting. My friend and I went to get some cocktails and a “rum of the month” (the bar have a new high end rum sold at “break-even” price each month).
This was the El Dorado Last Cask Gold Label, at €10 for 2cL – a steal (or, well, break-even) for a €400 rum. 22 years aged (54.5%).
Classical Demerara and El Dorado notes. Dry, berries, lots of wood, just brilliant. It is like the 15’s, much older, more refined, smooth, and complex big brother. That said, it is not super mega rocking my world, I think it may have to do with the rums I just came from being otherworldly wild and crazy. This is a completely different experience, one of refinement and eleganceeven at the not too shabby ABV. I’d love to try it
again, because it was great – but a €400 rum also has to be. 8.5/10.
I had a few cocktails as well (and a burger marinated in El Dorado 12 – quite nice as well), so overall a nice day.
On another note, I’m thinking of picking up a few Clairins. My taste in rums continues to stray toward some of the more wild, volatile and “experimental” white rum (although it’s not even technically rum), so I think Clairin might be to my liking.
That got a bit long... I took a couple of photos, their high end rums were in the cabinet. I can spot a Rhum Clement 1952 at €90 for 2cL.
I went to a rum tasting Saturday in Aarhus at a rum bar called Oops – which has Denmark’s biggest
selection of rum (for a bar anyways), with 250-300+ bottles. The bar has an annual "Day of Rum" which this year included discounts, a rum tasting, a burger marinated in El Dorado 12, and cheap rum cocktails.
The theme of the rum tasting was cask strength Jamaican rum – right up my alley. I usually say that Jamaican rum is my favorite (along
with some agricoles, but before this day I don’t think I’d even tried rums from New Yarmouth, Clarendon, or Long Pond. You can't consider yourself a Jamaican-rum enthusiast without having tried those any more than you can claim you’re an Italian food aficionado without having had Lasagna or – even more egregious – a Danish food enthusiast without trying pickled herring on rye bread with curry dressing salad. It is borderline preposterous.
I made a few scribbles about what I thought of the rums along the way and some interesting bits of insights from the host, Mads (the guy behind "Romhatten.dk”; naturally I was a bit
starstruck).
Welcome drink was Wray and Ting – except they had no Ting grape soda, so it was ordinary (pink)
grape soda instead. Very nice and refreshing, definitely a good (and super simple) one for summer. Onwards to the main event:
Appleton Estate – 8 (43%)
The rum is a blend of both pot and column still rums minimum aged 8 years.
Quite bourbon-y but also some Jamaican vibes, but it is by no means a super funky fruit bomb – but that is not unlike the 12 I’ve had. It is far more “powerful” than the 12, which I have. It’s not the same rum at different ages, this one is higher ester.
The host liked it a lot, but I can’t say it was my favorite, I can taste that it well made, but I didn’t really get a lot from it, I feel like with more time, I’d like it better. But for now. 7/10.
Fun fact: Appleton Estate make some of the oldest Jamaican rum. They made *the*oldest Jamaican rum ever, which was aged 50 years. Due to the very high evaporation during tropical ageing, however, 500 casks came to be just a single cask when it was bottled – and apparently the rum was terrible. The angels sure do get a nice share in the tropes...
Onward we move to the first of two Romhatten selected casks, this one from Worthy Park.
Worthy Park Rum 2013 Romhatten Cask Selection (62%, €150)
Aged 8 years in ex-bourbon casks (all the rums are aged in ex-bourbon casks). This is some dark stuff, reminiscent of Worthy Parks 109.
Dark fruit, caramel, cocoa, diesel/gasoline and such notes, although in a refined way that is characteristic of Worthy Park (in my experience, Worthy Park tend to be a little more “reigned in” compared to Hampden's more pure madness. Super delicious. 8.5/10
Compagnie des Indes Clarendon Jamaica DJC1, (63%, €190)
Aged 11 years. This is bottled for the Danish market which apparently is something CDI does occasionally.
It’s very dry and the high ABV dries out the mouth, quite fruity, vanilla and other things going on. Quite nice, and I’d love to have had more to get to know it better. 8/10.
Fun/somewhat disgusting fact:
The host recently went to Jamaica and visited some of the distilleries. He said that those on the tour
weren’t allowed to take pictures in one of the fermentation halls of Clarendon. They weren’t told
why, but he figured it was because there were maggots living in the foam in the fermentation vats.
Oh well, it will be distilled anyways.
Hampden Estate HLCF Classic (60%, €95)
This is one that I’ve been dying to try. Aged 4 years.
The nose and the mouth are just quintessentially Hampden. Super mega fruity and powerful. Not super expensive and definitely a rum I might pick up. I have the Hampden LROK the Younger,
which I must confess I regret not throwing in another €20 to get this one (the LROK is nice, but I
like my Hampden rum to be wild, volatile, and crazy – such as this one). A classic – for a reason. 9/10.
We got a long story with lots of info about Jamaican rum and in particular Hampden. Apparently, Hampden makes rum at only two different ester grades: 60g/hL and 6000g/hL - far beyond the
maximum ester limit (1600), which is called “DOK” for Hampden (each distillery has its own "marks" for different levels of ester. For example, New Yarmouth’s 1600 rum mark is not called “DOK”, but “NYE-WK”, which is short for “New Yarmouth Estate Winston Kennedy”. I would not mind if they standardized the system across the distilleries, but on the other hand who doesn’t love pointless, nerdy details). The Hampden rum we just had is “HLCF”, which means 4-600 esters.
Anyways, only Hampden can produce rum at such a high ester count – but they are not allowed to release anything above 1600 esters, because it would distort the competition with the other distilleries. Mads said they apparently use overripe jackfruit during fermentation (which is not allowed and would technically disqualify it from being rum, for example by European alcohol laws about how rum must be made). Overripe jackfruit makes Esters higher, but this is a business secret that isn't really public knowledge (but granted they tell people on the guided tour, I can’t imagine it’s exactly
top secret, either).
During his recent visit, Mads got to talk to the chemist and got a small sample bottle of (illegal) 2800 ester rum (at 87% abv, no less). Got to nose a glass of it and try a tiny amount, the smell was incredibly powerful, reminding me of the worthy park rum base I've tried, just cranked to 11. Just a wall of fruit and power and everything Hampden.
Another fact: even though Hampden rum is sometimes sold to independent bottlers, they are not allowed to call it “Hampden” rum, only single estate rum is called Hampden rum. So you
might find a rum from an independent bottler with the rum being from a “secret” distillery (or "Trelawney", the area that Hampden are from), but no brand name.
Compagnie des Indes New Yarmouth JNE16 (59.5%, €190)
12 years, very light color. Also bottled for Denmark.
Tart, full-bodied, sucks the water from your mouth upon entering and releases it again with a build up of a ton of fruit and some spices.
Very nice, I prefer this to the other CDI. 8.5/10.
We’re informed that the reason for the very light color, despite the age, is because, CDI, being an independent bottler, buy a lot of their rum from the Main Rum Company of Liverpool, who buy rum from various distilleries and store it in Liverpool. They don’t use “new” casks (the standard “ex-bourbon” casks used for aging rum have only been used for bourbon a single time before being
used for rum), and therefore the interaction with the cask is a lot less than it otherwise would have been (additionally it is not fully tropically aged) and therefore we get these very light rums with very little oak and wood despite the relatively high age for a rum.
Velier Cambridge Long Pond 2010 STC<3E (57%, €210)
Aged 12 years, about 600 esters.
Super dark, incredible nose of rich and deep fruit and bubblegum. Very, very smooth, it coats the mouth and then releases a tsunami wave of different notes and impression, extremely flavorful. Lots of oak for the first time today. Very long lasting aftertaste, giving off some Caroni-like notes of asphalt, petroleum-oil and more dark fruits. Exceptional. 9/10.
The final rum was a secret until we got there, it had been advertised as the “Jamaican Slayer” – a Jamaican-y rum from another place. I had actually told the friend I went with that I was convinced
it’d be rum from Savanna, as they make some very Jamaican-y rum, but that proved to be wrong, and although I adore Savanna rum, I was not disappointed by the selection...
Chairman’s Reserve 1999 John Dore 1 Romhatten Cask Selection #5 (66.5%, €270)
This was what I was alluring to in the opening sentence of this post – I can no longer claim I haven’t had some of the higher end Chairman’s Reserve rum. It’s actually a rum I’ve been wanting to
try for a while, but the price point is a bit (a lot) above my budget, so I was thrilled to see it here.
Aged 21 years.
Some dark, dark cherry, lots of wood, very dry and depletes the mouth of water (that ABV will do that), but the flavor is at once both extremely powerful, deep, nuanced, and concentrated.
Easily the
most "unreferable" rum today, very unlike any others I’ve had. Fantastic. 9/10.
This concluded the actual rum tasting. My friend and I went to get some cocktails and a “rum of the month” (the bar have a new high end rum sold at “break-even” price each month).
This was the El Dorado Last Cask Gold Label, at €10 for 2cL – a steal (or, well, break-even) for a €400 rum. 22 years aged (54.5%).
Classical Demerara and El Dorado notes. Dry, berries, lots of wood, just brilliant. It is like the 15’s, much older, more refined, smooth, and complex big brother. That said, it is not super mega rocking my world, I think it may have to do with the rums I just came from being otherworldly wild and crazy. This is a completely different experience, one of refinement and eleganceeven at the not too shabby ABV. I’d love to try it
again, because it was great – but a €400 rum also has to be. 8.5/10.
I had a few cocktails as well (and a burger marinated in El Dorado 12 – quite nice as well), so overall a nice day.
On another note, I’m thinking of picking up a few Clairins. My taste in rums continues to stray toward some of the more wild, volatile and “experimental” white rum (although it’s not even technically rum), so I think Clairin might be to my liking.
That got a bit long... I took a couple of photos, their high end rums were in the cabinet. I can spot a Rhum Clement 1952 at €90 for 2cL.
