I might go down to my local Total Bev and Mo and try to make my own. I'm not sure what 'high quality' airline-sized rums they have available, but I've seen a rather extensive collection of these 'sample-size' bottles at their store in the past. I might have to include some bourbon (gasp! the horror.)

You definitely should, it's a great way to try a lot of different things even if it isn't good value for money. I paid about €70 for 48 cL of rum (and most of it is in the €40-50/bottle range).

I got the Pussers 54.5% and Dos Maderas 5+5 today, less than 24 hours after ordering, not bad.

The pussers is just so good. The smell is so powerful and spicy, with both dark notes and caramel. I think the "density" of the taste is what gives it this thick and syrupy feeling, because the texture isn't actually thick, but it feels thick due to how packed it is with flavor. It's like drinking thinned tar on fire, except it tastes well.

I also had a sip of Dos Maderas (I can't help myself when I get them) and it was very good. I look forward to really trying it later.

Today's calendar rum:

6.Pixan 8 años

Mexican rum from a tiny distillery I have never heard of, and googling barely helps.

There's a smell of some kind of chemical used in cosmetics or cleaning (not as bad as it may sound) and low key sweet and spice. The taste is sweet, warm and round, but also with a little complexity. Leaves a warm and lingering aftertaste. It's a decent glass of rum, but not much more than that. 7/10.

Today the thread is getting a little more cultural, specifically regarding Pusser's rum:

Alcohol has been a part of the Royal Navy virtually since its inception. Life as a sailor was hard, so what else to do than get drunk to make life bearable - the oldest trick in the book. Until the take over of Jamaica in 1655, sailors in the royal navy were often issued wine or beer (up to a gallon a day!) in rations. This led to some logistical issues because as the navy began to extend its range, and you couldn't bring 6000 barrels of beer on most ships. So when they took over Jamaica (and later other areas) rum quickly became the drink of the navy.

"Pusser" is slang for the "purser", who was responsible for the distribution of rum rations in the royal British navy (daily rum rations (known as "tot") was part of the salary in the navy until 1970 when someone figured that possibly maybe it wasn't the greatest idea in the world that the entire crew were more or less drunk around the clock).

But at times the Pusser might do them dirty and water down the tot, and this is where the idea of "proof" comes in. It's a very rudimentary way of measuring alcohol percentage, essentially the Pusser would douse a bit of gunpowder in the rum, and then see if it would still ignite. If it ignited, the rum was proof, e.g. strong and more valuable, and if it didn't mutiny was on the menu. In 1816 Bartholomew Sikes invented the alcoholmeter and calculated that 100 proof (threshold for when the gunpowder would ignite) was 57.15%, but the navy went their own way and did their own based on 100 "gunpowder determined proof" rums and concluded that 54.5% alcohol per volume (ABV) was the ideal strength it became known as "Admiralty Strength". The American proof system is simply 2 times the ABV.



Today's calendar rum:

7. By the Dutch Batavia Arrack

"Rum" from Indonesia, more precisely the island of Java. A relatively strong one at 48%. They call it "rum" on their website, because they use local red rice for fermentation, so it isn't made like other rum. Speaking of "rum" I read that some rum puritans loathe the Santos Dumont XO because it isn't "real" rum, it's been fiddled with too much. I'm not a seasoned enough rum enthusiast to make such a verdict, I just know I liked it a lot.

Anyways, this one is a light color rum, could be mistaken for white wine in the glass. The smell is sweet and fruity, and a little synthetic.
Taste is very unlike any other rum I've had. It's sharp and warm due to the percentage, and the taste is complex, but also sort of vague. Slightly reminiscent of the Agricole from earlier on. It lingers for a long time in the mouth, even if there isn't much taste.
It lacks the taste to carry such a percentage, and the taste there is isn't particularly good.

6/10

Here's an image of the calendar opened and Pusser's Gunpowder proof in glass (the calendar comes with two neat tasting glasses).

IIRC, down in the BVI somewhere they have a Pusser's store if anyone's in that part of the world (or did ~10 years ago). Seems like they gave us a little tour and some info a Viggorous did, then a tasting.

Wasn't part of the history that fresh water didn't keep or got contaminated or something, but alcohol kept bettter?

fyp

West End Tortola

You're right; water and beer would rot after a while and wine turned to vinegar in the warm weather, so they introduced stronger spirits for rations. They used French brandy (and occasionally a very hardcore indian alcohol called Arak, which was responsible for the death of many sailors) for a while, but when they came to the carribean, they gradually went over to rum because it was readily available for ships in the area.

For the first long while the daily ration was a half pint of rum (at 54.5%, no less), but the amount was lowered a couple of times since then. Before lowering the rations, however, a different attempt to solve the issue was mixing the rum with water with lemon against scurvy. This mixture became known as grog, after Admiral Vernon, who was the one that issued the order to mix it with water, and whose nickname was Old Grog because he was known for wearing grogram cloaks.

"Vernon was alarmed by what he saw as wanton drunkenness on board, and his decree was specifically designed to stop what he described as "the pernicious custom of the seaman drinking their allowance of rum in drams, and often at once, attended with many fatal effects to their morals as well as their health ... besides the ill consequences of stupefying their rational qualities.""

Some articles claim the rum rations were lowered on top of this, others say they were the same just with more water now.
Seems that every article claims something different, but I found this one which claims to set the record straight: https://cocktailwonk.com/2019/12/set...-navy-rum.html

Calendar past 2 days

8. Ratu Dark Rum - 5 years

Rum from Fiji. Smells very nice, quite complex, smokey and dark and well rounded.

I'm not a big fan of the taste. It isn't bad, it just isn't particularly good, possibly because it's thin. The taste has several nuances, but none of them really come forward properly. It leaves much to be desired. 5/10

9. Willian Hinton 3 years

Portuguese rum. Agricole again (actual agricole this time; this is the only non-french rum that can be called Agricole officially, I believe). Smells sweet.

Tastes a little like the Chamarel, soft rich and warm, the aftertaste is lingering and dry. Not really my cup of tea, it's not bad, it's just not really my style. I'm beginning to think Agricole maybe just isn't me.

6/10

I perused my local Total Bev this weekend, and was underwhelmed by their selection of quality rum in 50ml sizes. I managed to spend a few dollars, and picked up a few tasters, but seemingly nothing like Viggorous has been reviewing. Most of the selection available was Bacardi and Krakken, a few varieties of each, and a few others. I'll take stock of my purchase later this evening, in case there was some stand-out I might have missed.

I do want to shout out to Vig for the awesome work put into this thread. You do God's work. I look forward to reading more about this wonderful liquor.

Thank you, AzOther, I look forward to hearing about the Rums you picked up!

Today's calendar

10. Añejo dark rum 5 years.
Pretty weird name, considering añejo is Spanish for "aged" which is used regularly by a number of other distilleries.

Rum from the Philippines. Smell is sweet caramel and fruity.

Taste is surprisingly soft, sweet, warm and rich. It reminds me of a rice yoghurt with strawberry or cherry called "Risifrutti" I used to eat when I was a kid. Aftertaste is nice, rich and long lasting.
7/10




I used to think aftertaste was kind of whatever when I was even more of a novice in the world of liquor than I still am today, but it is something which has a defining influence on the whole tasting experience.
A good aftertaste often brings new notes and impressions, which alters the whole experience. In those cases it's a shame to take another sip until you've let it evolve and fade away.
A good aftertaste can elevate or salvage a drink, and a poor one can largely ruin it.

One of my (least) favourite examples of that is the Puntacaña Esplendido, which has a rich, round and sweet caramel/toffee taste that is very savory in the mouth, but almost immediately after its swallowed fades and leaves only a vague imitation along with an alcohol taste.
It's difficult to enjoy a glass of rum when it is only enjoyable the fraction of the time that it's in the mouth or nostrils.

So true. I have a single malt scotch right now that has almost no legs. Just a weak generic aftertaste. I never drink it, even though the main body is fine. I guess I'll use it in mixed drinks.

11. Toucan No. 4

Rum from French Guyana, and a label I at least recognize, even if I've never tried it.
With this we've moved through Agricole that couldn't be called Agricole, to something that can be called Agricole, but isn't made in French Carribean and, finally, we arrive at bona fide Agricole from French Caribbean.

Smell is quite powerful and rich.Tastes fine, Agricole taste without any notable surprises. Aftertaste is warm, lasting and pleasant, it adds something extra.
It's difficult to judge it next to the Chamarel because when I had that I had no idea of what Agricole was supposed to taste like, but I do think it had a little more to offer. 7/10

To celebrate weekend I'm having a glass of El Dorado 15 (which is, for me, the benchmark of a 10/10 rum), one of the last before I get a new bottle, which I absolutely will as soon as (or before) I run out. There's also something symbolical about that one, my favourite, being the first that I buy a second bottle of.

I will buy another Pusser's gunpowder with it though, so I have some for "Christmas lunch" with some of my old friends. That's a direct translation of a Danish tradition (julefrokost) which is typically arranged both with your coworkers from work and privately (which means sometimes you have 3-5 of these events through November and December), where you drink A LOT of alcohol (primarily schnapps) and eat herring in curry (super delicious) and a number of other great foods.
I think the pussers is perfect for complimentary alcohol along with schnapps, partly because I'm not a huge schnapps-man myself.
I did, however, find a brand last year that I actually enjoyed (I used to just drink one or two and then drink beer for the rest) which had the less-than-great consequence that I, at one of these Christmas parties with my family, was BY FAR the most drunk person (a state that was only made much worse when the host presented a number of nice cognacs I had to try after the feast. It was fun while it lasted, but I haven't been able to look some of them in the eye again since then).

Anyways, let's get back to something less traumatic: RUM.

12. Coloma

Colombian rum.
Very rich smell. It's fresh, fruity, sweet and a little synthetic.

Taste is fresh and warm. Some vanilla notes too, and round. Sweet but not excessively.

Aftertaste is lingering and warming in the mouth, but not a lot of taste. A decent glass of rum. 7.5/10



13. Chairman's Reserve - The Forgotten Casks

Rum from Saint Lucia with a name that kinda sounds like the title of an Indiana Jones movie. Interesting in finding out how it compares to the chairman's reserve finest.

Smell is powerful, dark, smoky and rich.

Taste is really good. Soft in the mouth, but very complex, dark but a little sweet too and a lot of spices. It is a very delicious and interesting tasting experience. Aftertaste is low-key, but warm, nice and lasting.

Some similarities to the "Finest", but quite a bit better (it's also double the cost) and it brings a lot of other things to the table. A really good rum.
It could have scored higher if not for the fact that it is in the (for me, anyways) medium-high price range. This is about the price of stuff like the El Dorado 15 and other high quality rums. It's a price where quality and good taste is expected, and so, even though it is very nice, it won't score higher than
8/10

I decided to also, finally, have a proper glass of the Dos Maderas 5+5. I've had sips and even half a glass last week because I couldn't keep my hands off it since the first time I tried it.

It's nicely packaged in a tube, similar to Ron Jeremy.

The color of the liquid is absolutely beautiful, dark and reddish.

The smell is sorta soft, but very complex. You can smell that this is a rum that will give you many things tasting wise. There's a lot of sherry and some sweetness too.

The taste is amazing. Very complex, thick and sweet, fruity and dried fruits-sweet. It really fills the mouth and is sweet and has a very "deep" taste, while also being fresh. The aftertaste is a little subtle, probably because it is such an explosion in the mouth, but if given time, it will give some new notes, simply because it is similar notes, but more subdued and in the background, compared to the taste which is very powerful. It's a very good aftertaste which compliments the rum very well. You could even say it gives the rum duality, even though it's still sweet, it's something entirely else - and it just lasts, even now, many minutes later since the last sip, there's still a great taste in my mouth that still has character. It's wild how long it remains a pleasant presence.

It reminds me a little of the Ron Quorhum 30 Anniversario, but honestly I like the Dos Maderas better. The Quorhum has a more "clear" taste, and I can see why it is "objectively" better, but I just love how complex this one is.
The sweet, thickly sherry, the sweetness and fruitiness is just so many impressions, it's like a chaotic, sweetly explosion that could have been bad, even sickly sweet, but just works exceptionally well. If you enjoy sweet rum, this is an absolute must.
9/10

What is "blatant lie by Northern Europeans trying to convince foreigners to eat weird crap?"

I'll take Potent Potables for $1000, Alex.

LMAO!

It's really good. Rye bread, curry herring and (red) onions on top and a schnapps to flush it down, that's a 10/10. Having said that, the beauty of herring in curry is you only eat it at Christmas so it doesn't get nauseating (although it is troubleing when you're hungover and eating it at the third Christmas lunch in 3 days). It's definitely not something you can eat every day and continue to appreciate.

My cousin loves it all year round, though, he was staying with me for a week a couple of years back when he was in town, when we went grocery shopping he bought rye bread and herring in curry and nothing else, and proceeded to eat it every day for breakfast and lunch for a week.
A year later I was visiting a mutual friend (my cousin was there too, he was staying there for a couple of days) and he had bought a jar of curry herring and rye bread on the day he landed. With my massive hangover after the night I could barely squeeze one down, but he eats them like how I drink water, even when hungover.


In other news I just had a glass of Milionario solera 15 because why the f not, and have been doing a mean air guitar to Joy Division until my arms got sore.

An old Royal Navy saying goes
“Ashore it’s wine women and song ...
At sea it’s Rum,Bum and concertina “

I'm the worst of the worst I know but enjoying some pre-mix Sailor Jerry spiced rum and cola cans at the moment - awfully expensive but needed to try them.

I've been a little busy so haven't updated the thread but have been putting down notes on the rums I've had in the meantime. I've restocked on El Dorado 15 and Gunpowder proof so I'm ready for Christmas time.

I also picked up a Ron Metusalem 23 Solera Gran Reserva which I was pleasantly surprised to find at 30% discount at my local store, which usually only have the standard set of generic labels of any liquor.

Anyways, here's some rums:

14. Takamaka St André 8 years old

Rum from Seychelles

Rich smell, sweet syrupy, caramel and fruity.

It's warm in the mouth, taste is dry, oaky and round with a little extra complexity, and the aftertaste is lasting.

It's decent but I don't think it's great. The smell is very interesting but the taste doesn't live up to it. As it's also kinda pricey, judging from my googling, I'll give it 6.5/10



15. XM Royal Rum 10 years

Rum from Trinidad.

Smells is good, different notes especially caramel.

Taste is soft and round, some dried fruit sweetness. Nice warmth as well, and a lasting aftertaste.
It lacks some power or complexity or wham bammelam of some sort to be really good, though.
It's still a nice rum, especially considering the price. 7.5/10.



16. Rhum Clément select barrel

R(h)um from Martinique. Another Agricole, this time from a household name. I've heard a lot of good about Rhum Clement, for example their 10 years aged rum.

Smell is rich (I use "rich" a lot) and sweet, a lot of different notes. It's very nice, I like the complexity a lot.

Taste is sweet, the sweetest Agricole yet, but still quite soft, and a lot of different things going on, spices and fruits, also some heat. A nice aftertaste that is nuanced. 8/10



17. Borgoe Reserve Collection 12 years

Rum from Suriname.

Smell is funky, sweet toffee or caramel, fresh tropical fruits, vanilla and other spices. A little low key. Very nice and much different than any other so far.

Rich, oaky taste, there's much going on. Mildly sweet but nothing that takes over.
Aftertaste is lingering and evolving, but remains fresh and is pleasant. I have no idea what it costs, so it's a little difficult to rate, but I like it 7.5/10



18. Ron Aldea Maestro

Something as rare as a rum with a Spanish name that's actually from Spain (The Canary Islands).

Caramel and fruit notes in the nose.

Taste is caramel sweet, rich and round taste. Also a lingering aftertaste with some warmth. It tastes a lot like many other rums. While it's well made, it doesn't really offer anything that makes it stand out. It's a quite generic smell and tasting experience, which, considering this doesn't seem to be on the cheaper side, isn't great. It's nice to drink, but it isn't special 7/10

One of my favorites sipping rums, and one I often start people on who've never had anything but "mixing rums" like Bacardi of Captain Morgan.

That's a promising sign
I've had a little sniff and taste. The smell is really, really delicious, it has an amazing balance and it just smells complete.
It's still cold from being in the storage at the store, so it's difficult to really taste it, but I can sense there's some real dark, deep complexity to it, while also being very sweet but not in the "like sugar in the mouth"-sense.
I'll do a proper review when I can taste it better, but I'm very intrigued.

I actually have the 15, not the 23. Im not sure how different they are. The 15 is the closest thing to a Havana Club that one can buy in the US, which still has an embargo on most Cuban goods. It's not particularly anything, but it is very complete. Like Oban is to Scotch, it is extremely well executed, but not particularly noted for any one attribute.

My go-to rum blog did a review of the 23 and compared it to the 15 (that they also reviewed) and said they were similar, only with more "density" to the taste and less alcohol taste in the older one. They do note as well both are both worth trying in the own right.

Today's calendar rum comes from what is essentially the opposite of a Caribbean island: Nepal.

19. Khukri XXX rum

Very intrigued by Nepalese rum, which I think is probably the most "obscure" rum country yet I've tried.

Nose is sweet caramel, fresh, with some spice like cinnamon. Very special smell.

Taste has a very noticeable oak flavor. There's also some sweetness and complexity to it. Aftertaste is lasting and has a nice warmth to it and also unveils some more subtle notes.

I definitely like it. And the taste isn't even what's most special thing about this rum. "Khukri" refers to a knife, used by the gurkhas of Nepal and India. Therefore, it's packaged in this very unique bottle, which I believe is handmade. Of course, that means the price goes up without really doing anything to the content, but I am a sucker for culture and there needs to be room in the world of liquor for "superfluous" aesthetics like that which brings real history to the experience 8/10.

If you like rums from unusual producing countries, and you like dessert rums, try Old Monk from India. My favorite rum with ice cream.

it's on my mental gotta try list but it's slipped my mind when I've been buying new, I think you or someone else mentioned it further up itt.

Well so I did, back in post #5. Mentioned Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva in that post too...

Welp whattaya know, funny little coincidence.


We're nearing the endgame of the calendar rums. Hopefully that means every rum from now on is A+, today's rum certainly doesn't disappoint.

20. Ron Cristobal Nïna 8-12

Rum from the Dominican Republica (also home of Metusalem).

Smells nice. Sweet with some spicy.

Tastes very good. Nice richness, caramel sweet and very smooth, really fills the mouth. Very delicious experience. Aftertaste is a lingering sweetness that also evolves a little.

It's a very good sweet rum. I sometimes say a rum need something extra, but that doesn't necessarily mean every rum needs something that makes it unique, it just needs to be so well made you don't miss anything else, and this one definitely is.

8.5/10