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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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February 27, 2022 |
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A tanker of rum for Ukraine |
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Quite. There's more pouring in, which I find both charming and challenging, since there's only one Sunday per week. Bah we can't try everything anyway, so pressure remains relative (as long as our dearest friends don't keep asking 'when are you going to taste our stunning Ron de la Revolucion that we mailed you seven years ago?'…) Bah, let's see what we'll have today… This for our Ukrainian friends, of course.
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Conde de Cuba 15 yo 'Extra Anejo' (38%, OB, Cuba, +/-2018) 
A very bizarre semi-circular bottle that I had never seen while on location. The 38% don't bode too well either, but let's see… Colour: deep gold. Nose: rather interestingly, it would start like some young rancio wine, with some kind of 'grapeyness' and certainly whiffs of old wine cellar, old barrels, old wood, molasses, sherry vinegar… Then rather peach jam, sour fig and onion chutney, then just café latte and chocolate. Pretty nose, I have to say. Mouth: certainly not unpleasant, with obvious notes of coffee-schnapps and liquorice in the arrival, but it's soon to lose steam and fall flat, so to speak. Finish: very short. Traces of oranges, coffee and chocolate. Comments: one to sip at the Buena Vista club while smoking a local puro. Not bad at all, on the contrary, but it's really very light and frustrating.
SGP:230 - 78 points |
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Chairman's Reserve 21 yo 1999/2021 (66.5%, OB, St. Lucia, Mads Heitmann for Romhatten Cask Selection #5, ex-bourbon, cask #108011999, 229 bottles) 
This baby was distilled in the John Dore 1 double retort pot still. It's very interesting to learn that they've been ullaging it (a.k.a. consolidating) every two years using sister barrels. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: as expected, starts with a lot of varnish and acetone, fresh pine sawdust and linoleum, before it would get kind of agricole, very complex, cane-y, with bags of walnuts and rotting bananas, as well as a little diesel oil and pine sap... Curiously approachable. With water: magnificent, this is almost some nutty old oloroso. Yes, I've noticed it was ex-bourbon. Mouth (neat): fantastic petroly and piney oak, some varnish again, truffle essence, raw cocoa, then ten tons of salmiak (or salted liquorice). The 66.5% are incredibly easy to handle. With water: towards higher-esters, olives, capers and even more salmiak. Finish: long, tight, salty and coffeeish. I know coffee and salt don't get along well, to put it mildly, but in this case they do. Comments: terrific rum from St. Lucia Distillers. Perfect handling of some heavy, yet very elegant oak.
SGP:363 - 90 points |
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French Antilles 2019/2021 'Virgin Oak' (50%, 1423 World Class Spirits for rumology.be 5th anniversary, Martinique) 
This one from Le Galion, the last remaining sugar factory in Martinique. They make a 'grand arôme' from molasses, so not an agricole, but I'm not sure this very one is one of them. Colour: light gold. Nose: so singular! New rubber boots, cane juice, linoleum again, a new box of cigars, some spent engine oil, crushed sugarcane, some cellulosic varnish… With water: more olives, kelp, fresh concrete, rubber… Mouth (neat): great fun. Pink grapefruits, cold sorrel soup, olives, rhubarb, drops of seawater, bits of cured ham, plus some rather estery pineapples and bananas about to start rotting. This is very long fermentation, I believe up to 10 days, which creates this quasi-bacterial kind of profile. With water: calms down a little bit. Liquorice allsorts, especially the ones that are filled with lemon foam (ha). Finish: long but not invading. Should be great for making babas. Comments: I don't know if this qualifies as 'grand arôme', but it's absolutely lovable. Our friends the Belgians, again.
SGP:462 - 89 points |
I've got an idea, let's try some rum that was bottled at more than twice the strength of that little Cuban we started this wee session with… |
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Saint James 'Brut de Colonne' (74.2%, OB, Martinique, Batch #1, 2020) 
This might be a little strong, but we're safe as it is organic. Are we not? Brut de colonne means straight from the column. Colonne créole, naturally, as this is officially agricole. Colour: white. Nose: stunning fresh cane, cane syrup, crushed fresh almonds, plantains and white asparagus. Wham. With water: grass and, bizarrely, rather some agave syrup. Otherwise fresh marzipan, green tea and oyster shells. Mouth (neat – careful now): lemons, touches of smoked fish, olive oil, icing sugar, cane juice 'of course', liquorice allsorts this time again, and… we'll stop here, we need our tastebuds mind you. With water: feels a bit like some readymade ti' punch. Lovely citrons and crystallised tangerines. Finish: long, wonderful, fresh, even a tad medicinal. Camphor and paraffin, sweetened lemon juice in the aftertaste. Comments: I find this way superior to Saint James' 'Fleur de Cane'. Excellent white.
SGP:562 - 85 points |
While we're at Saint James… |
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Saint-James 15 yo 2006/2021 (47%, OB and Velier, Martinique, Tribute to Jean-Claude Benoit)
Velier and Luca Gargano have been working with Saint James for more than 46 years. Together they're releasing a series of ten different vintages to celebrate. Colour: amber. Nose: top of the agricole style. Roasted nuts, raisins and cane, plus headier flowers (lillies, wisteria) and some grassy earthiness. Tiny whiffs of fruit compost plus some very well mastered oakiness, a wee bit on the piney side, which we always enjoy. Very elegant on the nose. Mouth: amazing. Cedar shavings at first (sucking our pencils at school), then flower jellies and jams (borage, jasmine), a little hay-and-mint mix, liquorice wood, touch of aniseed and verbena, woodruff as well… This is both firm and delicate, complex, extremely appealing and just lovable. And drinks extremely well (sometimes a handicap indeed). Finish: long, with this cedarwood that's still on. The signature is very earthy/caney, which is lovely, obviously. Comments: exquisite selection. We've got several vintages but we'll probably only have this one today.
SGP:462 - 91 points |
Well, no, we'll have another one if you don't mind. Eenie meenie… |
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Saint-James 19 yo 2002/2021 (47%, OB and Velier, Martinique, Tribute to Jean-Claude Benoit) 
Forgot to say, they also did this series to celebrate the 25 years of the Appellation Contrôlée Martinique. Colour: amber. Nose: deeper and oakier, more on garden peat, potting soil, compost and fir bark, more on resins as well, sandalwood cedarwood, pinewood, you name it. I'm finding many more jams as well, peony jelly (goes greatly with foie gras), poppy jelly, even geranium flowers, menthol… Mouth: sour oak in the front. Oversteeped black tea, rooibos, damp cigar, liquorice wood… We've gone beyond my personal limits here. Finish: long, more on sour oak. A small soapiness in the aftertaste and more tannicity, and yet I haven't added any waters. Comments: I am a huge fan of the stunning, flabbergasting, dazzling 2006, and rather loved the nose of this 2002 (hence a highish score), but I'm finding this palate a little hard. I'm sure it's me, having said that.
SGP:272 - 81 points |
I know what I'm going to do… |
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Saint-James 6 yo 2015/2021 (47%, OB and Velier, Martinique, Tribute to Jean-Claude Benoit)
Colour: deep gold. Nose: who could be against menthol, soft liquorice and ripe banana? Or banana cake with drops of chartreuse inside, honeysuckle, cane juice, roasted almonds and sweet/soft olives (Nyons)? That's what I'm finding. Mouth: it is pretty funny that I would find notes that would be similar to those of the 2002, only fresher, rounder and tighter. A little waxy. Finish: long, more on coffee, chocolate and chicory, with a little menthol again in the aftertaste, as well as a waxy side. And marmalade in the after-aftertaste, and in the retro-olfaction. Comments: very good, there.
SGP:551 - 85 points |
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Jamaican Rum 13 yo (46%, Cadenhead's Green Label, 2021)
We'll call this 'the lettuce label'. The distillery's not disclosed. Colour: light gold. Nose: new tyres and crushed almonds plus engine oil, lamp oil, plasticine and shoe polish. Forgot to mention sardines, or Portuguese 'Paté de Sardinha e Cavala'. I could wolf down five kilos of those as long as I have good bread on the side. Oh and good Jamaican rum, such as this very little baby. Mouth: easy, feeling like a Jamaican blend of high quality. Is it a single? Vanilla, olives, pine honey, liquorice, salt, desert cream, a drop of seawater, a drop of pilsner beer, some bananas flambéed, some smoked kippers. This is pretty complex. Finish: medium, briny. Olives, sardines and vanilla. Comments: Jamaica's class speaks, even at 46%.
SGP:453 - 87 points |
Is this a good session or is this a good session? Let's move on… |
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Long Pond 20 yo (60.1%, Sample X and The Duchess, Jamaica, 127 bottles, 2021)
Actually some more witchcraft by The Rum Mercenary here… Colour: white wine. Nose: I'm not too sure, is this Exxon, British Petroleum or Total? You got it, it is very benzine-y, as well as very salty, briny, coastal, and old-ship-like. Tar, spent oils, olives… With water: saffron, brake dust, carbon, tarred olives, anchovies, even urchins… Mouth (neat): whoosh, more tar, oils, rotting bananas and olives (both green and black), all that at a murderous strength. No, we'll never get used to 60+! With water: back to gentler bananas and various tropical fruits about to rot. Right, okay, you're right, to ferment. Finish: long, perfectly salty. Olives filled with anchovy paste. I'd kill for that. Comments: massive and as good as it gets. Oh well, let's say it, I love it.
SGP:363 - 90 points |
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JMD 24 yo 1997/2021 (59.4%, The Whisky Blues, Jamaica, barrel, 206 bottles)
A little bird told me this could be H*****n. No, of course not Hazelburn! Colour: gold. Nose: H. is a little more acetic, which shows here, a little more on acetone as well, and yet it would be better balanced, albeit wider. In other words, rather vinegars and varnishes gently running the show here, which I just love, no need to say, despite this wee feeling of 'new Tesla'. And kelp, and 'Caol Ila'. With water: carbon, burnt sugars, bitter caramel, old books (love this), magazines, razorfish and clams… Even chive and garlic! Mouth (neat): ho. Tight, gritty, grassy, ashy, very olive-y. I would have said New Yarmouth or perhaps Clarendon, really, rather than 'H'. Biting into orange and banana peel. With water: no, it's fab. A feeling of smoked lemons and olives. Finish: long, same, going towards ashes. Comments: restless and boisterous, this one's a fighter that just wouldn't keep quiet. Remember Jamaica is the Islay of rum, minus the bagpipes.
SGP:463 - 90 points |
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Long Pond 1998/2021 'CRV' (49.4%, Plantation, Jamaica, Bardstown Fusion series, for Belgium, co-selected by Rumology.be) 
This is almost an OB as Plantation owners Maison Ferrand do now own 1/3 of National Rums of Jamaica, which own Long Pond Distillery. Capeesh? Oh and this has been finished in ex-bourbon, not in ex-cognac. Colour: golden amber. Nose: much lighter than the previous ones, more of roasted nuts and warm cakes, which doesn't mean that there are no watts in there. Warm brioche, walnut cake, pancakes, roasted peanuts and pecans… It's true that the marque CRV, just like CQP, would suggest that the ester counts are very low. Mouth: it is, indeed, a lighter rum, rather on chicory coffee, walnut wine, perhaps pumpernickel bread, at times we would almost believe this is good grain whisky. Quite. Oh, or Cuban rum. Finish: medium, with a little caramel, maple syrup, denser heather honey and just cane syrup. The bourbon wood could handle itself well enough. Café latte in the aftertaste. Comments: very good, it is the very pleasant lighter side of Jamaica. Or, if you like, Jamaica's Bunnahabhain. Don't shoot!
SGP:540 - 84 points |
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Enmore 29 yo 1992/2021 (58.1%, Distilia, Guyana, The Golden Age of Piracy, Anney, cask #6, 250 bottles)
A tribute to Irish lady pirate Anne Bonny, who had operated in the Caribbean way before Elon Musk (my own comments). Colour: rich amber. Nose: precious teas and mentholy herbs at first, then sauna oils and bits of rubber and plastic. I would believe the high strength kind of blocks it a little bit, although these little herbal teas do bode well, let's see… With water: wonderful, with old humidor, balsa wood, charcoal, pecan pie, Brazil nuts (not Bolsonaro), a salty tang, a drop of gravy, chicken bouillon… Mouth (neat): coffee and Cointreau at first, then burnt wood and heavy molasses. Once again I would believe water should do wonders in this context… With water: turns salty and bouillony once more. Finish: medium, salty. Comments: perhaps not exactly on par with the flabbergasting Caroni 'Blackbeard' in the same series, but still very wonderful. It's a little hard to get the right amount of water right (what?)
SGP:362 - 88 points |
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Versailles at Enmore 32 yo 1991/2021 (48.2%, Distilia, Guyana, Greenheart Collection, 175 bottles)
From the famous single wooden pot still. Thirty-two years, we are really adding up here, are we not? Colour: light gold – incredibly light at 32. Nose: Christmas tree and verbena, with touches of marrow and toasted wholegrain bread. Then sandalwood, bidis, orange peel, shallots, carrot tops, oysters and potpourri. It is the complexity that's pretty astounding here, even if you do feel that this baby's going in all directions, more or less. Joyful old rum. Mouth: dry as an Ardbeg and tarry as a Port Ellen. Having said that, no malt whisky could ever get as salty as this, even old Bowmore barrels 'rolled in the waters to the puffers'. Olives, anchovies, onion soup, miso, toddy. Nothing wrong. Finish: same for a long time. The saltiness is incredible. Onion soup, leek soup, ramson, anchovies in brine… Do we love this! Comments: this make is sometimes called 'Enmore VSG'. Versailles Distillery/Plantation operated until around 1978 (some say 1968 but there), when their still was moved to Enmore, then to Diamond when Enmore closed in its turn, in 1993. So in theory, you could find Versailles from Versailles, Versailles from Enmore (such as this very one), and Versailles from Diamond.
SGP:463 - 91 points |
Why not have a very last one and fly to Marie-Galante? I mean, fly to Guadeloupe, then take the next boat to Marie-Galante? What would you say? |
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Bielle 2009/2021 (52.5%, Tamosi Sawaku, Marie-Galante)
A slightly esoteric bottle, but we haven't got anything against that, on the contrary. Colour: reddish amber. Nose: extremely agricole, with toasted breads, roasted nuts, a drop of diesel oil, hints of cabbage soup, asparagus soup, mushrooms, sandalwood… Gets then rounder and much jammier, I'm finding bananas, tamarind, quinces… Quinces always win it, do they not. With water: superb mentholy essences and woods, especially eucalyptus, wormwood and verbena. This should fight any headache, just put one drop on each temple. Mouth (neat): Bielle equals class and this is no exception, even if it's a rather gentler one. Well not that gentle, as the liquorice remains heavy, and so does the cinnamon and the many aromatic herbs, especially lemony ones. Citronella and such, lemon-flavoured white nougat (just a sin)... With water: a tad on the woody side, but do sandal and cedar really count? Finish: rather long, full of aromatic herbs and softer, citrusy spices. Yuzu jam and kaffir lime curd. Cinnamon and chocolate in the aftertaste, that's the wood speaking out. Comments: unusual, brilliant drop from that wonderful little island.
SGP:462 - 89 points |
 Check the index of all rums we've tasted so far
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