Another little bag of nine rums


October 17, 2021

Sunday holiday
here's another little bag of (nine) rums...

This and that, from everywhere in the world and with good faith.

Ron Maja 8 yo 'Anejo Autentico' (40%, OB, El Salvador, +/-2020)

Anejo autentico, does that mean that this baby's been aged for 8 years indeed and that that's no fantasy statement? We've only tried one Salvadorian rum so far, a Cihuatan 15/2004 that I had found surprisingly good (WF 85). Colour: gold. Nose: whiffs of glue at fist, which is absolutely not unpleasant, then touches of Bakelite and 'new LP', with some dry molasses and a rather mild oakiness. It is a pretty light nose, certainly not as creepily heady as other South-Americans, on the contrary. Mouth: light and sadly, rather sugary. Really a lot of molasses, caramel, tourist toffee, candy sugar, corn syrup… It's not that its very bad, but it's screaming for a ton of ice. Finish: medium, more on Nescafé with a lot of white sugar inside. Coca-Cola aged in oak. Comments: party rum, I would suppose. Exactly not my definition of a malternative, but as we sometimes say, we've encountered much worse.
SGP:730 - 69 points.

Mc Explorer 2009 (43.5%, House of McCallum, Ruby Port casks finish, +/-2019)

This an undisclosed single estate Caribbean rum done (well, selected and aged, I suppose) by some distinguished Scots, so I'm asking you, what could go wrong? Colour: apricotty. Nose: the Port is not invading all corners of this little baby, and there are pleasant notes of gasoline, fermenting cane juice, pineapples starting to rot and just liquorice. All that is pretty nice and already a little secondary. Mouth: no invasive sweetness, rather an earthy liquorice, always these notes of gasoline, overripe bananas and even touches of olives. Then molasses and coffee beans, as well as a wee bit of millionaire shortbread. Finish: medium, a little salty. All good. More liquorice and olives. Comments: an interesting little rum, very well composed. I could quaff this without a second thought.
SGP:642 - 84 points.

Let's remain in 2009…

New Grove 2009/2021 'Savoir Faire' (48%, Navigate World Whisky, Mauritius, cask #414, 294 bottles)

New Grove 2009/2021 'Savoir Faire' (48%, Navigate World Whisky, Mauritius, cask #414, 294 bottles)
A new line of spirits for South-Africa, based, as it appears, on LMDW's pillars, so to speak. Not the worst name in spirits. Colour: amber. Nose: very aromatic, with lovely whiffs of fresh-sawn hardwood, also eucalyptus, cigarettes, touches of earth, garden peat, a little varnish, then rather milk chocolate and ripe bananas and pineapples. Teak oil, sauna… Mouth: holidays in your glass. It is rich, piney, almost terpenic, with loads of liquorice, then rather mango chutney and strong honeys such as chestnut. Touches of violet sweets and old-skool herbal liqueurs. 'Liqueur hygiénique', as our ancestors used to call them. Finish: long and a little tarry, with liquorice still running the show. Dry menthol in the aftertaste. Comments: probably one of, if not the best Mauritian rum I could try until today. Superb body and liquoricy mouthfeel and a heavy-ish wood that's been very well mastered.
SGP:661 - 87 points.

Depaz 'XO' (45%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2021)

This is a 'grande réserve', so let's treat this wee agricole with respect. Depaz is a very old company as they started making sugar as early as in 1635. The Distillery is located on the feet of the Montagne Pelée, that volcano that erupted in 1902 and totally destroyed a city of 30,000 souls. Colour: deep amber. Nose: oh so very agricole, so rather more complex than others but also a little less focussed (obviously), with orange zests and touches of camphor, soft liquorice, then damson tarte and flowers, peonies, heady wallflowers, plus some very obvious whiffs of menthol cigarettes as well as echoes of new tyres… Mouth: malty! Really, and I would suspect that comes from the wood. Other than that, some lovely orange liqueurs, pine, apple juice, even cider and applejack, cane juice, tobacco… Having said that I find the body a tiny tad thin. Once again, it is complex but it would tend to go into too many directions. Perhaps…Finish: medium, a little earthier. Dry aftertaste, oak. Comments: very good for sure, it would just lack the 'compactness' of, say a Neisson. No new Neissons currently in the boxes, most sadly… boo-hoo-hoo…
SGP:451 - 85 points.

WP Distillery 14 yo 2007/2021 (54.5%, Morisco Spirits, Jamaica)

It is pretty obvious that WP means 'Welcome Pack', no? Colour: gold. Nose: yeah smoked olives, crushed oysters, diesel oil, Tesla batteries (you have to upgrade your tasting vocabulary, don't you) and anchovies kept in vanilla-ed brine. And why not, please? With water: same. Wonderful. Perhaps wee whiffs of vetiver? I find this rather a little sublime, you could put a few drops behind your ears before any date. Anchovies and sardines too (I mean, not before a date!) Mouth (neat): lime juice and seawater plus olive brine, cough medicine, mouthwash and custard. I'm finding rather more vanillin than in other Worthy Parks (oops). With water: perfect. There's a kind of rectitude that's more unusual in HMDN or NYTH or CLRND/MNSK, I would say. Lovely WP! Finish: long, clean, on salty lime and olive-y anchovies. Boy am I not hungry now, let's toast a few slices of rye bread… Comments: superb, just superb. Goes with the best middle-aged Islays.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

Foursquare 19 yo 'Redoutable' (61%, OB, bourbon and Madeira, Barbados, 2020)

Foursquare 14 yo 'Redoutable' (61%, OB, bourbon and Madeira, Barbados, 2020)

As old Jacko (Chirac) would have said, this is provocation! I mean, releasing a rum that's bearing the name of a French nuclear submarine, right now! May I suggest, for some next bottlings, 'Le Triomphant', 'Le Téméraire', 'Le Vigilant' or 'Le Terrible'? De nada, be my guest… Colour: amber. Nose: typically Foursquare, that is to say pretty assertive, with both a heavy-ish and a lighter style well combined, plus, as I observed several times already, something agricole. Praline, maple syrup, bananas flambéed, some softer earthiness and touches of camphor and menthol. In truth it is a little subtler than a French nuclear submarine. By the way, need one? Just ask… With water: rather a lot of wood glue, then vetiver again and again. Teak, eucalyptus wood, carbon dust, nut shells. Mouth (neat): varnish, bourbon, brine, liquorice. Nothing abnormal at 61% vol. With water: takes off now, with citrus and glues and varnishes and brines. Olives, samphire, capers, anchovies… Possibly one of my favourite Foursquares, to be honest. I enjoy heaviness (is that an official statement, S.?) Finish: very long, certainly saltier than other Foursquares. Comments: a kind of Jamaican Foursquare, hope I'm not ruffling anyone's feathers here. Rather redoutable indeed.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

Caroni 23 yo 1998/2021 (59.2%, Thompson Bros., 286 bottles)

Caroni 23 yo 1998/2021 (59.2%, Thompson Bros., 286 bottles)
Aged for 11 years in Trinidad and 12 years in the UK. Not sure anyone could tell, beyond any marketing talk and spiel, but there. Colour: amber. Nose: relatively light, varnishy, sour, with notes of Barbour grease and with very heavy terpenes as well as notes of ueber-gamey, err, game. Grouse? Extremely unusual this far. With water: pine essence, carbolineum, marrow soup, very old Spanish jabugo, plasticine, artichokes, eggplants. Extreme, really, would make any Port Ellen feel like Glenkinchie ex-refill. Mouth (neat): I don't know. Eating your rubber boots while drinking benzine. Extremely dry and challenging – the Kronos Quartet playing Captain Beefheart. With water: same, it is extreme and plastic-like. I had thought plastics would have become streng verboten? Finish: long and extremely dry. Carbon. Comments: I don't know what to say, I've lost all references. Not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure. I'll add a score because I have to, but there.
SGP:375 - 85 points.

Hampden 29 yo 1990+1992/2021 'JMH' (57.7%, Rum Sponge, Decadent Drink, Jamaica)

Hampden 29 yo 1990+1992/2021 'JMH' (57.7%, Rum Sponge, Decadent Drink, Jamaica)
A label with a sponge swimming in a muck pit. I say these labels will end up in museums, next to Brueghel, Bosch and Grünewald. You may just trash the liquid and keep the labels, that's where the real value lies. Now, since we've gone this far, I've just never, ever heard of any 'JMH' marque at Hampden. What's up, Sponge? … Colour: gold. Nose: new Pirellis. Fatter than the WP, saltier as well, more bouillony, with more varnish for sure, dead animals, barely alive vegetables, and wee whiffs of natto. Natto kills, all right? With water: carbon, olives and plastics, mixed then burned. Spread with pine needles and sriracha sauce. Mouth (neat): it's hard to fathom that this would be 30 years old, really. Heavy, salty, gritty, ueber-estery, carbony, plastic-like, extreme, I'm sure there are E.T. molecules in there. This cannot be human, let's call the Pentagon. With water: almost chemical. Exxon? Veedol? Total? The band Devo's own drink. Remember Devo? Finish: long and, curiously, a little gentler. Thanks to citrus fruit, saviours of the spirits world. But was this fuel-smoked bacon necessary in the aftertaste? Comments: utterly love this baddish eventful rum and hate the Sponge. Frank Zappa in a bottle.
SGP:474 - 90 points.

Good, a very last one, and why not make it a little classy? Old Versailles, agreed?

Versailles/Enmore 30 yo 1990/2021 (54.2%, Greenheart Collection, Guyana, 235 bottles)

Versailles/Enmore 30 yo 1990/2021 (54.2%, Greenheart Collection, Guyana, 235 bottles)
From the famous single wooden pot still that was located at Enmore when this was distilled. A.F.A.I.K. it had been at Versailles before and was then moved to Enmore, then from Enmore to Diamond. But nothing to do with the French kings, I would suppose… Now I love this very Gallic quote, 'Has God forgotten all I have done for Him?' (Louis XIV). Big head indeed, Macron is the same (saying that as an Alsatian). Anyway, back to this Versailles… Colour: straw. Nose: oh, oak shavings, charcoal, coriander, aniseed, fennel seeds, whelks and razorfish, fresh almonds and pears, rye bread, sandalwood, lemongrass… It is all extremely subtle, and indeed some kind of anti-Hampden. I cannot not think of the greatest white Pessacs. Old Laville, if that rings a bell. With water: great news, no changes whatsoever. Takes water like a champ. Sublime. Mouth (neat): but this is sublime indeed! Embrocations, all old kinds of plastics, smoked salmon, kippers, sesame, pine nuts, herbal oils, pine liqueurs, bone-dry herbal liqueur (unsweetened chartreuse), embrocations, cedarwood… My this is endless and a tribute to time. Nothing can beat time. With water: careful with water, other than that, this is perfect soft liquorice with a little mint. We need to bow. Finish: not that long but all these resins and oils are just flabbergasting. This saltiness in the aftertaste very much so as well. Comments: remember, time is a key ingredient to aged spirits, only i****s would deny that and say otherwise. As always, try to figure out who's profiting from the crime. There.
SGP:562 - 92 points.

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