Rums on the desk


Mars 20, 2022

A word of caution
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are done from the point of view of a malt whisky enthusiast who, what's more, is aboslutely not an expert in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or any other spirits. Thank you – and peace!

Rums on the desk
Yeah, why don't we do a few more rums on this very Sunday, randomly and looking for malternatives?… And let's kick this off with an easier one (supposedly)…

Trinidad Rum 18 yo (46%, Cadenhead, Green Label, Trinidad, +/-2021)

In theory, this shouldn't and couldn't be Caroni, as Caroni stopped 'fuming' in 2002. So, Trinidad Distillers - Angostura? Colour: gold. Nose: a wee tad acetic and varnishy at first sniffing, otherwise totally on ripe bananas, mangos, guavas, papayas and coconut (water). Light, fresh, extremely fruity. I can't see who would complain. Mouth: just excellent, easy, fresh, on the same fruits plus more citrus, a drop of benzine, pinot gris, salt, tar, earth, passion fruits and liquorice allsorts. Totally lovely and easy, you would down five litres of this without blinking an eye and while exegeting Wittgenstein. Finish: medium, fresh, superbly fruity. Mangos and maracujas at the helm. Comments: an ace by Cadenhead, but let me issue a warning, it is dangerously drinkable.
SGP:741 - 88 points.

Off to Mauritius…

Labourdonnais 10 yo 2010/2021 (51.9%, Liquid Treasures, Mauritius, refill butt, 353 bottles)

In Mauritius, there is Labourdonnais and there's the rest. It is a fairly new distillery and what I've already tried was rather French-style, made from pure cane juice. Colour: white wine. Nose: soft, well in the style of other rums from the Indian ocean, rather on bananas, Fanta and syrups, then Berocca, absinth, caraway, eucalyptus and lemon curd. With water: isn't this simply chartreuse? Mouth (neat): fun stuff, rather medicinal, with some fennel seeds, lemon, caraway, aniseed, even gentian… With water: liquorice, lemon, aniseed, fennel, carrots, turmeric, celeriac… Finish: medium, on similar notes. Ginseng and peat smoke in the aftertaste. Comments: very nice and fresh, what an unusual drop! I'd have almost said 'cachaça'. A shameless 11,400km-wide error, mind you, not particularly proud of myself.
SGP:662 - 85 points.

We shall insist…

Labourdonnais 2010/2021 (60.7%, Sample X, Mauritius, 296 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: totally on saccharose, grass and fresh bark. That's the high strength, I would suppose, so... With water: balsa wood, more fennel, model glue, bidis, pistachio syrup; patchouli… Indeed, this one too is rather unusual. Mouth (neat): same lovely herbal and fruity notes. More celeriac, fennel, lime, aniseed, wormwood, touch of chlorophyll… With water: almonds, natural glues, lemongrass, more celeriac and celery, spearmint, aniseed… Finish: medium, fresh, more mentholy, with a little myrtle and grapefruit liqueur. Comments: some sides were reminding me of Madeira's agricoles, I have to say. I am surprised, most rums from Mauritius I could try so far have been very boring sugar bombs de la muerte, while this is fresh, unusual indeed, and lovely. It's less earthy and smoky than the Liquid Treasure, having said that.
SGP:662 - 85 points.

Why not Panama?

Panamanian rum 14 yo 2006 (59.1%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #R9.8, 2nd fill bourbon barrel, Treacle Thyme, 247 bottles, 2021)

From the Varela Bros. aka Hermanos Varela operations, where they also produce Abuelo. Colour: gold. Nose: pencil shavings, fudge, salted caramel, vanilla, wee whiffs of fern, coconut. With water: butter, fudge, madeleines, sponge cake and biscuits. Mouth (neat): very sweet. Acetone, limoncello, rose syrup, grenadine, tankerloads of custard. With water: a tad more herbal and grassy. Lime syrup. Finish: medium, more on lime and lemon, but the body remains a little thin. Comments: certainly more interesting than the officials from the same plant. I mean, from the same distillery.
SGP:730 - 79 points.

French Antilles 2020/2021 (56.2%, Single Barrel Selection for The Whisky Exchange, Grand Arôme, Port cask, 179 bottles)

A one-year-old grand arôme, that's pushing it a wee bit, no? And where does this come from? Colour: gold. Nose: all right, all right, this is great, very estery (grand arôme, so a dresser), full of new IKEA stuff, glue, plywood, olives and very heavy and heady liquorice. As I sometimes say, I hate it that I love it. With water: fresh teak wood, brine, coal tar and glues. Amazing nose (hate it that I'm writing this). Mouth (neat): fabulous rotting bananas, eucalyptus, starfruits and liquorice. I feel shame. With water: desperately awesome. Someone's salted and smoked strawberries while we weren't watching. Finish: not that nice anymore, perhaps a tad vulgar. I'm glad I could find something bad to say. Comments: La Réunion? Do they know that's not really part of the French Antilles? But who cares? Very lovely drop indeed, despite the shambolic sweetish finish. Pfff…
SGP:662 - 86 points.

Enmore at Diamond 19 yo 2002/2021 'EHP' (51%, Nobilis Rum, Guyana, 181 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: strawberry gums and drops, Red Bull, marshmallows, bubblegum vodka, vanilla… Enmore, really? With water: custard and butter cream, cane juice, vanilla ice cream, blancmange, banana... Mouth (neat): the sweetest, roundest, fruitiest Demerara there ever was. Pineapple syrup all over the place, plus a wee slice of the smallest gherkin. With water: cane juice, touch of praline, nougat, popcorn… The sweetest, lightest Demerara ever? Finish: medium, rounded, on vanilla and white nougat. Comments: the wooden continuous Coffey still in action, all lightness and softness. Pretty nice, not quite a fan though.
SGP:640 - 80 points.

Port Mourant at Uitvlugt 30 yo 1990/2021 'PM' (50.5%, Nobilis Rum, Selected by Versus, Guyana, 169 bottles)

The marque was 'PM'. Very deep hopes here. Colour: light gold. Nose: amazing. Smoky garam masala, curry, cedar wood, Buddhist temple, epicea needles (Picea abies), pencil shavings, yew, gingerbread… This nose is stunning and that's a fact. With water: lovely, with new sneakers, new electronics, gherkins and olives, muds, green oranges, lime leaves, menthol… Mouth (neat): astounding lemony and mentholy arrival, then verbena, wormwood, and myriads of tiny herbal tones, genepy, borage, salty oyster plant… Having said that, a piney woodiness would tend to try to take over after one minute or so, let's see what will happen once proper H2O's been added… With water: awesome citrusy saltiness. Never add too much water to these drops, better not enough than too much. Finish: rather long, on tar and seawater. Comments: this old one may have reached its optimum a few years ago, but it's still splendid, no doubts whatsoever about that. It crushes the Enmore, but that should have been expected.
SGP:462 - 90 points.

A very quick one, just for the road…

Caroni 1998/2021 (58.2%, The Whisky Jury, cask #26, 275 bottles)

Colour: amber. Nose: a softer Caroni, with some chocolate, mocha, sawdust, walnut shell and just one black olive. With water: chocolate and pinecones. It really is a easier Caroni. Mouth (neat): much bigger, tighter, more compact than on the nose. Salted nuts and acidic coffees, plus black and bitter chocolate. With water: very good but down, salty but with a thinner body. Tea tannins, white chocolate. Finish: medium. Sugar cane, not much else. Very light tar. Comments: as we all know, there are various kinds of Caronis; this might well be one of the lightest. As they say in Putin's army, nothing to write home about.
SGP:451 - 84 points.

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