More Rums


August 20, 2023

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!

More Rums

First an apéritif.

Juana Bacallao, La Havana, 2016 (WF Archive)

Embargo 'Anejo Esplendido' (40%, OB, blended rum, +/-2022)

Packaging is frightening. We've tried an 'Anejo Exquisito' that' was pretty poor the other day (WF 50), but I have no knowledge of Spanish laudation, so I couldn't tell you whether 'Esplendido' is supposed to be better than 'Exquisito' or not. With a name like 'embargo' you would believe it's Cuban rum, but it is not. Colour: gold. Nose: pretty nice, on apple peel, melon skin, sunflower oil, custard pudding, a touch of cane juice… Even if it's all really light, nothing bad to say this far, on the contrary. Mouth: oh, no, it's full of sugar, which makes it very cloying at room temperature (currently only 20°C!) Hard to drink, even Coca-Cola is bone-dry by comparison. It is that sweet that in the glass, it moves as if it were oil. Finish: unbearably sugary, almost Saturated with sucrose. Comments: now I understand why there could have been an embargo on this dangerous, garbage-y liquid. The nose was rather nice. They call it 'el ron libre', well, it's not sugar-free for sure.
SGP:920 - 35 points.

One day, we'll stop doing these stupid apéritifs. Let's move…

Millonario 'Cincuenta' (50%, OB, Peru, +/-2022)

Wow, some 50-year-old rum! Unless they would be referring to the strength? In truth this baby is ten 'South-American years' old. Colour: amber/caramel. Nose: smoky molasses? Roasted chestnuts? Torrefaction? You would almost believe they blended lapsang souchong with espresso coffee. With water: the smoke almost went away, some grass and leather came in. Frankly, not an unpleasant nose. Mouth (neat): sugarcane and coffee liqueur. Toughly sweet. I think Kahlua is a little better, but there's a little rose essence in this rum that's not unpleasant. Intriguing… With water: it's clearly way too sweet for my taste, too liqueury, but beyond that I'm finding the fruity and floral flavours pleasant. Roses again, pineapple, then vanilla and coconut. Finish: short but on the same liqueurs banana liqueur, coffee liqueur, rose liqueur, you name it…Comments: I could not sip it, except on Himalayan amounts of ice cubes, but I admit it's quite well made.
SGP:730 - 60 points.

And he fears not…

Patridom 'Gran Reserva Overproof' (57.5%, OB, Dominican Republic, +/-2021)

The 'XO Cask' had been below par earlier this year (WF 49), but let's keep faith and hope. A they say (do they?), multicolumn = mini-rum. Colour: golden amber. Nose: same song and same dance, nice nose, this time with some polished oak, rooibos, nice varnishes bourbon-style and a large bag of ripe bananas. You'd almost wonder whether someone well-intentioned hasn't poured a few litres of Jamaican into each barrel. With water: indeed, good varnish and cane juice, that's impeccable. Mouth (neat): it's very sweet once more, but not any sweeter than chartreuse, mind you. What counts is that there's some 'stuff' to support the sugars and… no, forget, it's becoming really cloying and difficult even at this high strength. Water will probably slaughter it… With water: water butchers it, it's got even sweeter than a 5-kg bag of aspartame. Finish: pure corn syrup. Comments: I liked the nose. In fact, it can be very economical, you nose your glass and put it back into the bottle. With this amount of sugar, your bottle will keep forever.
SGP:831 - 40 points.

Alright, enough joking around…

Cuban Rum 30 yo 1991/2021 (47.2%, Chapter 7, Cuba, 78 bottles)

'A rare find' they say. That's an understatement! We've tried some very old rums in Cuba (stuff by Maestros and all that) but they had always been bottled at 40% vol. and were a little frustrating. Let's see… Colour: red amber. Nose: I hate it that I do not smoke cigars anymore – or very rarely – coz I would have put some old 'son' on the stereo, chosen an old Lusitania, and had a perfect Cuban moment with this very subtle rum that's all on old varnishes, old cedarwood, rosehip tea, brown banana skins, roasted pecans, chocolates, old leather (saddle)… We're almost at the Buenavista Social Club, which still exists, lovely place when it's not too full of tourists (like us, err…) Mouth: it feels like there's a proper proportion of pot-still aguardiente in there (try 'Sao Can' if you can find it), while as far as styles are concerned, I'm rather reminded of Santiago. You just cannot get cigars and coffee out of your head, here, not to mention old woods of all kinds. Oh and dark 80%+ chocolate. I find it exquisite. Finish: long, with some oranges, more chocolate yet, more coffee, more tobacco… What's more, the obvious tannicity is totally under control. Comments: it's got the knack that all very prestigious ultra-old OBs do never display. Are there other casks?
SGP:451 - 90 points.

Cuban Rum 50 yo 1971/2021 (46.7%, Chapter 7, Cuba, 99 bottles)

Right, let's be serious, Fidel used to work with Swiss bankers (he was no fool) and since the excellent folks at Chapter 7 are from Switzerland too, well, maybe there's been a kind of connection there. I mean, an independent fifty-year-old Cuban rum?! Well it's not found under a horse's hoof! Colour: red mahogany. Nose: shh… Marrow, cigars, parsley, bear garlic, old pu-her tea, old humidor, shh… muscovado, old Nuits-St.-Georges, half a coriander leaf, drop of old amontillado, old renaissance wardrobe, genuine chen-pi, shh… garden earth, morels, truffles… but shh… Mouth: shh… wood oils for sure, but also subtle molasses and chocolates, abandoned tobaccos pouches, old pipes… shh… and cigars, precious coffees… a tiny hint of onion jam… roasted pecans once more… the subtlest molasses… but shh… Finish: shh… it's coating and wrapping, with more precious woods and tobaccos, subtle honeys (melipona bee honey of course), various roasted nuts, pines… Comments: right, as far as music goes, I would recommend Chucho Valdés, of course. Or Juana Bacallao, whom I have met in La Havana. She's now 98 years old, proof that rum and cigars… But shh…
SGP:562 - 93 points.

Well, how would you go on? Perhaps with this?...

Havana Club 'Anejo Reserva' (40%, OB, Cuba, 1980s)

Havana Club 'Anejo Reserva' (40%, OB, Cuba, 1980s)
Proper Cuban Havana Club. A bottle sacrificed for the Rum Maniacs, a short-lived online experiment from quite a few years back. Colour: gold. Nose: various aromatic herbs, complemented with some hay and with some crushed cane, something truly subtle, floral, some caramel and some biscuits…. And bags of nougat. Do they, or did they make nougat in Cuba back then? Mouth: there is a little un-natural sweetness, otherwise liqueurs (pineapple) and several stewed vegetables that, I'm sure, weren't in there when this bottle was sold. OBE. Finish: medium, sweet, as if someone would have cooked peas and carrots in syrup. Comments: not the first time that I have the impression that whisky holds up much better in the bottle, even improves/further matures, than rum. But I could be wrong; I don't taste old bottles of rum very often.
SGP:640 - 70 points.

Back to (relative) normality..

Jamaican Rum 13 yo (46%, Rest & Be Thankful, Assemblage #01, 2022)

A blend that involved New Yarmouth 2005, Long Pond 2005, Clarendon 2007 and rum from Lluidas Vale. Right, from Worthy Park. Good feelings here and at 46% vol. we won't even need to add any waters. Colour: light gold. Nose: fresh, briney, olivey, rotting-banana-y and varnishy Jamaican rum for barbarians such as… ourselves. Mouth: just excellent. A no-brainer, marginally easier upper-middle-ester Jamaican, with all the aforementioned descriptors to be found on the palate too. Olives, capers, ripe bananas, liquorice, a drop of seawater… Finish: medium, fresh, salty, with olives and a touch of lemon marmalade. Comments: as great as any, now I've always been wondering if they were growing olive trees in Jamaica. I'm not sure I've ever heard a reggae song mentioning olives, have you?
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Hey there was no Hampden in there, let' have an easy one and then call this a tasting session…

Hampden Estate 8 yo (46%, OB, Jamaica, +/-2023)

You may call this one a 'regular Hampden'. There's a lot of literature on the label, it is almost a dazibao. As for the main colour of that label, it does give it away, they do grow olives at Hampden! That's exactly what I was thinking… Colour: gold. Nose: relatively gentle, balanced, polished, with some fresh-mown grass, those olives indeed, a little fresh coriander and basil, bananas, just a few drops of seawater, drops of diesel oil, bits of leatherette, new electronics (just a small Chinese item from Wish's) and touches of wild garlic (bear). It's got all the essentials but it seems that they went for a gentler profile. Mouth: good arrival but no, after just two seconds I find it unexpectedly drying, acrid, very leafy, almost thin in a way, ashy… A feeling of carbon dust, ashes indeed, leaves, pine needles… It's bizarrely skimpy, so to speak. Finish: long but drying and ashy indeed, lacking body. Comments: something must have happened, I'd say no master blender (right, blender) would have composed this leafy rum under normal circumstances. I'll try to try it again from another bottle but for now, it's rather a disappointment, comrades, but of course Hampden remains a utter superstar in my book.
SGP:262 - 79 points.

It's impossible to stop there, let's find something different, from the indies…

Enmore 28 yo 1994/2023 (51.8%, Distilia for Catawiki, Floral Rums Series, Victoria Amazonica, Guyana, 193 bottles)

This is a 'REV', so 'Rum Enmore Versailles', so from that famous wooden pot still when it was still at Enmore. I can't quite see what could go wrong this time… Colour: office coffee as in Netflix episodes taking place at NYPD. Nose: these Versailles are everything. Sublime pines (Douglas), old books, really old pinot noir and deep-smoked bacon. With water: bicycle inner tubes, firwood ashes, black cigars (maduro), raw high-cocoa chocolate, coffee beans, touch of camphor and eucalyptus. Mouth (neat): fig jam, smoked, plus cedarwood and Corinth raisins. Exceptional. With water: a tiny tad 'too much' now, with a wood that clearly took over, but there is an easy solution, just don't add any water and you'll be fine. Finish: very long, perfect when neat. Cancel water. Stunning salty liquorice, provided you like that. Comments: a little extreme, perhaps, but as long as you do not add any water, you're on Mount Olympus, reigning over the world. Well, more or less.
SGP:472 - 91 points.

Hold on, didn't the old Cubans actually run the show today?

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