Rum again and again


August 6, 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!

Rum again and again (and again)

What happened in whisky is now happening in rum: the indies or semi-indies are running the show as far as top-end bottles are concerned. But granted, that's only a personal opinion and it all depends on what's reaching WF's doorstep, we do no market research…

At Worthy Park (Worthy Park)

Bacardi 8 yo 'Reserva Ocho' (40%, OB, Puerto Rico, +/-2022)

Most recent Bacardis have been pretty poor in my book, I believe only their 'Reserva Limitada' made it into the low-80s. No mean feat. Colour: gold. Nose: extremely light, with a little lamp oil, paraffin, sunflower seed, paper glue perhaps… A little burnt wood and caramel too. It is not offensive. Mouth: almost nada, niente, nichts, rien, nothing. Some kind of sour saccharose syrup, pretty unpleasant. Not a sipper for sure, it may start to work below 5°C. I'm sorry. Finish: short but with some disagreeable notes of fermenting pineapple, which make it both light and tough. Comments: not rum for whisky drinkers for sure. Johnnie Walker Red, Grouse or even Bell's are ten times better in my book. Both Bacardi 4 and 10 are much better to, in my humble whisky-driven opinion. Oh and over-packaging always gives it away.
SGP:420 - 20 points.

Hardy 'Paille' (45%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2023)

Remember Hardy's made at Saint-James? We've recently tried some excellent Hardy. 'Paille' means it's barely aged, the name just refers to the light colour of 'straw'. Colour: straw (of course). Nose: a little difficult, it's like the tequilas 'reposado', they are a bit in-between, lacking both the immaculate, distillate-driven freshness of the whites and the more complex, rounder style of the properly aged ones (anejo or else). A wee soap, curry, sour fruits, tin, overripe pineapples, tangerines (which is nicer)… Mouth: for cocktails, I would suppose. It is absolutely good, with a rather complex, waxy spiciness, but also a little soap, citrus squash, candy sugar… As we sometimes say, it doesn't quite seem to know where it's heading to. Finish: medium, spicy and sugar, with a feeling of aquavit (caraway). Comments: perhaps not quite for us. We may need to drop all those reposados, pailles or else altogether. But my score won't be bad…
SGP:660 - 70 points.

Admiral Rodney 'HMS Princessa' (40%, OB, St. Lucia, +/-2022)

From bourbon wood and between 5 and 9 years of age (so 5 in whisky terms and 7 in rum count – no?) Admiral Rodney is a rather good drop, but I haven't tried many of them. Colour: orange gold (the orangey hues are always suspicious). Nose: light, this is almost Grand-Marnier or Cointreau aged in oak. Some caney aromas, candy sugar, sweet curry, ras-el-hanout, baked quinces… in all lightness. Mouth: light and good. This orange colour remains frightening though, how much spirit caramel did they add? Some hay, dry tea, TBH these 40% hardly ever work, unless the distillate is fat and heavy, which is not the case here. Now these notes of oaked triple-sec do remain good and pleasant. Finish: medium, dry, a little too much on sugar syrup, muscovado… Comments: fair rum, not earthshattering. We prefer the French admirals anyway (hey, I am joking!) Nice orangey touches.
SGP:640 - 77 points.

Good, let's change gear…

Monymusk 12 yo 2007/2019 (62.8%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Jamaica, #R1.5, 'A LIttle Extravagant', bourbon, 194 bottles)

It was ex-bourbon and it got finished in new oak, which we find frightening. Why would anyone impose that on a good Jamaican? Colour: deep gold. Nose: yeah well, mangos, patchouli, ripe bananas, guavas, that's all the new oak I believe. The ester count seems to be very low here; MLT or MBS, perhaps? Having said that this nose that's rather on white mulled wine is rather lovely. Yes, at 62.8% vol. With water: changes direction, with a lot of pinewood. Mouth (neat): good creaminess and much more liquorice and acrid petrols than on the nose. Forget about what I said about the ester counts, it's much higher. Huge hyper-concentrated salted liquorice. With water: bitters, pine resins, bone-dry liquorice… Tough boy. Finish: very long, with a lot of glue and turpentine, or at least a feeling of heavy turpentine. Comments: it went from soft to extreme. Tremendously turpentined and liquoricy. It seems that the finishing vessel was in HTMC oak, which should mean high-toast, medium-char. They really use a lot of acronyms in booze.
SGP:383 - 85 points.

Worthy Park 10 yo 2012/2023 (62.6%, Zero Nine Spirits, Samurai Series, Jamaica)

Lovely labels for sure, even if I'm not sure I ever spotted any samurais in Jamaica. Now they sure do have a few reggae men in Japan… Colour: gold. Nose: I find there's always more shoe polish in Worthy Park than in any other Jamaicans, and this is no exception. It's also a tad more, say aerially vegetal. Gherkins, wakame, samphire, sour fruits… With water: vegetable funk. Leek, Brussels sprouts, turnips, rubber, stewed zucchini, white truffle (ace!)… Mouth (neat): heavy, punchy, yet very bright, salty… This is almost like drinking seawater. Very good. With water: no changes. Salt, rubber, leek… Finish: same with a little salty fudge. Salty liquorice in the aftertaste. Comments: there's not enough Worthy Park around. There.
SGP:453 - 90 points.

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