Rum, from Java to Trinidad


December 10, 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, from Java to Trinidad

So it's rum again today, but we'll do cognac and armagnac when we get closer to Christmas. As usual, let's first have an uncertain little apéro… Meaning we don't quite know what to expect.

Naga 'Java Reserve' (40%, OB, Indonesia, Batavia arrack, +/-2023)

We've had a Naga 'Pearl of Jakarta' at 42.7% earlier this year, we found it to be rather proper despite vast amounts of sweetness. This Batavia arrack is 'made with Indonesian aged rum' but in theory, these arracks could also shelter rice spirit if I'm not mistaken. This one's is partly aged in local tropical wood (Jati). Colour: amber. Nose: a lot of caramel upfront, some kind of herbal toffee, pancake sauce, molasses, then roasted peanuts and pecans. A little mocha too. Mouth: pretty sweet, pretty light, starting with triple-sec or curaçao, drops of coffee liqueur, before some molasses and simply candy sugar would return in waves, together with those roasted pecan nuts. Rather kind of fine but there isn't much body. Finish: short, with a little caramel and sugarcane syrup. Comments: I find it acceptable, this very light little Javanese arrack/rum. At least it's not extravagantly syrupy.
SGP:720 - 71 points.

Rhum J.M 2015/2023 (53.3%, OB for Wu Dram Clan, Martinique, agricole, American oak and French oak, cask 200097, 274 bottles)

As usual, it'll be about the amount of new oak/bourbonness, given that I'm more in favour of some relative moderation in that respect. Colour: deep amber. Nose: varnish, coconut and pinesap at first, then banana bread, menthol and a little pineapple liqueur. The piney menthol never stops growing, that's the wood. Let's see what water will do to it… With water: good fun, it's now geared towards model glue, balsawood, sauna oils and, perhaps, a little ylang-ylang. Cinnamon oil. Mouth (neat): high-concentration, extractive oak, fresh-sawn pinewood and coconut. Wham! Then marmalade… With water: once again, water makes wonders, it would relax everything and make it more fruity and floral, easier too. Mint and liquorice plus touches burnt molasses in the background. Finish: medium, very agricole now. Vanilla, honeysuckle, more liquorice, some roasted honeyed pecans. Comments: excellent, but be careful, the rather civilised alcohol content might lead you to think that adding water is unnecessary. On the contrary, I believe we need to soften the woods.
SGP:562 - 88 points.

Rhum Dieu-le-Veut 7 yo 2016 (52%, OB, Belize, 485 bottles)

Most probably a Travellers, which is good news. It was matured in bourbon, then cognac. Colour: straw. Nose: small whiffs of engine oil and paraffin at first, then pistachio cream, praline cream, vanilla, raisin rolls (from the cognac, I would suppose) and honeysuckle. It is a very elegant nose, slightly discreet, in a good way. With water: more towards hay and bagasse, cane honey… Mouth (neat): sugarcane and small anise-like herbs, preserved peaches and pears, custard. With water: cane juice, really. A little fudge too, butterscotch, some soft gingerbread… Finish: medium to short, globally on cane syrup. Comments: it's a fine, relatively light (but not thin) rum, pretty elegant and refined.
SGP:631 - 85 points.

Chairman's Reserve 15 yo 2006 (59%, OB for La Maison du Whisky, St Lucia, New Vibrations, 2023)

This baby was made in the distillery's Vendôme pot still. We've tried some wonderful Chairman's Reserve within the last two or three years. Colour: deep amber. Nose: pretty incredible arrival on carbolineum and proper balsamic vinegar, really not a common combo. Loads of crushed slate, petrol, new electronics (designed in California, ha-ha) and then, very old Sauternes, botrytis, barbecued herbs (thyme, rosemary) and anything empyreumatic. Very unusual. With water: more on salted liquorice but something very pleasantly acetic remains. Mouth (neat): I'd have said old Port Mourant, plain and simple, or lighter Clarendon. Turpentine, olives, rotting pineapples, glue, varnish, dried pears, drop of seawater… With water: more glue and varnish yet. Finish: long, salty, estery, 'Jamaican'. Woody and petroly aftertaste. Comments: we're all chairmen with Chairman's Reserve. No, that's no official baseline, just a little joke. Loved this one, even if the oak has tried to take over all along.
SGP:562 - 89 points.

Romero & Sons 1973 (50.4%, Flensburg Rum Company, Kirsch Imports, Ecuador, cask #36, 198 bottles, 2023)

Made out of sugarcane honey, in pot stills. We've tried our first Romero just one month ago and while I wasn't expecting much (nah, plain and simple ignorance), I was pleasantly surprised with their 'Solera Especial' – while the name solera itself is usually rather a turn off at WF Towers, I mean with rum. Colour: light gold. Nose: a pastry shop, really, with croissants, danishes, cupcakes, shortbreads, then Turkish delights, baklavas, with rather a lot of honey and orange blossom water. Something delicately oriental - yes, I know where Ecuador is located. With water: touches of ink, old books, honeycomb (from Melipona, ha). Mouth (neat): sweet but not too sugary, rather on old triple sec, orange cordials, jam, cane honey indeed… It's an easy drop at 50 years of age and no oak got in the way during all those years, which I find miraculous. Having said that I've seen it has aged at high altitude, probably in a cold environment. With water: little further changes, but it really remains an elegant, well-behaved old lighter rum. Finish: medium, with notes of early grey. Comments: to think that indeed, this baby is 50… I think it is an extremely fine old rum. I can't wait to try new stuff by the Romeros.
SGP:531 - 86 points.

Do we say Bielle?

Bielle 19 yo 2001 (43.8%, The Auld Alliance & Famille Ricci, Marie-Galante, agricole, 48 bottles, 2023)

I really don't know where our friends managed to find this very rare small stock of Bielle. Their new 15/2008 has been terrifyingly good last week. Colour: dark amber. Nose: et voilà. Old wardrobe, old polishes (old Jag, old library), honeysuckle and jasmine tea, liquorice and apricots (new on WF, apricot-flavoured liquorice - ha), then potting soil, garden peat, porcinis, black earth… This nose is simply extraordinary. Mouth: reminiscent of some of the most dazzling folle-blanche armagnacs, with peaches in all their guises and some stupendous earthy liquorice, as well as pinewood and menthol tobacco, snuff… The peaches are exceptional, the raisins too. Notes of very old V.O.R.S. sherry, but I doubt this was sherry cask. Finish: long, with a drop of coffee, a drop of old Bénédictine and a drop of peach liqueur. And more folle blanche in the aftertaste. Comments: just a grand, totally superlative old Bielle. Has it been resting in a demijohn between, say 2020 and 2023? Asking for a friend…
SGP:662 - 92 points (almost 93).

Last one… Let's make it big enough so that it doesn't get crushed by the Bielle…

Caroni 24 yo 1998/2023 (58.1%, Precious Liquors, Tortuga Edition No.3, Trinidad, mizunara finish)

Caroni 24 yo 1998/2023 (58.1%, Precious Liquors and East Asia Whisky Conpany, Tortuga Edition No.3, Trinidad, mizunara finish)

Well, asking why they did a 2-year mizunara finish on a Caroni 1998 is the same as wondering about the meaning of life. Just don't ask. After all, some are adding Coke to Pétrus. Colour: dark reddish amber. Nose: petrol, teak oil, Barbour grease, new tyres, cedarwood and 'a very old pipe full of tar'. A few leaves and stems too (cherry, peach). With water: a little more on moss, old tump, minty mushrooms (blue foot mushrooms, blewit, lepista or clitocybe nuda, it depends)… Mouth (neat): huge. Think chestnut honey, with some truffle, heavy meat reduction, pine tar, heavy cough syrup (menthol, coriander seeds, eucalyptus) and a drop of turpentine. This feeling of turpentine may – or not – stem from that mizunara wood. With water: sweet petrol, shall we say. The oak's getting a little insistent, maybe. Finish: long, between pinewood/mizunara and olives, lemons, liquorice and tar. Some sweeter fruitiness in the aftertaste. Comments: it's absolutely excellent, I just had a bit of trouble understanding everything about the woods they used.
SGP:563 - 89 points.

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