Rum is back on WF's tasting desk


October 8, 2023

Rum is back on WF's tasting desk

Long Pond (Jamaica Observer)

Let's see what we have, while keeping all this as varied as possible… A while ago we had considered doing coherent sessions, like six agricoles or five young Jamaicans, to bring us closer to the way we deal with whiskies. But it quickly became a bit of a headache, after all, rum remains for me a pleasant (often better!) alternative to our beloved whiskies. In other words, they remain weekend spirits.

Dzama 'Cuvée Noire' (40%, OB, Madagascar, +/-2022)

Said to be French-style molasses rum, so I would suppose it's a little drier than others, but the few Dzama I've tried before have not been extremely convincing I'm afraid, but that was some years ago. They were a little thin, shall we say. Colour: light gold. Nose: a lot of coconut water and rather a lot of vanillin at first, then even more readymade custard, vanilla cream (do you know crème Mont Blanc?) and a little polenta. Mouth: sweet, thin, sugary, almost entirely on vanilla sugar and white chocolate, with a touch of sweet caramel. Anything coconut is almost gone. Finish: very short. More vanilla sugar. Comments: there's also a cuvée 'prestige' that's meant to be better. This honest little 'cuvée classique' is in need of quite a few ice cubes, I don't think you're supposed to have it neat. My bad.
SGP:610 - 65 points.

Quick, to Guadeloupe for more blackness…

Karukera 'Black Edition Alligator' (45%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, +/-2023)

Remember Karukera is made at Longueteau, but it's not exactly a second brand. I would be curious to know how many very distinguished rum enthusiasts know what 'alligator' means in the context of a Caribbean rum. I would bet that 90% think it's the animal, and 10% think it's a way to carbonise the inside of the barrels so that it resembles alligator skin. Right, I'm sure I'm exaggerating, love them all and I do not want to sound patronising, I'm really not the right person for that. Now it's funny to see rum makers mimicking whisky distillers like this… Colour: gold. Nose: we've never been this close to bananas flambéed, really. A lot of vanilla, crème brulée, an obvious bourbon side, whiffs of burnt hay… It's not complex at all, but it's very nice. Mouth: I really believe that alligator thing simplified this rhum, as it did with Ardbeg, remember. Gritty strong teas, some salty rum indeed, liquorice, drying spices (pepper and cinnamon), caraway… Finish: rather long, with a lot of liquorice and something like burnt clove. Thank God some grapefruit appears in the aftertaste. Comments: not quite my thing. I get the impression that the treatment has damaged the rum, which is very good generally.
SGP:472 - 75 points.

Let's try a 'regular' agricole…

Dillon 'Hors d'Âge XO' (43%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2022)

This one's older than 9 and made at Depaz, as are all Dillons I think. The brand is very widely available in supermarkets, which is never too good for your reputation here in France, but it has been a few years since some true enthusiasts decided to defend it. We have tasted some pretty good ones! Colour: full gold. Nose: it's quite soft, with some hay, dried flowers, dandelions, chamomile tea, then a little menthol and some liquorice. A little cedar wood. Very soft on the nose. Mouth: easy, fruitier, rather fresh, with notes of bananas and flower jelly, orange blossom and vanilla. You'd sometimes believe someone's let some large packs of liquorice allsorts dissolve in the casks. Finish: medium, this time with very lovely notes of tangerines and clementines. Comments: very good surprise, I wasn't expecting much. But indeed I adore liquorice allsorts and clementines.
SGP:641 - 84 points.

Luisita 2016/2022 (58.8%, OB, Tarlac Distillery, for Precious Liquors, Philippines, bourbon, cask #2183, 180 bottles)

This is not, I repeat, this is not made by the makers of Don Papa (who, I've been told, are actually large gin makers Ginebra San Miguel). We've already tried a sister cask (ex-PX) and it had been excellent (WF 87). I told you, not Don Papa. I repeat, not Don Papa (got you S.) Colour: gold. Nose: tight iron scrapings and paraffin, over custard, ripe bananas and brioche. With water: always these metallic touches that we always enjoy (old coins), magazines (fresh ink), dried flowers, a little candlewax… Mouth (neat): very good, feeling a notch Cuban, soft yet firm, with some good sweet cane juice and syrup. Quite some natural vanilla too. With water: tiny berries and fruits coming out, orange blossom water… But it remains easy, lighter rum. Finish: medium, round, with touches of honey and maple syrup. Sugarcane syrup once more. Comments: I remember there was a little more action in the ex-PX, but this is very, very fine and natural. Did I tell you that the distillery had nothing to do with Don Papa?
SGP:541 - 84 points.

Diamond 15 yo 2006/2021 'REV' (56.4%, S.B.S, cask #1423, 240 bottles)

REV, that's the Versailles still. Pot stills rule. Colour: deep red amber. Nose: naturally. Thick as honey and tarry as coal-tar. Exceptional notes of turpentine and roasted caramelised peanuts. With water: new rubber boots, scuba diving suit and the accompanying snorkel. Some metal polish, leatherette, bakelite and lamp oil too. Quasi orgasmic (I know, I know). Mouth (neat): still thick as honey. Very extractive, with a lot of liquorice (really a lot) and a good few spoonfuls of fir honey. With water: and voilà, anchovies in brine, liquorice, grapefruit, tarragon… Finish: same for a very long time. Heavy honey is back in the aftertaste. Comments: you can't fight against this. Wo would know about the ester count?
SGP:663 - 91 points.

Renegade 'Etudes – Old Bacolet' (55%, OB, Grenada, Single Farm, terroir 'Silk Cotton Tree', single field 'Theo's Field', Grenada, 2023)

Column distillation of a cane varietal called 'lodger' (nothing to do with David Bowie, I suppose). Colour: gold. Nose: interesting nose, on Crayolas and bags of pencil shavings. You'd almost believe we're back on the benches of the public school. Some vegetables stewed in honey sauce, perhaps eggplants? And then really a lot of roasted sesame oil, this time we're in Lebanon, almost. Doesn't rum make you travel? With water: rather more of those wood shavings, praline, pistachio nougat, small berry eau-de-vie (holly)… Mouth (neat): lovely tension, between pink grapefruits and blood oranges, with even a little salt. Not Himalaya salt, do not push us. With water: earthy citrus at the helm. Pure fresh-crushed canes, with a body that isn't very fat, not too sure Renegade also distilled some of this in pot stills, would be cool to compare. Finish: medium, with metallic touches that we always enjoy. Fruit peel, some softer oak spices, a feeling of fresh paint and putty, with those pink grapefruits in the aftertaste. Comments: malt enthusiasts often find rums that have been through column stills a bit thin, but that's far from the case here. This is another excellent Renegade, even though I tend to prefer the ex-pot still ones, but very barely in the case of Renegade. Yet old habits die hard.
SGP:552 - 89 points.

Speaking of renegades, let's have some fun with some much older Grenadian Pirate…

Grenada 29 yo 1993/2023 'Edward Ned Low' (64.5%, Distilia, The Golden Age of Piracy, cask #14, 226 bottles)

I would suppose this was Westerhall. By the way, I remember that there were Westerhalls within the first range of Renegade independent rums, at the time when the brand was somewhat of a subsidiary of Murray McDavid, around the mid to late 2000s.Colour: gold. Nose: it is not even that different despite the huge time gap, but that may be due to the much higher strength (this one had spent 15 years in the tropics). Cakes, oranges, cane juice, biscuits, vanilla… It's all very soft. With water: the pirate is gentler than the renegade. Cakes and bananas, vanilla… Mouth (neat): high powerz, varnish, glue… That's just the ethanol. With water: soft island-style, with herbal teas and cane juice. It's as if the very high proof has kind of locked it up all these years, with just a bit of tree bark and breakfast tea. Finish: medium, with some English breakfast tea (as they say) and chamomile. Comments: very good for sure but the Renegade tastes like higher-ester Hampden in comparison.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Didn't we mention Jamaica?

Long Pond 22 yo 2000/2023 'JMLW' (49.6%, RumSponge, edition 21a, 198 bottles)

JMLW stands for Jamaica Main Long Pond Wedderburn, which suggests a softer one, am I not right? Colour: straw. Nose: old butter, turnips, engine oil, old tools, plasticine, olives… Scared? You shouldn't be, it's just that it seems that this baby's aged relatively fastly. Not too sure, but these added notes of old riesling and petrol are just awesome. Mouth: more of those old rieslings, olives, capers, pinewood, a drop of Worcester sauce, sandalwood, cigar, tabasco, lime as well, mezcal, crazy cachaça and a bit of parmesan cheese. That's why I found a little 'old butter' on the nose. In short, almost rum for foodistas, as we used to say in the early 2000s, when this was distilled. Finish: long, a tad acetic, with a lovely ashy sourness and even a feeling of lemony peat. Think Caol Ila. Comments: nice stroll, it's excellent. Forgot to mention rotting bananas.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

I think we have some room for a last Jamaican… And maybe even a Trinidadian before that…

T.D.L. 21 yo 2002/2023 (55%, Cadenhead's Dated Distillation, Trinidad)

Long story short, this is indie Angostura, so hit or miss, let's see… Colour: light gold. Nose: total hit! I can't remember when I last tried a rum this fruity, this full of passion fruits and mangos. Incredible. With water: towards fruit skins and peelings, still extremely exotic. Mouth (neat): no, really, this is mango eau-de-vie, is it not? Well no, it's not possible, mango eau-de-vie is not very good, at least the ones I've tasted weren't great, too much on perfume and scented soap and candles. This is something else, this wee rum transcends mangos, in a way. With water: same, plus orange juice and citron liqueur. It just drinks way too well, they should add a warning. Finish: medium, ultra-tropical. Indeed the aftertaste is a notch soapy, but we don't care at all. Comments: it's actually rather malty, you cannot not think of late 1980s-early 1990s Bushmills or, there, Littlemill, really. Or Lochside, why not Lochside. I was not expecting this, at all. I don't know whether Cadenhead 'raised' this one or if they just recently sourced it, but what a hit indeed.
SGP:740 - 91 points.

And so we said a Jamaican. Why not another Long Pond?...

Long Pond 21 yo 2001/2022 (56.4%, The Colours of Rum, Jamaica, N°8)

I've read on some website that this was a 'rum finish' (hey MoM). That's our favourite kind of finishing, Ardbeg Ardbeg finish, Macallan Macallan finish, and rum rum finish. Pleonasmic or tautological finishes, that's great (yeah I've realised that the cask they've used may have stemmed from another rum distillery). Colour: white wine. Nose: pure lemon juice mixed with olive oil and benzine. The fumes from a 2-stroke engine, as we sometimes say. Right, old Kawasaki. Whiffs of formic acid. With water: same, plus Thai basil and coriander. Mouth (neat): this was made with a scalpel. Olives, lemon peel, seawater, ashes. With water: very simple, very high-definition. Brine and lemons. Finish: long, more medicinal. Salty smoke in the aftertaste. Comments: like all simple people, we like simple rums, as long as they carry some punch, like this one.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

I believe we now have more malternatives that reach or surpass 90 points than whiskies doing the same. Such is the world, CU.

(Thanks Pawel, Rob and other friends… )

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