Yet another flight of rums


November 26, 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!

Yet another flight of rums

Samai

The small stills at Samai in Phnom Penh (Samai)

Starting this with two apéritifs (for the price of one!)

Ron Cristobal 'Pinta' (40%, OB, Dominican Republic, +/-2023)

This brand seems to be all about Christopher Columbus, in this very case about one of his famous ships. It seems that the names of these caravels were actually those of ladies of easy virtue well known to the sailors. Are the makers of this rum aware of that? Colour: deep gold. Nose: a little ethanol, some coconut, some sweet tea, orange squash, some rather pleasant jams (kiwi jam) and some ripe strawberries, a little pineapple and some vanilla. Fine, really fine. Wasn't La Pinta the fastest of all of Columbus' ships? Mouth: sadly there's too much sugar in there, the caravel on the nose became almost a wreck on the palate. Palm syrup, plain sugar, cane syrup… It's really too much for me, I'm sorry. Or we'd need tons of ice. Finish: short but extremely syrupy. Easy molasses honey. Comments: this is sad, I really enjoyed the nose, but the palate is almost of Don Papa/Bumbu quality, dulce madre de dios!
SGP:820 - 50 points.

Infernal Rum No. Five (40%, OB, Guatemala, +/-2023)

Just like the Cristobal, this baby was found in one of those nifty advent calendars that often help me to activate, test and massage the lower end of the 100-scale – and to demonstrate that the whole scale is indeed useful. Mind you, these rums would never come our way otherwise. Which reminds me, we must do a large 'los cheapos' whisky session again. Colour: white wine. Nose: of light Cuban style, rather between the entry-level Havana Clubs and Bacardis. Not much at first, then a few flowers (rather dandelions), a drop of pancake sauce, some very soft honey, and faint whiffs of wood smoke. Make that cigars, for more cachet. Very light, and not unpleasant, because it couldn't be. Mouth: no added sugar this time, I think, rather grasses, hay, sugarcane, touches of vanilla, a touch of lemon… Once again, not unpleasant, 'it couldn't be' as it's so thin. Finish: short, but clean. Probably not a bad mixer. A touch of sugar in the very short aftertaste. Comments: what's supposed to be infernal in this little rum?
SGP:440 - 60 points.

Cambodia 5 yo 2018/2023 (56.5%, La Maison du Whisky, Flag Series, cask #SAM18BNI)
We've only ever tried one rum from Cambodia, a Samai made in a small new distillery in Phnom Penh. We had thought it was surprisingly excellent (WF 84 at only 41% vol.), but naturally, we have no proof that this is the same juice; apart from the fact that the cask number here starts with 'SAM'. Can't be Samaroli… Colour: straw. Nose: milder Jamaican style, towards lighter Long Pond I would say. Fermenting cane juice, coal tar, chalk and crushed slate, rainwater, gherkins, rotting pineapple and banana, bits of thick camphory balms, bidis and eucalyptus, some yoghurt sauce… With water: similar but with emphasis on olives and lemon. Ready for a martini. Mouth (neat): excellent, salty, tarry, full of liquorice and with a few olives and gherkins, with a feeling of smoked syrup of some sort. That would be a hit in mixology, no? Or does that already exist? A drop of chilli liqueur. With water: absolutely. Rather more citrusy, estery, with a little tar once more, the usual olives, plus capsicum and pepper. Finish: a notch shorter and thinner than the Jamaicans, but we're splitting hairs once more. Comments: absolutely dazzling. By the way, who's remembering Kim Wilde's song 'Cambodia'? I know, useless comment… I'd like to see how the Fijian rums compare…
SGP:563 - 87 points.

Happy to serve…

Secret Fiji 8 yo 2014/2023 (62%, Dràm Mor, Fiji, bourbon, cask #22, 271 bottles, 2023)

Secret Fiji 8 yo 2014/2023 (62%, Dràm Mor, Fiji, bourbon, cask #22, 271 bottles, 2023)
Some secret South Pacific, probably. Dràm Mor already had an excellent 2004 last year. Oh and by the way, did you see the Fijians at the rugby world cup? Colour: gold. Nose: as expected, a similar style, but this Fijian is a little fatter, perhaps thanks to the bourbon wood. It's also rather more on petrol, engine oil and all that, seawater, crushed slate, brine, ointments (that rugby folks often need)… Now it would make the yoghurt part in the Cambodian stand out by comparison. With water: chalkier, less acetic, less yoghurty indeed. Mouth (neat): they are really close now, this one just burns a little more, and needs more water, consequently. A lot of pepper and even jalapenos, it seems. With water: rather sweeter, rounder, fruitier. Bananas at the helm, some pretty overripe though. Finish: long, salty, very nice. A little syrup in the aftertaste. Comments: amazing Fijian, these Jamaicans from the Pacific are always very surprising. Did the British Navy use them too in its rums? Remember Fiji is part of the Commonwealth – although they seem to be coming and going.
SGP:653 - 86 points.

Didn't we mention Long Pond just a few minutes ago?

Long Pond 17 yo 2006/2023 (68.1%, Tamosi, Jamaica, Wiwakalaymay)

Not too sure about what 'Wiwakalaymay' means, but what's sure is that the word would score big in French Scrabble. Bur watch this one, did you see the strength? Colour: amber. Nose: funky toffee with some rubber and some tar, would I say, but we do not want to burn our nostrils. With water: awesome bouillons, fresh Cuban cigars, shoe polish, snail butter (as we say over here), garlic pasta, h*sh*sh, bourbon … This is a whole rock and roll band on tour! Mouth (neat): creamy, relatively fudgey and gentle this far but I'm sure that's the very high level of alcohol. With water: no high marque, it remains pretty gentle – relatively speaking – with some smoky oranges and some mild brine. Finish: medium, pretty gentle indeed, but with a loud and clear Jamaicanness. Some margarita and olive oil in the aftertaste. Comments: loved this slightly disconcerting LP that needs you to be a king/queen of the pipette if you do not want to miss a large part of it.
SGP:552 - 87 points.

Jamaica Rum 15 yo 2007/2022 'JMC' (64.3%, The Whisky Blues, hogshead, cask #18, 248 bottles)

Do I spot Beethoven, Bach, Schubert and Mozart on the label? Were they playing the whisky blues? Lovely label, in any case. Colour: white wine. Nose: high-ester-count Hampden. That is to say carbon dust, olives, glues, acetone and lanoline. With water: very high-precision bacterial, acetic and gluey wonders, with ripe bananas laughing out loud in the background. Mouth (neat): holy Suzy! Perfection in a bottle. Unless you hate glue, lemon, olives and tar. With water: but who would hate ripe bananas? Finish: long, immaculate, Dadaistic, abstract rum. Comments: I'm usually more in favour of 'average' marques at Hampden, but in this very case, I just have to bow. And curtsy.
SGP:573 - 93 points.

Do we have much choice left?... Or do we take risks and try a lighter Hampden?

Hampden 7 yo 2016/2023 'OWH' (60%, Habitation Velier)

This is actually the lightest marque at Hampden, but we've often noticed that all this is never totally constant and linear… What's more, we made sure to take a good break between the estery wonder and this one. Colour: deep amber. Nose: ravishing, still quite a bit 'funky' (we'll really need to find another terminology – no, 'mucky' is awful!) and rather coastal, almost in an Islay way, with anchovies and oysters, seaweed, mint leaves, thyme tea, verbena, dill… You'd almost swear you spot the Paps of Jura in the distance. With water: some gentle rubber chiming in, also even more seawater. Mouth (neat): esters! I mean glue and varnish, tar, petrol, plus a little cassis and celeriac. It almost reminds me of when they launch the first batch of unpeated Caol Ila after months of a very peaty regimen, there is still quite a bit of echo, even when all the pipes were well cleaned. With water: indeed, this is fully salty, varnishy, lemony, slightly piquant/spicy. Finish: long. There is not light Hampden. Comments: maybe we should just stop worrying about marques/marks altogether. Love this wee OWH (didn't we just say we'd stop worrying about marques?)
SGP:463 - 91 points.

Why wouldn't a distillery on Islay, say Ardbeg, do various 'marques' too, like 5ppm peat, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70… What pipes?...

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