A few more rums for this Sunday


September 1, 2024

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!

A few more rums for this Sunday

The end of summer is gently approaching, a few leaves are already turning yellow, French civil servants are getting ready to go on strike, students are preparing banners for the upcoming protests, and most organised groups are demanding more resources and threatening to join the students between Bastille and République... In short, autumn is on its way in la douce France, as it does every year. And we, we're going to enjoy a few rums.

At Papa Rouyo in Guadeloupe (Papa Rouyo)

Jamaican Rum 2023/2024 ‘>1,200 esters gr/hlpa’ (64.3%, The Spirit Traveller, 1st fill Austrian red wine, 1,347 bottles)

A blend from two distilleries. At 1,200+ esters, your choices are naturally limited to Hampden, Long Pond, or New Yarmouth. Of course, you might blend a 1,700gr-ester rum with one almost devoid of them, if you can find a small batch of the latter, that is. But let’s skip the rule of threes… As for the Austrian red wine cask, I’d wager it doesn’t bring much to the table in this context, but let’s see… Colour: rosé/partridge eye. Indeed. Nose: the aroma hits you even before the cork is fully out. Really. There’s a faint whiff of a wine cellar at harvest time, but I’m likely imagining that – the rest is all about massive esters, though leaning more towards black olives than petrol and tar. Not that we’re complaining; we love it. And naturally, there’s a hefty dose of liquorice too. With water: herbal teas, cedarwood, cherry stems, and, yes, more olives. Mouth (neat): simply explosive. Tar, seawater, every black olive from the Iberian Peninsula, and, let’s say, pink grapefruit. Just so. With water: the usual cavalcade of super-esters typical of Jamaican rum. Olives, salt, tar, liquorice, lemon juice, and a touch of vinegar… Finish: exceedingly long. Comments: given the colour, the wine cask must have had some impact, though pinpointing it is beyond me. I adore these very young rums. What’s more, the price is quite gentle.
SGP:474 - 88 points.

Well, that might not have been the ideal opener, but what's done is done.

Papa Rouyo 1 yo 2022/2023 (56.7%, Habitation Velier, Guadeloupe)

Papa Rouyo, the top release of last year. 430 gr/hlpa this time, which is rather decent for Guadeloupe. Oh, and it's pot still, not from a creole column, and made from red cane. Aged in old Cognac casks, but no worries, I’m certain it’s not quite an in-cask blend. Colour: gold. Nose: ah yes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, fresh mastic and lanolin, paraffin, white truffles, and distilled holly berry… it’s very distinctive, refined, elegant… With water: you get much closer to sugarcane and fresh acacia wood. Mouth (neat): absolutely top-tier Guadeloupean. I believe the production is quite small, but if you come across it, do not hesitate. A beautiful blend of waxes, white and yellow fruits, with a hint of plantain. A touch of salt that’s very well-placed. With water: I get the faint impression that a bit of Cognac shines through here, along with peaches and sultanas. Let’s just say we didn’t notice. Finish: not overly long but fresh, saline, coastal (anchovies), with those lovely notes of fresh sugarcane lingering. A very lightly sweet aftertaste. Comments: perhaps not quite on the level of the formidable young ‘Vibrasyon’ of 2023 (WF 87), but it certainly speaks well.
SGP:552 - 85 points.

Papalin 10 yo ‘Réunion’ (50%, Velier, La Réunion, 3,608 bottles, 2023)

A blend of four rums from La Réunion, each from a different distillery. In my humble opinion, there’s a bit of everything to be had in La Réunion, but I have complete faith in our Italian friends’ blending skills. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it feels like the top tier of Savanna is doing some of the work here. A very spectacular, highly unusual nose, strangely medicinal, with camphor and menthol, followed by fruits on the verge of rot and some tobacco. It’s really odd, but I love it. A bit of bear garlic and black garlic (no connection). With water: brand-new plastic straight from Temu or AliExpress, one of those unboxings you instantly regret. Here, though, it’s superb. Mouth (neat): how amusing! Toothpaste, orange juice, pine sap, thyme oil, caraway liqueur, and wormwood… With water: and here comes a touch of rosewater, with even more thyme. A touch of salt. Finish: long, saline, resinous, tarry, and very deviant. Comments: you can really sense a master blender behind this wonderfully bizarre creation. We adore this kind of weirdness. Is this Savanna?
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Back to Jamaica…

Worthy Park 7 yo 2016/2024 (55%, Rum of The World, for Whisky Milano, Jamaica, cask #WP16JD02)

We always say that the Italians are very, very particular about what they put in their mouths, and that’s undoubtedly even truer in Milan. And in Bologna, Genoa, Florence, Palermo, Rome... Colour: gold. Nose: WP is always more compact and softer than H, yet still retains that oilcloth, tar, crushed olives, Barbour grease, diesel, and motor oil character, along with some nicely ripe bananas. This is a prime example. With water: a pencil sharpener in action and freshly sawn fir wood. Mouth (neat): yes, it’s clean, with an obvious, almost easy-going side, yet there’s major liquorice and tar coming at you from all angles. There’s a binary aspect we love, and we must admit we’re rather binary ourselves. Lovely salinity, Dutch liquorice, and so forth. With water: what balance! That’s truly WP’s strong point. Finish: the same, with seawater, liquorice, bergamot, oysters, and seaweed. A certain sweetness lingers. Comments: very much in the same lineage.
SGP:553 - 87 points.

Hampden 2023/2024 ‘Rum Love Festival Edition 2024’ (64.4%, The Colours of Rum, new American oak)

Love at 64.4% vol.? 400-600 gr esters/hlpa, so I suppose it’s an HLCF marque. My favourite. Let’s check all this love, love, love, love… Colour: gold. Nose: linoleum, tar, acetone, green apples and pears, varnish, vinegar, carbon… Some rums really don’t need to wait for years to show their value, and that’s the superiority of rum over all other aged spirits. With water: rust remover, polish, new leather, and turnips… Mouth (neat): superbly chiselled punch, quite acidic, very salty, and frankly loaded with acetone. And pickled turnips (turnip sauerkraut). With water: that industrial chemical vibe that we love, probably because of our slightly perverted tastes. Finish: long, more on aged apple, shoe polish, brine, and olives… Very salty aftertaste. Comments: love, and peace.
SGP:463 - 88 points.

Let's move on to an aged rum and see if we can get past 90...

Caroni 25 yo 1998/2023 (63.4%, Milano Whisky Company, Trinidad, 230 bottles)

10 years in the tropics, the rest in Europe. That’s like the fate of a well-heeled European retiree who knows how to live. Colour: dark amber. Nose: polish and chocolate. I repeat, polish and chocolate. Also, new trainers from some ridiculous DNVB straight from Facebook, and pencil shavings. A touch of strawberry. It’s very lovely, not a ‘heavy’. With water: very Ikea-like. Varnish, fresh plywood, cheap paint, seawater, a hint of cider vinegar. Mouth: it hits a bit, a touch acidic, very lemony, borderline ammonia-like. But since we’re all a bit masochistic when it comes to spirits, we quite enjoy it. With water: we’ve cracked it, it’s become elegant, salty, even very salty, in fact, extremely salty, but it’s perfect. Finish: very long, acidic and briny, highly pickled. Comments: absolutely not an easy rum, but one gives in, one surrenders—life’s too short (S., I believe it’s bedtime).
SGP: 372 - 90 points.

Let's finish with an old Guyanese tale...

Diamond 26 yo 1996/2022 ‘SVC’ (47.3%, The Taste of Rum, 190 bottles)

I believe SVC might be a label for one of the two Coffey stills at Diamond (SV), with the C perhaps standing for ‘Coloured’. Quite the labyrinth of marques indeed. Colour: mahogany. Nose: it’s really rich, with even some vinous touches alongside molasses, currants, gravy, dates, and above all, Armagnac and caramel. A hint of mint as well. Mouth: liquorice and a Moscatel-like note, still plenty of molasses, corn syrup, a touch of tar, anise, pipe tobacco, and then loads of Christmas cake and plum pudding… The texture is very thick, oily. Finish: long, still thick, syrupy, caramelised, with honey and liquorice. Comments: you do get the impression that something was added to this old rum, perhaps right when the cask was filled. Really reminiscent of some older El Dorado expressions, it seems, or certain batches of ‘Black Tot’ for the British navy. A slightly retro style, which I like very much despite a touch of ‘stuffiness’.
SGP:751 – 87 points.

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