Rums, rums, rums, rums and rums


January 14, 2024

Rums, rums, rums, rums
and
rums

With a very carefully selected apéritif!

Triple-column continuous still at Travellers in Belize (Dan Carey)

Damoiseau 'XO' (42%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, +/-2022)

I thought the VSOP was a little disappointing (WF 79) but we last tried that one in 2016. The simpler VO was much more to my liking last year in June (WF 85). This XO is said to be 6 years old, so careful there, XO may be 'younger' in French rum than it is in cognac (minimum 10 years in cognac, usually much older). Not to mention other quasi-forgeries such as fantasy XOs from the DomRep or elsewhere. Colour: gold. Nose: no, very nice, great cane, small petroly notes, metal polish, rotting fruits especially bananas (love that on the nose), some lovely varnish, some brine, some salted liquorice… In short, everything's rather perfect here, even more so since this is a 60-70€ bottle. Mouth: yes, really quite lovely, spicier than expected, with beautiful liquorice, English sweets, hints of caramel but especially crème brûlée, then a lot of halva, turron, toasted sesame, and even a bit of butterscotch. You could add a little black olive, as in many agricultural rums in my opinion, and almond paste. Finish: long, with cocoa and a decidedly more herbaceous, tighter side. Liquorice wood, chocolate plus salt and pepper in the aftertaste. And that famous black olive. Comments: a lot of personality in this rum from Guadeloupe. The brand is very present all over France, but that does not stop it from being excellent, in my humble opinion.
SGP:562 - 86 points.

Travellers 16 yo 2006/2023 'Obano-Oyo' (58.6% , Tamosi, Belize, cask #ECA#3)

Travellers 16 yo 2006/2023 'Obano-Oyo' (58.6% , Tamosi, Belize, cask #ECA#3)
13 years in the tropics plus 3 years in Europe for this well-aged Travellers. It's interesting that Travellers/Belmopan Distillery are using molasses from local sugarcanes and seem to be doing double-distillation (not too sure they're doing that exclusively, they also make vodka, apparently, while there's a photograph of a triple-column at Wikipedia). Colour: deep gold. Nose: rather a lot of glue, varnish, acids, vinegar and all that, the whole being coated with some dark caramel and some heavy coffee liqueur. Other Travellers had been gentler, shall we say. With water: an earthier side, it's slightly musty, with old apples, molasses indeed, plus some wonderful coffee and aged black tea, Pu-ehr-style. Some nail polish remaining, but acids and vinegars are gone. Mouth (neat): a massive blend of varnish with cocoa. It's very hot. With water: it's not very fat, but oranges have made it through, together with pickles and some much softer glues. I'm also finding more and more coffee. Finish: medium, gentler, on butterscotch and Jaffa cakes. Much, much gentler. Comments: same ballpark as far as quality's concerned, in my humble opinion. The texture changes a lot over time, from rather heavy to pretty light.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Penny Blue 11 yo 2011/2023 (60%, OB, Mauritius, ex-American oak oloroso sherry, LMDW New Vibrations)

From Distillerie Médine, as always. Colour: mahogany. Nose: it's not easy to tell what's sherry and what isn't in these mixes with pretty heavy rums, even less so at 60% vol. What's sure is that there are bags of roasted nuts and a lot of walnuts, which were roasted as well. Some black nougat. With water: very nice, still nutty but also earthy, caky, with a little brine, olives, liquorice… If I may, some Appletons are a bit like this. Mouth (neat): very hot and heavy but seemingly great. Some flamethrower, this little Penny Blue! With water: we tamed it, it's now geared towards high-class molasses, maple syrup, caramel, then clove and softer juniper, as well as thin mints (chocolate and mint, all right). Finish: long, saltier yet. More brine, the usual olives, liquorice, some saltiness, then burnt walnut cake, quite possibly from the sherry. Marmalade and a touch of ginger in the aftertaste, plus bitter chocolate. Comments: three 86s in a row. A session that starts well. I believe these Penny Blues keep improving, especially when they're pretty dry like this one.
SGP:462 - 86 points.

Papa Rouyo 3 yo 'Vieux' (46%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, 2023)

Still sourced rum only aged at the young Distillery. I believe their own 3 yo is about to be launched, unless it already was. Remember the small Papa Rouyo Distillery was built by a gathering of much experienced Guadeloupean cane planters. Their own 1 yo 'Vibrasyon' is already sublime (WF 87). By the way they call this 3 yo 'Jénérasyon', which is proper créole for… 'Generation'. Colour: gold. Nose: where did they get this? Labat? Bielle? It's awesome, fresh, with some lemongrass, thyme, sage, fennel, anise, sugarcane juice naturally, and this very faint smoky side that's so perfect. Well if their own 3 yo is only close to this, it's going to be a roaring success. Mouth: exceptional herbal rum. Lime, more aniseed, mint, marjoram, some clay, liquorice, a rather big saltiness, gherkins… You cannot not think of the greatest cachaças and mezcals. I know, they have nothing to do with each other. Finish: long, salty, with even more thyme tea. Did they add thyme? Comments: very impressive juice. Not sure it's a single-distillery vatting. A glorious young agricole, in any case, with so much herbal freshness.
SGP:572 - 88 points.

Papalin 6 yo (54.1%, Velier, Haiti, ex-sherry casks, 2023)

Papalin 6 yo (54.1%, Velier, Haiti, ex-sherry casks, 2023)
Sherry's creeping into the rum world too. In a few years, all spirits will be the same because they'll all use the same cask-bills, all over the world. Nah, I'm joking (I hope so). In any case, this is a blend of three Haitian rums, all clairins I suppose, fully aged in Port-au-Prince. We adore clairin, that cane juice that's fermented using indigenous yeast and then distilled in batches in proper alambics. Colour: dark amber. Nose: it's a relatively gentler, better polished clairin, I would suppose that's the work of both time and the sherry. For example, despite the fact that's it's clearly and wonderfully acetic, it is not that far from the Papa Rouyo. More pine wood and cedar wood. With water: seriously, someone's taken the same juice as that Papa Rouyo's and just added 10% high-ester Jamaican. And some sherry. Mouth (neat): very tight, on loads of liquorice and many roots. Vinegar de Jerez, cough syrup, gentian, camphor, green walnuts… With water: some pencil shavings, some salted liquorice, some mustard, some walnuts, some paprika. Finish: very long, on similar notes. Something Thai in the aftertaste. Comments: domesticated clairin, I thought. It's lost a part of its inherent uncontrolled wildness (what?) but it's gained some kind of Jamaicanness. Oh well, I know what I'm trying to say. Love it, no need to say.
SGP:563 - 88 points.

Long Pond 21 yo 2000/2022 (56.2%, The Colours of Rum, No.11, cask #31, 220 bottles)

Long Pond 21 yo 2000/2022 (56.2%, The Colours of Rum, No.11, cask #31, 220 bottles)
Long Pond is located somehow right between Hampden and Worthy Park. Colour: pale gold. Nose: a fast-changing Long Pond, starting with vinegar, chervil and parsley, getting then fruitier (bananas, mangoes) and then chalky and varnishy. Water would tell us more about it. With water: a little seawater, very soft vinegar (we have one called Melfor), a few ashes… Mouth (neat): heavy esters but not extreme esters, rather sweet, with some sirups, sugarcane syrup, a little banana liqueur, triple-sec… It really is a different kind of 'Jamaican balance'. With water: olives and gherkins returning, but it would remain an easier, sweeter, fruitier Jamaican beast. Finish: medium, saltier again. More seawater. Comments: love this style too. After several 86s, we're now having several 88s. We'll have to add more action to our next rum sessions. Let's try to unlock this curse… So to speak.
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Enmore 34 yo 1988/2023 (47.9%, Silver Seal, Demerara, 103 bottles)

Enmore 34 yo 1988/2023 (47.9%, Silver Seal, Demerara, 103 bottles)
This is proper pre-closure Enmore! Enmore was closed in 1995 but indeed, the old wooden column still was then moved to Diamond. Colour: red copper. Nose: it's become delicate, floral, with rose petals, stewed fruits, patchouli, jasmine, even hyacinth, then damson tarte, cinnamon, incense, cedarwood… There's also an 'old wine cellar' side from the old age, with a faint mustiness and various old-skool syrups, eucalyptus, berries, camphor, peppermint, and possibly several long-forgotten aromas. How do you keep track of old aromas? We might need to visit an old perfumer's office one day, I'd love to nose labdanum essence. Mouth: this one aged gracefully. More flowers, stewed fruits, resins, saps, soft spices, everything marvellously melted together by time. Including many kinds of mints and affiliated herbs, as in an old Chartreuse from Tarragona. Except that this old Enmore has also got an awesome salinity. Finish: indeed, it's not immensely long but these salty bouillons and soups are terrific. Some sides even remind us of a very special old armagnac (from the back woods, as we say in French). Comments: some great old wine effect happening here. Or, as some say, it's become philharmonic. The flowers were especially stunning on the nose.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Let's end this with a Caroni, if you please.

Caroni 1996/2019/2023 (58.10%, Velier, Paradise #4, cask #3786)

These casks had been transferred into demijohns in 2019 and kept in Cognac. Tropical aging is great, controlled aging is better (I suppose). There were four demijohns, 215 bottles altogether, that's what I gathered. Not even sure about the cask #, it's either 3786 or 3788. All bottles go for the price of a Brora plus a Port Ellen. Colour: copper amber with redder hues. Nose: what I'm finding pretty amazing is that it has left the world of rum and entered that of 'any great old aged spirit'. Indeed you could find these prunes in a very old Ténarèze. Or this metal polish/old tools in a Brora indeed. Or this coastal tar in a 1970s Ardbeg. Or these dried fruits in a proper old Macallan. These marvellous stewed peaches in an old cognac. These burnt tyres in a Port Ellen. Etcetera. With water: someone's cooked some soup using vegetable bouillon, bits of tyres indeed, oysters, a touch of liquid caramel, some ashes, bits of precious hardwood, and quite some diesel oil. Not such a bad idea, on the nose at least. Mouth (neat): exquisitely heavy and woody, the kind of woodiness that most of the 'newer' Veliers are displaying. Hevea, pinewood, fresh rubber oils, seawater, fir honey, touch of glue, tangerine liqueur, kumquat chutney, saffron sauce, sea urchin (white saffron sauce, ha - and white Beaucastel)… It's a whole dazzling adventure indeed. With water: it's just become a whole, a Caroni. I keep paraphrasing a superb old advert for Kawasaki, 'Before 20 years it's great rum, after that it's a Caroni'. Thad ad for Kawasaki that I used to love so much in the 70s was saying 'The 350 Kawasaki? Below 6000 rpm it's a 350. After that it's becoming a Kawasaki'. BTW I'm sure we're finding whiffs of those Kawa two-stroke fumes in the nose of this Caroni too. Finish: long. Comments: natürlich.
SGP:464 – 92 points.

We wanted to add one or three new Hampden '8 Marks 1 year' that arrived at WF Towers a while back, but that would be a little 'too much' after that very competitive Caroni. See you next time.

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