Just a few more rums


March 23, 2025

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!

Just a few more rums

… but we'll be turning back to cognac or armagnac. We're also planning to try publishing about clear eaux-de-vie, or mezcals, and even gins. Maybe this summer — there's no rush...

Plantation ‘Barbados Grande Réserve’ (40%, OB, Barbados, +/-2023)

From just before Plantation became Planteray, for reasons that remain a little unclear to us—though seemingly a bit on the ‘woke’ side. We’ve nothing against wokism, of course, but we do rather like balance in all things and tend to think anything excessive becomes trivial. ‘Does ‘habitation’ still work by the way? Right then, shall we have a taste?... This must be from W.I.R.D., owned by the same fine folks. Colour: white wine. Nose: cooked sugar verging on ‘petit boulé’, sugarcane syrup and a generous splash of orgeat, with a few fluttering florals hovering about—white clover in particular, adding a faint pastoral lift. Mouth: pleasant at first, but the sweetness does rather take over. Think Malibu laced with molasses honey and sweet woodruff cordial. Finish: medium in length, gentle and sugary, with no real parting bite. Comments: clearly meant to be served over a good handful of ice, ideally dragged down to 8°C or so. In that context, it might even do the trick. At room temperature, however, it's a different story altogether.
SGP:730 - 70 points.

Braud & Quennesson ‘Signature du Chai’ (47%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2024)

Some very young rhum agricole from a brand I had never heard of before. It’s produced by Habitation Grand-Fonds in Le Marin, my gut feelings say the juice was sourced as I haven’t yet seen any pictures of stills, though I may be wrong. Colour: straw. Nose: very young on the nose, fresh sugarcane but without much development, which is entirely expected at such a tender age. Apples and bananas bring a pleasant fruity brightness. Rather nice, actually. Mouth: soft, with a slight lemony edge, vaguely reminiscent of rhums from French Guyana. Not a great deal of depth, but again, it’s quite likeable. A touch of fennel and a dab of acacia honey. Finish: medium length, with just the faintest saline glimmer. Bagasse and vanilla echo softly in the aftertaste. Comments: genuinely pleasant in fact, in a light and breezy style.
SGP:630 - 78 points.

Dominican Rum 2013/2022 (47%, Bristol Classic Rum, Dominican Republic, finished in Madeira wood)

A pioneering and major house, though a discreet one, which it’s a pleasure to see again. They’ve supplied many far more, shall we say, thunderous rum brands over the years. Colour: gold. Nose: it’s a joy to taste a Dominican that hasn’t been doctored to death, even if some Madeira casks were indeed used. Light in nosing texture—even aromatically—but there’s a charming toasted side to it, and imagine this: some malty notes as well. Cane honey, orange syrup, and a little earthiness, perhaps from the Malvasia in the Madeira. Mouth: light and slightly sweet, but far removed from the typical sugarbombs offered by the DomRep. Banana, honey, and soft, gently sweet herbal infusions. Finish: a little short but clean, soft, honeyed, with a lingering touch of Malvasia. Comments: it may not be reaching for the stars, but this is certainly one of the finest Dominican rums I’ve tasted in recent years.
SGP:640 - 82 points.

Since we were in Madeira…

Rum 970 2015/2023 (55.5%, OB, Madeira, agricole, Madeira wine cask, cask #304, 267 bottles)

Made by Engenhos do Norte, where they still press their cane using steam-powered machinery. We’ve long been fond of Madeira’s agricoles, and it seems more and more people are joining the club. Let me remind you they benefit from a genuine and longstanding ‘agricole’ designation (GI), unlike many distilleries around the world who play a bit fast and loose with that term. Colour: gold. Nose: this is so distinctive! Imagine, let’s say, a blend of rosewater and cigars, with cypress, blood orange, then cardamom and juniper popping through. It’s frankly a bit loco-loco. With water: glue and varnish galore! Mouth (neat): utterly strange, utterly delicious! Clove and toothpaste, earthy blueberries, heather honey, camphor, myrtle, and some sweets flavoured with chlorophyll and pine sap… With water: it edges toward Greek retsina, but there’s still plenty of that ‘green’ honey, or rather honeydew. Finish: very long, peppery, still resinous, leaning into bitter orange. Comments: a big fan of this slightly eccentric dram, with a flavour profile that’s anything but ‘international’.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Eminente ‘7 ans Reserva’ (41.3%, OB, Cuba, whisky casks, +/-2025)

Eminente is the Cuban rum from LVMH, made in Santo Domingo (Villa Clara), in the heart of the island, where they also produce the very light and diaphanous ron Cubay. Colour: deep gold. Nose: lovely, gentle, but not sugary—more on praline and peanut butter at first, before drifting into faintly phenolic, borderline synthetic notes (varnish, plastics), though everything is handled with grace. New wicker basket, white asparagus, toasted sesame—yes, toasted. Mouth: really quite good, even if just a touch light. Jaffa cakes and milk chocolate up front, then comes hay, earth, and eventually mashed red kuri squash. Finish: not very long but rather complex, with lingering traces of root vegetables mingling with that milk chocolate. Comments: very Cuban indeed, reminiscent even of those homemade aguardientes the locals discreetly serve when no one’s watching (a rare occurrence indeed). This sort of newfangled brand can be cause for concern, but I find the execution here quite successful.
SGP:451 - 82 points.

Since we were in Cuba…

Santiago de Cuba 12 yo ‘Extra Anejo’ (40%, OB, Cuba, +/-2025)

Santiago used to be our favourite Cuban rum the last time we were on the island, with a strong preference for the 11-year-old… which, alas, we’ve never come across again in Europe. However, the brand has seen pretty strong development in France over the past three or four years, so we’re very pleased to be able to taste this 12-year-old. Diageo, of course, is behind the whole operation. Colour: amber. Nose: here come the gently burnt cake, scones, praline, caramel popcorn, and maple syrup… in short, all the irresistible hallmarks of a thoughtfully composed ron. Mouth: it feels a little ‘trans’, with some sweetened coffee, but also hints of brandies—Jerezian or even Armagnac in style. It really works, though one wouldn’t mind a version with a few extra volts. There are also touches of violet liqueur. Finish: nicely long, increasingly on liquorice, with an odd but charming echo of violet on the aftertaste. Mind you, I’ve never seen violets in Cuba. Comments: unfortunately, the low ABV flattens it out a little, but the overall composition is truly charming. Now all we need is to put on some Irakere on the old Thorens.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Monymusk 12 yo 2010/2022 (46%, Mezan, Jamaica, 5,500 bottles)

We’ve always appreciated Mezan, particularly their knack for preserving the texture of a rum even when bottling at 40% ABV. Perhaps a ‘degree by degree’ reduction? But here we are at 46%, the sweet spot… Colour: light gold. Nose: oh yes, crystalline in style, with olives, charcoal, liquorice, engine oil, sea water and lemon juice. You see where we’re heading… Mouth: simply irresistible—undeniably Jamaican yet very approachable, wonderfully salty and smoky, the kind of thing you’d want chilled alongside smoked salmon or caviar. Or both. Could you pass the blinis, please? Finish: nice and long, salty, gently petroly but not too much, lemony, not too dry… Who could possibly resist? Comments: this is a lovely example of the ‘Mezan’ style. Fully trustworthy.
SGP:462 - 88 points.

I think we’ll wrap up this session in Martinique, for a change…

Saint James 18 yo 2003/2021 ‘Single cask’ (42.3%, OB, Martinique, agricole, cask #67-05-2003)

The Saint James 18-year-old from the ‘core range’ (as we call it) is already extremely good, but this is likely a step above. Apparently, this cask came from the personal collection of Cellar Master Marc Sassier—though of course, one doesn’t buy into that sort of ‘pure yet gentle marketing’ piffle. No matter… Colour: amber. Nose: well, all right then—old beeswax, dried seaweed, antique copper and pewter, eucalyptus wood, smoked fish, cigar humidor, thuja wood, apple peelings, saltpetre, wild mushrooms… The most astonishing part is that this improbable gathering somehow forms a coherent whole. Mouth: there is a definite woodiness, quite resinous at that, marking the experience from the outset, yet from it rise tiny essential oils, more or less, with thyme, fir, rosemary, oregano and mint all swirling about. A cedary note builds in the background, though very ripe bananas and pineapples manage to keep it all in check. Finish: here’s where it gets tricky—it’s still very woody and resinous, with varnish notes, but a rather lovely liquorice saves the day, joined by a touch of Iberico ham and a lick of menthol. Comments: this is rather like a triple-jump with a double backflip in terms of oak, but it seems the rum gods were watching over the master blenders.
SGP:371 - 87 points.

PS: A good number of these rums were discovered at the Lyon Whisky Festival last weekend. We also ran a rather ‘freewheeling’ masterclass there (a whisky-fuelled causerie actually) with our friend Gabriel Tissandier — it seems the participants, on the whole, survived the experience.

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