The Easter Bunny brought a few rums


April 20, 2025

The Easter Bunny brought a few rums

Forget that, let’s just go with the flow, alright? As long as we steer clear straight away of those artificially sweetened monstrosities we usually subject ourselves to—for the sake of our common cause… After all, it is Easter today.

Saint James 9 yo ‘Hors d’Âge’ (43%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2024)

An expression from Saint James we had never come across before, I mean on our official tasting desk. Colour: full gold. Nose: a delicately smoked rendition, with touches of copper polish, exhaust pipe, cherry stem tea, cedarwood, incense and jasmine. It’s really delicately perfumed, heading towards potpourri. Mouth: the liquorice wood is more prominent on the palate, with tobacco and ashes too, then some pine resin and lastly, an exceedingly ripe banana. Finish: it ends on adorable honeyed notes and a few touches of varnish, heading towards wild strawberries. Wild strawberries in Martinique? Comments: this is classy, and a nine years of age, is more elegant than a ten from a marketing point of view. I know what I mean.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Nine Leaves 2017/2024 (59%, OB, Japan, small batch, ex-bourbon)

One of those modern rums I hadn’t quite grasped until now, but our soul remains pure and our spirit willing, so back to the drawing board we go… Colour: amber. Nose: rather discreet, on figs and nougat, with the bourbon element seemingly calling the shots. Very faint metallic touches, sweetcorn, a fleeting puff of patchouli and a medley of dried fruits. With water: mosses, ferns, and liquorice wood. Mouth (neat): a surprisingly malty side, with raisins and a touch of natural sweet wine. With water: dried fruits again, a bit of ale, light yeasts, hints of dulce de leche and liquorice rolls. Finish: similar profile, good length, with soft liquorice and chicory lingering in the aftertaste. Comments: really quite good, just not overwhelmingly memorable, in my very humble opinion. Still, I believe this may be my favourite Nine Leaves so far.
SGP:551 - 82 points.

New Yarmouth 2009/2024 (61.2%, Swell de Spirits, Eastern Tales, Constantia Bordeaux, Jamaica, bourbon, 200 bottles)

SdS persist in their delightfully offbeat labelling antics, this rum—unlike the previous one—having nothing remotely Japanese about it, or so it seems. Rather amusing. Colour: straw. Nose: very high-ester, with carbon, two-stroke moped mix, green olives and oil paint (which is trickier than watercolour – alright, forget that). With water: olive oil, sage, lime juice, oregano, shallots, white wine vinegar, tarragon… Mouth (neat): crushed green olives with chilli, green pepper and diesel. Something along those lines. With water: adorably zingy, citrusy and, above all, absolutely stuffed with olives, though there’s just the right dab of cane syrup to round things out. Finish: long, surprisingly well-balanced, and frankly too easy to drink. The salinity remains absolutely splendid. Comments: sorry, I simply can’t resist this sort of thing, long live Jamaica.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Clarendoni 25 yo 1997/2023 (60%, Rum Sponge Special Edition, blend, Trinidad & Jamaica, 95 bottles)

The ex-Sponge dared! Blending Clarendon with Caroni! Colour: dark bright amber. Nose: well then, here we are, The ex-Sponge has only gone and reinvented navy rum for the very, very senior officers of the Royal Navy. As a Frenchman, I hate to say this, but it’s magnificent on the nose, with an elegantly woody profile, Christmas fir, antique furniture and well-aged Iberian ham. Insert a few swear words here, if you please. With water: thuja wood. Mouth (neat): it’s unbelievably coherent, perhaps the most un-blend of all blended rums. Sublime resins and floral honeys, with a colossal wave of salty liquorice. With water: dreadful, disgusting, undrinkable, a Trafalgar of rum. Finish: very long, unbearable, monstrously saline and fuel-oily. Concentrated salted liquorice in the aftertaste. Comments: a pity we’re so late to the game; we might have lodged a formal complaint with the International Court of Justice. Probably time-barred now.
SGP:463 - 92 points.

Barbados 16 yo 2006/2023 (60.6%, Transcontinental Rum Line, LMDW Singapore, 18th Anniversary, cask #F06FV06, 260 bottles)

14 years in the tropics, 2 years in Europe. Colour: amber. Nose: praline and nougat, with cane syrup and maple syrup in the Foursquare style. Wee touches of coconut liqueur. With water: lovely freshness, coconut milk and almond milk, plus orange blossom water. Mouth (neat): creamy, on oranges, honey and pepper. With water: the pot still component takes charge, with hints of petrol, varnish and mild brine, though the texture remains light. Finish: medium in length, a touch salty, on triple sec and cane syrup. Comments: very good, but also very gentle. Which is just as well—we could all use a bit more gentleness in this world.
SGP:641 - 86 points.

One last one for today…

Jamaican Rum 23 yo 2000/2024 (54.8%, Bedford Park, North Coast Distillers, cask #2205306, 402 bottles)

Fully ex-new French oak, which I find a tad odd, but still, all joy lies in nature’s diversity. Colour: amber. Nose: espresso and olive oil—isn’t that a bit unusual? Then paint and varnish, liquorice, solvents, nail polish, patchouli, bidis, Tiger Balm, and a freshly unwrapped vinyl LP… With water: lovely maritime freshness, seaweed, seawater, oyster, petrol… Mouth (neat): simple and perfect. Liquorice, lemon, olives, acetone. Amen. With water: the usual suspects—green and black olives, brine, paint, tar, seawater, lemon… Finish: much the same… Massive black olives in the aftertaste. Comments: we hesitate—we’re not entirely convinced it’s Hampden, or even genuinely ex-new French oak—but it’s pretty superb all the same, especially if you love black olives as much as we do.
SGP:462 - 89 points.

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