A few rums and animals


September 27, 2026

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 rums and animals

We need to make a little room before the big events that come along ahead of the festive season, you see. Let’s just pick them at random…

Trinidad Distillers Limited in the 1950s (Angostura)

Vieux Vaval 8 yo 2018/2026 (47.3%, Velier, Haiti, Clairin, Ex-Caroni cask, cask #VA17CR-4)

Oops, this one is actually brand new. Isn’t it interesting that the fashion for in-cask blends is now spreading to rum as well? A bit like a young Scottish malt with a Laphroaig finish? It’s true that this is often a good way of adding an extra kick. Vaval is made at Distillerie Arawaks, by the way. Colour: gold. Nose: double petrol, double olive oil, double acetone and double liquorice. What more could we ask for! Mouth: that worked perfectly, this time it’s the salty liquorice that speaks first, followed by olives, capers and finally those petroly notes. A little concentrated lime ties everything together, alongside tiny notes of shampoo. Does lime shampoo actually exist? Finish: long, very briny. Comments: an excellent tango, although it is true that clairins and certain Trinidadians share the same values (eh?)
SGP:462 - 88 points.

Foursquare 12 yo 2013/2026 (60%, Habitation Velier, Barbados, 100% pot still, ex-cognac cask)

Mind you, this is 100% pot still. I repeat, 100% pot still. In other words, 100% batch distillation… We absolutely loved the very young 2-year-old from the same stable, released in 2015 (WF 89). Colour: full gold. Nose: sandalwood, rosewood, peach liqueur, little pink olives… It’s a little too strong to nose like this, but all the lights are green so far. With water: it smells of an old petrol station (we love that) and old varnishes. Mouth (neat): it starts off as gentle as an ex-column rum, then gradually salty liquorice and petroly notes take over on top of milk chocolate. With water: it doesn’t change all that much, remaining saline and very slightly peppery. Finish: long, on tapenade and a small touch of violet, which brings us full circle to the sandalwood from the beginning. Comments: it has clearly mellowed after another ten years under the tropical sun. Still extremely excellent.
SGP:452 - 89 points.

Mhoba 2021/2026 (67.55%, The Whisky Jury, The Ester Hunter, South Africa, refill hogshead, cask #VR-2, 249 bottles)

At 67.55%, this is less a rum than an assassination attempt. We’d call our lawyer, naturally, but guess where he is? Bingo, golfing again, and, would you believe it, ‘out of signal’. Of course he is… Colour: light gold. Nose: crystal-clear, carbon, tar, acetone, olives, anchovies in brine, and a little ethanol all the same. With water: a few moments of gentle vegetal notes, plantains, cassava… Mouth (neat): superb salinity, gherkins, olives, varnish, concentrated lime, and even a little mezcal. Do they make mezcal in South Africa? With water: I love this, little vegetables and roots, turnips, parsnips, plus grapefruit and seawater… Finish: much the same, only even saltier and more liquorice-driven. Comments: you could add hectolitres of water and it would never falter.
SGP:463 - 90 points.

TDL 25 yo 2000/2025 (57.6%, Swell de Spirits, for Bar 1802, Trinidad, #14, 200 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: this seems to be TDL in a rather gentler mood, with neither the riotously exotic fruitiness nor the high-ester, petroly extravagance that some of its siblings like to throw at us. This one appears to have chosen balance over pyrotechnics. For now… With water: a very lovely balance of blancmange, mangoes and bananas. Touches of passion fruit yoghurt. Mouth (neat): on the palate, pink bananas and ripe mangoes, with a slightly salty edge, immediately take the lead. With water: ah, there we are, a few of those trademark saline and petroly touches do emerge after all. Best avoid adding ‘too much’ water, though. Finish: long, very well balanced but a little sharper now, almost slightly fizzy. Comments: very lovely, and certainly a slightly different TDL from the ‘others’.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

T.D.L. 24 yo 2001/2025 (58.5%, Swell & Co. & RumX, Trinidad, #16, 168 bottles)

Colour: deep gold. Nose: this is immediately more concentrated, more on mangoes that are just beginning to turn overripe, and perhaps not much else, but that’s precisely the profile we adore, isn’t it. With water: some magnificent furniture-polish notes start creeping in. Mouth (neat): perfect. Mangoes, olives, acetone. With water: massive, brutal, exceptional, almost Laphroaig-like in its peatiness. Rather amusing that adding water should make it… more violent. Finish: very long, much more bitter, and with bags of panache. Comments: you’ll lose a few friends if you serve them this, but you’ll gain some others, for life! Yep.
SGP:573 - 91 points.

Off to Guyana, then!

Uitvlugt 30 yo 1992/2022 ‘MPM’ (50.4%, The Whisky Blues, Guyana, barrel, cask #9, 215 bottles)

This is of course Port Mourant at Uitvlugt. Colour: white wine. Clearly European ageing. Nose: what delicacy! Slightly smoky apples, beeswax, drawing gum, manzanilla, a few green walnuts and two or three wee oysters… With water: slightly smoky green tea… Mouth (neat): lovely salinity, green apples, almond milk, chervil and tarragon… This is rather different from the more massive Uitvlugts that have undergone more tropical ageing. With water: very lovely, saline, with radish (daikon) and an unexpected touch of grilled bacon. Just one tiny scrap of grilled bacon… Finish: dry, a composition of fino and vin jaune, most surprising in this context, then pepper. Comments: perhaps not an ‘obvious’ old Uitvlugt/Port Mourant, but it’s full of charm.
SGP:362 - 88 points.

Uitvlugt 27 yo 1995/2022 (56.9%, The Duchess, Guyana, bourbon, cask #36)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: brand-new Formica (yes indeed), freshly laid linoleum (absolutely), then roots and little olives. In other words, part kitchen showroom, part hardware shop, part olive grove. And all that at 100° proof, what more could we possibly want? With water: fresh butter with smoked seaweed!!! Mouth (neat): perfect, ultra-precise, with liquorice wood, lime, olives, seaweed and varnish. With water: much the same, really, except that our friends the olives end up ruling the roost. Finish: the salinity just keeps building, this baby is increasingly reminiscent of seawater matured in American oak. Comments: joking aside, this is excellent, perhaps a little demanding, but nothing frightens us, does it?
SGP:363 - 90 points.

Wait, didn’t we once say we’d never do a session without at least one Jamaican rum?

New Yarmouth 2005/2025 (59.8%, The Whisky Jury, Jamaica, refill barrel, cask #14, 221 bottles)

Colour: new world chardonnay. Ha. Nose: magnificent maritime freshness, we’re almost standing on some old ramparts facing the ocean, our faces lashed by sea spray and our ears assaulted by the howling wind (what?) Kelp, oysters, brine, seashells… With water: this brine displays an incredible complexity and freshness, something we sometimes find on Islay, but it’s not that common. Mouth (neat): a ‘chemical’ palate, in the very finest sense of the word ‘chemical’. Acids, terpenes, varnishes, tars, carbon… With water: everything falls into place and calms down, the storms pass and a subtle bitterness takes over. Still, it’s not the greatest swimmer of all time, so better add water with some caution. Finish: long, salty, bitter. Comments: this wasn’t a tasting, it was a fight. What a beast! I should add that HtoH, the Jury’s Mhoba almost has the upper hand. Incredible and unexpected.
SGP:363 - 87 points.

Good, enough typing, back to Whisky Live Paris before they drink everything without us. See you very soon…

Check the index of all rums we've tasted