Just a few more rums on the table


March 29, 2026

Just a few more rums
on the table

Things are a bit hectic over here, so it should only be a small gathering today, but never without a little apéritif!

Sol Tarasco 4 yo (40%, OB, Mexico, Charanda rum, +/-2025)

A rum made from high-altitude cane juice, distilled in a column (or in a pot still, the information on the Web diverges wildly, as so often) and matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry wood. The term Charanda appears to denote this local style of aguardiente. Right then, let’s taste it… Colour: pale gold. Nose: this is fairly fresh, slightly buttery but also a little grassy, with a faint agricole side, only lighter and rounder. Some charming touches of aniseed, caraway and fennel begin to emerge with time. This is really rather pleasant. Mouth: this does indeed bring to mind certain Cuban aguardientes, with that simultaneously grassy and gentle profile. Plenty of candied angelica and a few drops of lime juice. The caraway returns thereafter, along with a little ginger. Finish: of very decent length, though without any further development. Liquorice, aniseed and lemon in the aftertaste. Comments: I simply find this very likeable indeed. Above all, the absence of added sugar, or so it seems to me at any rate, is most welcome.
SGP:451 - 78 points.

O Reizinho 6 yo (52.6%, OB, Madeira, agricole, +/-2025)

We have already tasted some very, very good ones among these Madeiran agricoles. They tend in general to be drier and brinier than the agricoles from the French islands, rather like… sercials. Note that this rum was also matured in Madeira casks, on top of that. Colour: deep gold. Nose: I really ought never to have mentioned sercial, because now I’m finding it in this nose, and I’m thinking of Blandy’s very good little 5-year-old. We find again the aniseed of the Mexican one, the fennel, but also indeed the brine, green walnut, ginger biscuits… With water: a little peppermint arrives and joins the whole lot. Mouth (neat): magnificent salty bitterness. Mind you, you have to like that sort of thing, otherwise best move along. Bitter oranges in full majesty. With water: it rounds out a little, with a touch of triple sec, otherwise that sercial side becomes even more pronounced. Finish: much the same for quite a long while, as it grows even saltier still. Comments: this really is a rum for lovers of Islay, of Ledaig or of Longrow, I would say.
SGP:462 - 85 points.

Nine Leaves 8 yo 2017/2025 (60%, Velier, Japan, ex-Wente Red, cask #15)

Wente, that is of course Californian wine. To be very, very honest, I’m not entirely sure what to expect here. Nine Leaves, which only operated from 2013 to 2023, distilled kokuto, a sort of very raw and concentrated cane sugar/honey. It is not impossible that we may remain a little in the charanda and Madeiran vein here, so let’s see… Colour: copper. Nose: indeed, this is also a little off the beaten track, though that is certainly no flaw, rather fermentary in style but also marked by quite a pronounced mix of toffee and molasses, along with touches of spent lees, probably coming from the wine cask. With water: entirely close to the Madeiran, only fatter and, to a lesser extent, more citrusy on the nose. Mouth (neat): very powerful and rather… Madeiran again. I do insist, but I promise you. Great bitterness and plenty of pepper and concentrated green walnut. With water: this becomes extreme, very bitter, and you almost feel as though you’re biting into a mixture of Seville orange, green pepper and mustard encased in very dark chocolate. Finish: very long, with the peppers calling the shots, though the oranges and the salt come in support to soften the whole in the aftertaste. Comments: for lovers of Mishima. Or, all right, of Murakami.
SGP:362 - 83 points.

I would suggest we drift gently towards Jamaica…

Fiji 11 yo 2014/2025 (48%, Elixir Distillers, The Rum Trail)

Fiji, that’s just next door to Jamaica, isn’t it? I mean organoleptically speaking, naturally… Rest assured, we can still tell the difference between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and besides, this Fijian most probably comes from South Pacific Distillery in Lautoka. Colour: white wine. Nose: this is oily, fermentary, almost salty on the nose, thick, with notes of tapenade (olives and anchovies) and sugar cane. It would seem that the ester count is rather low this time. Mouth: indeed, this is a softer Fiji, more on pepper and ginger liqueur, St-Germain, cane juice, though it then becomes spicier, with more pepper and nutmeg, perhaps even a wee family-style curry. Finish: much the same profile for quite a long while. Comments: once again, I was wrong, this is not a ‘Jamaican’ Fijian, nor is it really in the Appleton register either. Perhaps the least spectacular of the range so far, and of course, according to my very humble personal opinion.
SGP:551 - 82 points.

While we’re at it…

Long Pond 18 yo 2005/2024 ‘VRW’ (64.7%, Precious Liquors Bottle Shop, Jamaica)

The VRW marque, according to our notes, indicates an ester count of 200 to 400 grammes per HLPA. That is already quite something, and let us remind ourselves that in the glass, none of this behaves in a linear or proportional fashion, no more than ppm peat in whisky. Ask Octomore. Colour: deep gold. Nose: petrol, ultra-ripe mangos, black pepper, guavas, wood varnish, banana jam. We are exactly at that point of equilibrium between ‘tropical’ fruitiness and petroleum products. Hmm-hmm. With water: seawater and olive oil. Perfect. Mouth (neat): excellent. Black pepper, pink pepper, strawberry liqueur, extreme salmiak, and still that impression of sipping a jerrycan of petrol through a straw (but this is only SP95). In truth, it is very precise, very ‘clear line’. Indeed, even at 64.7% vol. With water: lemon zests and touches of red pepper begin to creep in. Finish: very long, a little grassier, a little rougher now, but that does not bother us in the slightest. Comments: very slightly ‘access-high esters’, I would say, which is of course a virtue. This is excellent (I do repeat myself).
SGP:663 - 90 points.

And of course, to finish…

Hampden 2023/2025 ‘900-1000 gr/hlpa’ (61.7%, The Colours of Rum, Jamaica, new American oak, cask #15, 2016 bottles)

Aged for two years in Europe, although the word ‘aged’ may feel a little exaggerated here. But we are not going to repeat yet again that a Hampden’s age matters only so much. Right, what can we add that we have not already said, except perhaps that 900-1000 gr ester/HLPA at Hampden means <H>? In whisky, when we do not know what else to say, we sometimes re-re-re-tell the famous joke about the chef who always cooks with whisky, and who occasionally even adds some to his dishes, but in rum? Ah yes, the classic one, is it: “what is the best spirit for watching Formula 1? Rrrruummmm!” I know, I know… Colour: gold. Nose: classic varnish, neoprene glue, black olives, tropical fruits that are almost rotten but not quite, carbon dust, new faux leather, nitro kit for a Harley, seawater, and I would almost dare add a tiny-tiny-tiny touch of durian… With water: the arrival of a few little gherkins in brine. Mouth (neat): I think these are the finest marques, they are extreme but remain relatively civilised, in this very case, you find quantities of different salted liquorices, sometimes with a faint lemony edge. Razor-sharp and utterly beautiful. With water: saline perfection. Finish: much the same, just a tiny bit more on those big Andalusian olives one nibbles alongside manzanilla. Comments: there is still plenty of salinity left, coming to toy with your lips, and it is great fun. Strictly between ourselves, I still prefer this <H> to the already excellent <DOK we tasted last Sunday. The Quality/Age ratio is dazzling here.
SGP:463 - 91 points.

Nothing’s going to outdo this young Hampden, so we’ll stop right there. CU, as we used to say twenty years ago.

Check the index of all rums we've tasted