
May 17, 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!

The Rum Sessions,
just a few more rums

Going a bit faster than usual because of a packed schedule. Yep… apéro please…

Trinidad 3 yo (40%, Rum Bullion, Jean Boyer, +/-2025)

Trinidad 3 yo (40%, Rum Bullion, Jean Boyer, +/-2025)
A tiny little beast without any airs and graces, but they really do know what they’re doing at Jean Boyer. The art of the proper liquoriste! Colour: almost white. Nose: wonderfully fresh, with grated lemon zest, angelica, fresh cane juice, citron, fresh turmeric, plus a tiny touch of shoe polish. There’s also a faint agricole side to it, all on straw and dry grass. Mouth: a lovely combination of aniseed, lemon and angelica. Careful now, this slips down dangerously easily. Finish: not that short after all, very fresh, with turmeric and ginger coming back in the aftertaste. Comments: we can just imagine sipping this nicely chilled at the table, alongside some acras or a proper rougail saucisse. I absolutely adore this wee baby.
SGP:562 - 86 points.

Black Tot ‘Master Blender’s Reserve 2025 Edition’ (54.5%, Elixir Distillers, blended rum)

Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados. The 2024 had been excellent (WF 84) and we’ve been following these every year since, I believe, the beginnings. Despite a name that remains rather terrifying for German speakers… Colour: full gold. Nose: we’re getting that earthy, fermentary side, esters though kept nicely in check, the softer sweetness of Barbados rum, and plenty of candied orange tying everything together rather elegantly. With water: moving a little closer towards nougat, softer and cakier things emerging, although a superb note of shoe polish also appears. Mouth (neat): punchier on the palate, tighter, more liquorice-driven and zesty at the same time, with little flashes of menthol. Very lovely indeed. With water: notes of gentian, could that really be possible? Finish: long, classy, deep, slightly petroly and varnishy, though never excessively so. Liquorice keeps hold of the aftertaste. Comments: I do get the feeling this one is a little more estery than previous batches. I absolutely adore this very harmless version of the black death.
SGP:562 - 88 points.

MariGold II (57.5%, Art Malts, rum series, blended Caribbean rum, +/-2025)

It would seem this blend combines HD with rums from Panama, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad. That’s the charming thing with blended rums, they happily marry different countries together, something that only very rarely happens with whisky. Well, at least for now, ha… Colour: pale gold. Nose: rather refined, elegant and well-balanced, herbal though with restraint, faintly petroly, and tending steadily towards aniseed-y things. We do like this style. With water: fennel and earth. Mouth (neat): Jamaica speaks a little louder here, it’s very young indeed but that hardly matters, fresh, vigorous, taut, citrusy, saline, slightly varnishy… With water: no real change after reduction. Finish: no more than medium. Comments: nothing to add really, a very lovely blend, it simply suffers a little after the Black Tot.
SGP:561 - 84 points.

T.D.L. 2009/2025 (61.3%, The Roots & The Antelope, Trinidad)

These batches can be magical, we know that already… Colour: gold. Nose: Formica and lino, but above all masses of ethanol. Only one remedy for that… With water: wood glue and vinegar, plus this uncanny feeling of ‘Saturday morning at Ikea’. Mouth (neat): who on earth mixed together mango, liquorice, tar, seawater and pepper? With water: sublime fruitiness now, blood oranges, mango, guava, pear… Finish: same again. Magnificent little vinegary touches coming back in the aftertaste. Comments: it’s rare to find a nose and palate so completely unrelated to one another. It only adds to the interest and pleasure of this rather loco little Trinidadian. Which I absolutely adore.
SGP:642 - 90 points.

Trinidad 25 yo 2000/2025 (56.4%, Planteray, LMDW Itinéraires)

Nine years in a cognac cask in… Cognac. Very ‘Ferrand’, this one. Colour: gold. Nose: softer, leaning towards cabbage, asparagus and lentils at first, then peach and melon skins. Water ought to turn it completely upside down. With water: not quite to that extent, it remains rather discreet though nicely complex and full of legumes, although liquorice and mango are quietly dancing the tango in the background. Mouth (neat): much more directly in the TDL style this time, so mango, papaya, tar, liquorice, pink grapefruit… With water: woof, a huge burst of fruit and phenols, somewhere between seawater, tar, mango juice and lime. It’s fully unlocked now. Finish: long, though with a slight strategic retreat towards green pepper, while the citrus fruits take care of the aftertaste. Comments: excellent, even if a little less ‘clear line’ than some other Trinidadians.
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Vieux Le Rocher 9 yo 2017/2026 (51.4%, Velier, Haiti, ex-Mount Gay cask)

Strictly between us, I fail to see what influence an ex-Mount Gay cask could possibly have on a quality clairin. And you? Still, needless to say, we do have the utmost respect for Mount Gay. Colour: light gold. Nose: admirably acetic, acidic, fermentary and downright cheesy. It rather brings to mind a three-year-old Comté or an even older Gouda. With water: it barely calms down at all. Superb acids, bacterial fermentation at its absolute pinnacle. Mouth (neat): astonishingly fermentary and vinegary. Which means extreme, and therefore utterly lovable, especially as huge bundles of liquorice wood come along to polish everything up. With water: arrival of those fruits that are almost consubstantial with these acids, especially ultra-ripe strawberries. Finish: long, incredible, different and salty. Not saline, salty. Comments: there’s almost as much to eat as there is to drink in this fantastically brilliant clairin.
SGP:362 - 90 points.

JMWP 18 yo 2006/2025 (54.3%, The Whisky Blues and Screwdriver, Jamaica, cask #28, 222 bottles)

It’s rather mad that some brands refuse to let their names appear on bottlings which, quite often, represent the absolute summit of their style. True across many spirits, really. It’s a bit like Porsche forbidding independents from using their name at Le Mans, as though that would somehow diminish the official factory versions. Surely quite the opposite, it only improves their chances of winning. Anyway, this is of course Worthy Park. Colour: gold. Nose: papaya smoked over beechwood, and overall a fruitier profile than usual. Most likely a low-ester marque. With water: more varnish, glue, petrol and fresh bark. Slight touches of formic acid. Mouth (neat): extremely lovely, very elegant, saline and fruity in perfect balance. Most impressive on the palate. With water: very vegetal now, tomatoes, fern, rubber, tar, bitter almonds. Finish: fairly long, more balanced again, though the tail of the comet grows increasingly salty. Comments: it may have suffered ever so slightly from comparison with the wildly extreme clairin, but this remains something of a marvel all the same.
SGP:352 - 88 points.

One last one, and of course, a Hampden…

HD Distillery 42 yo 1983/2026 (48.7%, Distilia & Robert Bauer, The Virtues, Chastity, Jamaica)

Some will eventually start believing, after so many independents are more or less forced into using acronyms, that Harley-Davidson has entered the rum business. Anyway, this is probably a maturation in Northern Europe, and therefore a profile where the esters haven’t been too flattened by high temperatures. Colour: gold. Nose: Hampden is immune to time; the number of years matters very little when the environment is right. In short, this is extremely lovely, saline and resinous, tarry, acetic and ‘just chemical enough’. Brand-new 1980s car, stuffed with plastics, phthalates, bisphenol and all the rest… Love that, believe or not. With water: I’m hesitating between Renault and Volkswagen. Diesel of course. Mouth (neat): magnificent, acetone, wine vinegar, lime, seawater, oysters, chervil… With water: even more chemical now, edging towards ammonia and carbon. We absolutely adore these ‘industrial’ extremes. Finish: long, saline, tarry, acidic, fermentary, and yet with a marked softness throughout. Concentrated lemon juice, a very salty margarita… Comments: indeed, you really did have the 1980s in your glass, in every possible dimension. I think this is a Hampden best reserved for slightly mad enthusiasts, though certainly not insecure ones.
SGP:362 - 91 points.

Check the index of all rums we've tasted

The Rum Sessions, just a few more rums

The Rum Sessions,
just a few more rums