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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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March 22, 2026 |
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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! |
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The Rum Sessions,
Rums of all kinds, some
of the highest calibre |
We’re continuing with rum this Sunday, before most likely moving on to cognacs or armagnacs next week. Let’s start with one of our traditional, no-fuss aperitifs… |
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Cartavio 7 yo ‘Gran Reserva’ (38%, OB, Peru, +/-2025) 
The 12-year-old had been very decent two years ago (WF 77), but here, at 38% vol., we must admit we are not expecting much. Colour: gold. Nose: typical of South American molasses and column rums without great personality, yet not unpleasant, with touches of bagasse, pineapple, vanilla and a little hay. We are not going to cry scandal. Mouth: light, a little honeyed, with touches of coconut liqueur but no obvious sugar, let us say it is rather pleasantly dry, though with quite little personality. The 38% vol. goes through well enough, it does not seem too feeble. Finish: very short. Pistachio and hazelnut syrup. Comments: a perfect calibration rum, with not too much tinkering it would seem.
SGP:331 - 72 points. |
While we’re on the subject of seven-year-old high-volume rums… |
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Abuelo 7 yo (40%, OB, Panama, +/-2025)
Cane honey rum from the Don José distillery. We have already tasted several versions of the 12-year-old (+/-WF 75) but never this young 7-year-old. Will it beat the Cartavio fair and square? Colour: pale gold. Nose: a little more body, with some rather pretty herbal touches, on vanilla cream and orange cake. A little less sweet than the Cartavio, and that can only be due to the two extra degrees. Mouth: more vitality, but also more disordered flavours, dried herbs, grated zests, a rustic side, yet here too, not too much added sugar it would seem. Finish: rather short, rather imprecise, yet not unpleasant. Orange liqueur right at the end. Comments: it is worth remembering that in South America, ‘honey’ refers to anything with the consistency and colour of honey, but in the European Union, being more particular (right, picky), honey is only made by bees.
SGP:341 - 70 points. |
Right, that’s enough of the aperitifs. Have we actually tasted any rums? Our palate can hardly remember already… |
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Off-Road Rhum #03.2 (44%, Vagabond Spirit, blend Cape Verde + Guadeloupe) 
60% pure cane juice rum from Cape Verde, thus grogue, and 40% pure cane juice from Guadeloupe, coming from two small casks immersed for eleven months in the ocean. An experiment that inevitably carries a slightly Jules Verne-like and rather amusing side. Colour: full gold. The casks must have been new. Nose: obviously, the question that arises is whether the salinity, quite present, comes from the grogue or from the immersion in the sea, or both. In any case, it is truly saline, like some Jamaicans, yet without the petrol side, while there is a clear impression of ripe mango and papaya, then touches of camphor and cough syrup. This is a very pretty nose. Mouth: well, it is ultra-salty, one almost expects to find a wee sardine in the glass. A dead one, right. There is nonetheless a form of balance, but you must enjoy very salty cocktails, or cold broths. We do. The texture is surprisingly oily, almost thick. Finish: long, very briny. Anchovies and olives. Comments: you really has to enjoy the taste of salt. Perhaps with bottarga or tarama, or even caviar. In any case, when it is this deviant, we love it. And it’s a perfect talking point when tasting with friends.
SGP:373 - 88 points. |
Careful, you’ll need to drink plenty of water to rinse your mouth before moving on to the next one… |
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Cuban Rum 60 yo 1964/2025 (47.7%, The Whisky Agency, Wave Farewell to 2025, 240 bottles) 
These old Cuban rums, whose origins remain debated among the rum chatterati, of which we are not part, are always spectacular in our view. We do not know who owns the original brands, the Cuban state, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, others, imagine what the price of such bottles would be if they were offered by the brands. Colour: copper amber. Nose: oh dear me, oil paint, roasted peanuts, tobacco, inevitably Cuban, coconut milk, fir honey, light varnish, freshly sawn precious wood, thuja, this is utterly beautiful. Mouth: the distillate itself is rather light, one can feel it, yet here the layer of essential oils, conifer honeys or honeydews, and even paint again is magnificent. A few crumbs of ginger biscuit, then increasingly resinous, tarry and liquorice notes, salted liquorice, come to kind of round things off before the finish. Finish: very long, with more ginger liqueur and elderflower, in the style of St Germain, though of course a thousand times better. Comments: it is rather different from other very old Cubans we have tasted, more on saps and resins. We love this, as long as it remains balanced as it does here. Oh, and good luck poor Cuba!
SGP:472 - 91 points. |
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Chairman’s Reserve 14 yo 2009/2025 (57.5%, OB for Wu Dram Clan, St. Lucia, Master’s Selection, ex-bourbon barrel, cask #0307052009, 157 bottles)
Made in their Coffey still + John Dore 1. Do not ask me to explain how a John Dore still works, please. Colour: full gold. Nose: there is truly a bourbon side, with tonnes of varnish, vanilla and orange wood sawdust (that, we imagine), then fig leaf, new trainers, kumquats and bergamots. I find this utterly beautiful, at least for now, but am not in the least surprised. With water: earth, balsa, cedar, turmeric, all of which we adore. Mouth (neat): varnish and orange liqueur, then honey and very light touches of coconut liqueur. It no doubt needs a little water to bring out the bergamots and kumquats. With water: bingo, indeed, yet the youthful bourbon side is still there as well. Bitter oranges, pepper. Finish: long, fresher, slightly maritime, saline, finishing on lovely bitters in the style of craft gin. Only the aftertaste is a little more drying. Comments: it had a death seat after the Cuban, yet it survived with grace and distinction. Once again, no surprise here.
SGP:462 - 90 points. |
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Jamaica 11 yo 2013/2025 (48%, Elixir Distillers, The Rum Trail)
Pot still rum aged four years in Jamaica and the rest in the United Kingdom. Colour: white wine. Nose: a little of the grace of a Worthy Park, we would say, with this side of green apple juice, lemon juice and seawater in which cigar ashes would have been infused. Amusing touches of white asparagus, their season is just beginning here. Mouth: a magnificent combination, fresh and taut, on rhubarb juice, petrol (at the current prices), seawater, gentian, green olives and carrot juice. Finish: long, smoky like a lapsang souchong ‘very tarry’, and perfectly salty. Comments: a Provençal tapenade in your glass, with esters of perfect balance. A magnificent bang for your buck, but we shall still need to check the price, as we never quite do that.
SGP:552 - 90 points. |
While I’m at it, I’m very often asked why I don’t take price into account in my scores. I usually reply that the fact a VW Golf Diesel costs twenty times less than a Ferrari or even less doesn’t make it any faster. Hmm… |
Here, since we’re in Jamaica,, let’s brace ourselves for a bit of punishment… |
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Hampden 2023/2025 ‘1500-1600 gr/hlpa’ (59.7%, The Colours of Rum, #73, Jamaica, bourbon, 256 bottles)
A purely symbolic ageing of two years in Europe, hence the colour that could do with a little dye, like you-know-who in DC. By the way, with these ester levels, in theory this is <DOK. I suppose they could also use it in Elon Musk’s rockets (not Elon Muck, mind), or in dragsters. But enough silliness already… Colour: almost white. Nose: a punch straight to the nose, in the manner of Cassius Clay. Mediterranean seawater, kerosene I,deed, new leatherette, brake dust, leeks boiled in water. Right, with water: plenty of fresh rubber, you almost feel as if you are visiting a warehouse of Michelin, Continental or Pirelli. Mouth (neat): ultimate tension, almost as much salt as in the slightly mad blend by Vagabond Spirits, acetone, cider vinegar, green pepper. With water: you can drown it completely, it keeps insulting you without shame, a bit like the French in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. We take the references we can. Finish: almost eternal. Comments: it is still a little too mad to be recommended without reservations, remorse or scruples.
SGP:574 - 89 points. |
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New Yarmouth 32 yo 1994/2026 (58.5%, Ferrer, Collection One Cask, Jamaica)
A new house it would seem, if we are not mistaken. They are French, Canadian, Swiss or Belgian, since they write ‘rhum’ with an H, or perhaps Acadian, or from Louisiana. These New Yarmouth 1994, of which we have already tasted a few casks, are generally excellent. Colour: full gold. Nose: we find this rather typical balance between very ripe tropical fruits, led by mango, and more phenolic, tarry, saline and petroly notes. The fact is, the cursor has been set, by someone, exactly in the right place. With water: it is furniture polish that comes out, varnish, beeswax, green propolis. Mouth (neat): we find again this incredible balance between tar and mangoes, with here the addition of salty bitters, mezcal de la muerte and a good deal of black olives. That said, the wood and the terpenes are quite present, but let us remember that this is 32 years of age. With water: coconut liqueur, now that is unexpected. You should probably only add a drop of water. Finish: on herbal tea, with a certain tannicity. Comments: magnificent, even if it becomes slightly tired in the finish.
SGP:462 - 88 points. |
Hang on, we’re actually going to finish with a TDL from the same house. TDL can stand up perfectly well after the Jamaicans… |
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TDL 16 yo 2009/2026 (61%, Ferrer, Collection One Cask, Trinidad)
So, TDL heavy or TDL light, we are always asking ourselves the same questions as with Caroni, are we not. Colour: full gold. Nose: this is perfect, more moderate than the Jamaicans yet perhaps more elegant, closer to oils, fruit peelings, dried flowers, then a duo of peaches and mangoes comes along to dance rock and roll under your nose. With water: the same, plus wafts of woodruff and fennel. This is perfect. Mouth (neat): there we are, it’s indeed perfect, exactly what we were expecting. We find again this infernal duo of vineyard peaches and wild mangoes, wrapped in petrol, tar, liquorice, pepper liqueur and coal tar. Mad. With water: it carries on, just a little softer and fruitier. Finish: it is the liquorice that takes control in the end. Comments: careful, this baby is dangerous, as you might get the impression at first that you can sip it quietly at its natural strength. Tsk-tsk.
SGP:562 - 90 points. |
One day, we really ought to organise a proper double-blind Caroni vs TDL session. Isn’t it good to have goals in life? Anyway, until next time… |
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