
November 15, 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,
today a second shipment of rums for November

Aperitif first, as usual. Always a good opportunity to get rid of some truly dreadful stuff, although there can be some pleasant surprises too…

Caracas Club ‘Salvaje Extra Anejo’ (40%, OB, Venezuela, +/-2026)

It would appear that this is a blend of Venezuelan rums, in the Spanish style. Possibly not intended to be sipped neat, but let's give it a go anyway… Colour: pale gold. Good news, let's hope it won't be the only good news. Nose: methylated spirits and vanilla extracts. The whole thing is extremely light and hardly memorable. What were we talking about again? Mouth: a little sweet and very, very light, rather like entry-level Cuban rums. In fact, it's not bad at all, not in the slightest, it's just extremely discreet. Finish: very short. The tiniest herbal and liquorice touch right at the very end. Comments: at least it isn't stuffed to the gills with sugar.
SGP:230 - 50 points.

La Mauny 2019/2023 ‘10ème Anniversaire Confrérie du Rhum’ (56%, OB, Martinique, agricole, 2025)

La Mauny 2019/2023 ‘10ème Anniversaire Confrérie du Rhum’ (56%, OB, Martinique, agricole, 2025)
In Martinique, some people have a wee dram in the morning, which they call ‘le décollage’, or ‘the take-off’. Then, in the evening, they'll say they're ‘brûlés’, or ‘burnt out’. Island life, real life! Any resemblance to the Scottish islands would, of course, be purely coincidental, wouldn't it. Colour: gold. Nose: not terribly expressive at first, I suspect the alcohol is holding things back a little, but it soon heads almost entirely towards fresh sugar cane, which can hardly displease us. With water: a few touches of new plastic, brand-new Tupperware and so on. We rather like that. Mouth (neat): not an especially powerful or highly aromatic agricole, but there's some very lovely lemon, with a faint ready-made ti-punch character and a few saline touches. With water: it becomes much more talkative, more citrusy, liquoricy, salty… Finish: medium in length, rather fresh, coastal… Some orange. Comments: a very, very lovely young La Mauny, with the oak remaining nicely discreet. A success.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Nicaragua 22 yo 2004/2026 (57%, Rhum Ferrer & Rums of Anarchy, One Cask, 90 bottles)

After the pirates, the anarchists! This is most probably from Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua, in other words Flor de Caña. Colour: amber. Nose: soft and rounded, roasted hazelnuts and peanuts, turrón, honeys and molasses, a little incense and sandalwood, candied oranges… With water: Christmas herbal teas. Cinnamon, star anise… Mouth (neat): within this style, this is top-notch, there are even touches of petrol, always welcome (especially at the current price of Brent crude, eve, if it’s going down these days!) Seriously, this is very good indeed, rounded yet citrusy, honeyed yet lively, spicy but not excessively woody. In short, the balance is spot on. With water: herbal teas with honey, mulled-wine spices, cinnamon cake… Finish: fairly long, along similar lines. Touches of honey and fir-tree sap. Comments: another bottling that proves the old saying, ‘indies do them better’.
SGP:551 - 85 points.

Laos ‘Elevé sous Bois’ (52%, Vagabond Spirits, 2026)

Laotian rum made from pure sugar cane juice, matured, hold on to your hats, for 6 months in pearwood and 7 months in chestnut wood. Life's too short not to have a little fun! Colour: gold. Nose: tremendous, all on fig cake. We have some biscuits in France called ‘Figolu’, and that's exactly what this is like. Then we even find some gianduja and that famous Italian chocolate-hazelnut spread that everyone claims to hate yet everyone eats. Finally, yes indeed, chestnut purée. How amusing. With water: no change whatsoever. No pears. I repeat, no pears. Mouth (neat): a mirror image of the nose, plus some Corsican citron, which gives us an opportunity to mention those Corsican chestnut-flour biscuits that every tourist breaks their teeth on. The locals, being rather clever, dunk them in white wine or, indeed, liqueurs. With water: the citron is back, together with the liqueur they make from it indeed. Finish: long, with lively, rather nervous wood, slightly earthy. A little fresh turmeric. Comments: this is really superb, great fun and genuinely good. And a guaranteed hit at a blind tasting with friends. And hey, it's Laos!
SGP:451 - 86 points.

Since we're dealing with the weird and wonderful…

Thaïlandais 12 yo (54.5%, Alexandre Vingtier, Rumporter Release, Thailand, pineau des Charentes cask finish, 324 bottles, 2025)

The only way to find out whether finishing Thai rum in a cask of pineau from Landier makes the slightest bit of sense is to taste the result. Einstein! Colour: dark red amber. Nose: I have the honour and pleasure of informing you that it seems to work. Pencil shavings, pink-pepper chocolate, cherry liqueur, a little new rubber… With water: the new rubber moves to the front. We absolutely adore the smell of new rubber. Mouth (neat): naturally, the pineau brings roundness and even a little sweetness, but everything mingles, chats away, even squabbles a little, yet in the end we all remain friends (what?) A slight PX character, muscat… With water: a balance that's not nearly as precarious as you might expect, thanks to the acidity of the grapes. Well, we think… Finish: long, woodier, but still nicely balanced. Comments: there's still something rather ‘trans’ about this rumgnac, but it's genuinely very, very successful. A little improbable, certainly, but successful.
SGP:662 - 86 points.

Mount Gay 2018/2026 ‘Small Batch’ (60%, Velier for LMDW, Barbados)

We don't taste Mount Gay nearly as often as we should, and yet what a great brand it is! Colour: full gold. Nose: nougat, vanilla and white chocolate, followed by buttery croissants and vanilla brioche. All as gentle as a lamb. With water: straw, hay, apple turnovers. Mouth (neat): goodness, this is good! Some sharp little lemony, peppery and phenolic notes come along and sweep aside the rather indolent sweetness of the nose. Yep. With water: it carries on in a saline, maritime, almost acidic direction, certainly very lemony. Finish: long, incisive, refreshing. Lemon and grey pepper. Comments: you've got two rums in one here, the one on the nose and the one on the palate. Dr Jekyll & Mister Hyde. Very lovely and a perfect talking point over after-dinner drinks.
SGP:552 - 89 points.

TDL 8 yo 2017/2026 ‘Smooth Proof’ (47.3%, The Colours of Rum, Trinidad, Navy Blue Edition, cask #1963, 400 bottles)

These TDLs really have been one of the great discoveries of the past ten years. Incidentally, we're noticing a tendency among certain bottlers to simplify their labels again, to do less, to be more economical with their means. Neue Bescheidenheit, reloaded twenty years later? Okay, enough waffle… Colour: full gold. Nose: an absolute stunner, flaky apricot pastry with vanilla custard. A total knockout indeed, no need to labour the point. Mouth: this is simply too good. Perhaps just a wee bit on the sweet side, but who cares, the apricot, mirabelle plum, mango and vanilla are perfectly perfect. What a quadrille! Finish: long and gentle. Fruit liqueurs, pear, mango, blood orange… The explosive fruitiness so typical of these TDLs comes charging in at full speed. Better late than never. Comments: a tremendous little bottle. Ordering just one would be rather unwise.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Can we possibly avoid the clairins?

Rhum Vieux Communal (48%, La maison & Velier, Haiti, blended clairin, 2026)

Rhum Vieux Communal (48%, La Maison & Velier, Haiti, blended clairin, 2026)

A blend of Vaval, Sajous and Le Rocher. I love taking taxis in Paris, where, just as in New York, a part of the drivers are Haitian. So, we spend a great deal of time chatting about clairin (and, naturally, Barbancourt), and I often find myself regretting that we've ‘already arrived’. Absolutely wonderful chaps. Colour: gold. Nose: olives, capers, vinegars, carbon, anti-rust paint, salmiak and fresh pipe tobacco. Mouth: tremendous, with olives, salted liquorice, preserved lemons in brine, and all sorts of improbable little aromas. We ought to chuck this into an electronic sniffer and see what it makes of it. Finish: long, very saline, roasted, a perfect mixture of seawater and black olive brine. Anchovies in brine in the aftertaste. Comments: these clairins are absolutely bonkers. Had I not once promised to always finish with Hampden (what madness, isn't it), we could stop right here.
SGP:473 - 90 points.

DOK 4 yo (52%, Warehouse #1, Legendary Marques, Jamaica, 2026)

1,600 gr/HLPA of you know what. Anything beyond that, as I was discussing only recently with the very friendly and distinguished people from Hampden, seems to be illegal. Colour: gold. Nose: carbon, petrol, tar, cellulose varnish, balsamic notes. Psst, between us, it's not quite as brutal as all that, although that may be down to the rather civilised 52%, as opposed to the usual 60-70% vol. With water: seawater and coal tar, plus smoked almonds. Mouth (neat): a gentle DOK, is such a thing even possible? In any case, the salmiak is airy and the smoked lemons seem more concerned with the aesthetic side of things. With water: a DOK that leans a little towards manzanilla en rama, displaying an elegance and civility not all that common with this marque from Hampden. Finish: long and perfect. But who smoked all those citrus fruits before dunking them in cider vinegar? Comments: I think that little by little, having tasted more than two hundred (or is it three hundred?) of them, we're coming to realise just how incredibly consistent Hampden is as a spirit, across its various marques. The Daimler-Benz of rum. This one is extraordinary, an AMG version, no doubt, although please note that we're overlooking the more vulgar versions of the brand and its tuners here. We mean Mercedes-Benz, not Hampden. Oh, please forget all that.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Check the index of all rum we've tasted

The Rum Sessions, today a second shipment of rums for November

The Rum Sessions,
today a second shipment of rums for November