Botran 75th Anniversary Gran Reserva Especial Solera 25 Years – Review

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Sep 222016
 
Botran 75th Anniversary Gran Reserva Especial Solera 25 Years - Review

The best of the Botrans, deservedly so. But it could have been better. #305 *** Botran’s top-of-the-line Special Edition is so soft it makes a feather pillow feel like it’s stuffed with discarded syringes. In comparison, the skin on a baby’s bum is rough as the glass shards on the wall around the house of a banana republic’s paranoid dictator. Yet it’s issued at a mere 40%, and that it has more qualities than defects is to its everlasting credit and our relief, for soleras do not often get much huzzah from hardcore rum fans, who prefer to have rums [Click here for the full review…]


Botran 1893 Ron Añejo Solera 18 Years – Review

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Sep 222016
 
Botran 1893 Ron Añejo Solera 18 Years - Review

For the bucks, you get a soft bang. #304 *** There are two more Guatemalan Botrans I have notes for, and perhaps see if we can find points of commonality or differences among the set, so let’s get them out of the way, rather than go somewhere else this week.  I wrote that the blanca was an interesting if ultimately uninspiring white, while the solera 15 wasn’t bad for what it was, and had a few tastes that were worthy of note.  The 1893 Solera 18 is a step up the ladder of the brand – also 40% ABV, column [Click here for the full review…]


Botran Ron Añejo Reserva Solera 15 Years – Review

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Sep 192016
 
Botran Ron Añejo Reserva Solera 15 Years - Review

As soleras go, this one is pretty good, and is less sweet than many, which is to its advantage #303 *** Sooner or later, everyone who drinks the good stuff passes through the solera style of rums.  Some brands have become behemoths, like the Zacapa 23 or Dictadors, and are adored and reviled in equal measure.  The key points for both sides are the taste and the age statement. Given the increasing polarization of the rum world between those who “like what they like” versus those who feel only “real rums” should be marketed as such (and drunk), and who [Click here for the full review…]


Botran Ron Añejo Reserva Blanca – Review

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Sep 182016
 
Botran Ron Añejo Reserva Blanca - Review

A laid back white rum with more of a profile than expected #302 *** “A balanced combination of distilled rums” remarks the webpage for the Guatemalan company Botran, which makes a number of light, Spanish style rums in the solera method, and goes on in rhapsodic marketspeak about being aged in the mountains of Guatemala in lightly toasted white oak American barrels (although note that I was told by a brand rep that this rum was aged in French oak).  It may sound like snippiness on my part, but in truth this is still more information than many other makers [Click here for the full review…]


Compagnie des Indes Jamaica 57% Navy Strength

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Sep 132016
 
Compagnie des Indes Jamaica 57% Navy Strength

Among the most fiercely aromatic and tasty five year olds around. #301 *** Although at the writing of this review, I had no idea which four Jamaican rums comprise the blend of this 57% island beefcake which was distilled in 2010 and bottled in 2015, I was neither good enough nor arrogant enough to guess on the strength of the taste.  So after sending the question to Florent Beuchet, he responded a few weeks later by stating it was Hampden, Monymusk, Worthy Park and one more which, with the same penchant for sly secrecy that informed his Indonesian rum, he [Click here for the full review…]


The 300th Review

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Sep 082016
 
The 300th Review

*** I feel like a literary flea next to someone like Serge Valentin on Whisky Fun, who just published his 12,000th whisky tasting note.  But you know, given the slender reach of my purse, the way I write and the time available to do it all, I’m not displeased with reaching this little milestone. “About two or three years,” the Last Hippie (who now runs the site AllThingsWhisky) and I remarked to each other many moons ago, when we were discussing longevity. “Maybe a hundred or so rums.”  That’s how long it was thought I’d be able to write for [Click here for the full review…]


Whisper Antigua Gold Rum – Review

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Sep 062016
 
Whisper Antigua Gold Rum - Review

A very light and pleasant mixing rum from two French students who decided they wanted to make rums themselves instead of letting English Harbour get all the glory (#300) *** There is probably a lesson in the differences between the new 28 year old Arôme and the Whisper Antigua rum – one was “created” (I use the word loosely) by a member of the 1%, for the 1%, with very little information provided for rabble rousers like us and nothing but disdain for the 99%.  The other is a youngish two-or-so year old rum made by a couple of brash [Click here for the full review…]


La Confrérie du Rhum Millésime 2007 Martinique (HSE) – Review

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Aug 302016
 
La Confrérie du Rhum Millésime 2007 Martinique (HSE) - Review

A lovely, supple rhum from the French island. (#299 / 87/100) *** La Confrérie du Rhum’s Martinique Extra Vieux (as labelled), a 2007 millésime rhum bottled at a forceful 52.2% had darker notes reminding me of the Damoiseau 1989, until it went off on its own path and in its own way, which makes perfect sense since it’s actually from Habitation St Etienne. And while I have not had enough of those to make any kind of statement, after trying this one I bought a few more just to see whether the quality kept pace…because La Confrérie’s rhum was quite [Click here for the full review…]


The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum – Review

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Aug 282016
 
The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum - Review

Understated five year old mixing material Last time around I looked with admiration at the St. Nicholas Abbey 5 Year old, suggesting that in its unadorned simplicity and firmness lay its strength…it didn’t try to do too much all at the same time and was perfectly content to stay simple. It focused  on its core competencies, in management-speak.  Yet that same day, just minutes apart, I also tried the Real McCoy, another Bajan five year old, and liked it less. Since both rums are from Barbados, both are unadulterated, and both five years old, it must be the barrels and [Click here for the full review…]


St. Nicholas Abbey 5 Year Old Single Cask Rum – Review

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Aug 242016
 
St. Nicholas Abbey 5 Year Old Single Cask Rum - Review

Might be heresy to say so, but I thought it better than the same company’s eight year old. One of the reasons why the St. Nicholas Abbey Five year old gets the full etched-bottle treatment of the 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18 year olds (which are all remarkably good for 40% rums and earned good reviews from across the spectrum, including mine), is because the company is justifiably proud of this being the first rums they made from entirely their own matured stocks.  Previously they were ageing Foursquare rums to make the originals noted above — the ten may [Click here for the full review…]


Boote Star Demerara Proprietor Reserve 20 Year Old Rum – Review

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Aug 232016
 
Boote Star Demerara Proprietor Reserve 20 Year Old Rum - Review

The finishing regime of this rum may not work for all comers, but does at least create a decent aged product from a well-known still. This is quite an international rum – made in Guyana, shipped to the UK by an Italian importer and bottled by a Dutch company. Boote Star is a Dutch bottler (actually called the Associated Distillers Group), about which there is maddeningly little hard information, aside from the fact that (a) they also have a ten year old, and (b) they appear to have sourced the rum from an Italian distributor and distiller called Distilleria Dellavalla situated [Click here for the full review…]


Rhum Rhum Libération Vieux Agricole 2012 – Review

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Aug 172016
 
Rhum Rhum Libération Vieux Agricole 2012 - Review

Maybe not quite a second banana to the Integrale from the same year, but not the whole one either. In theory, the only real difference between the Libération Integrale and the one I’m looking at here is the strength (and, if you’re picky about such things, the title).  The Integrale was a quiet stunner of a rhum, one of the best agricoles for its price and age, yet it seems odd to say that its lower strength sibling falls so much shorter of the mark.  Can that really be just about proof?  I tasted them side by side, as well [Click here for the full review…]


Rhum J.M. 1845 Cuvée du Fondateur – Review

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Aug 132016
 
Rhum J.M. 1845 Cuvée du Fondateur - Review

After a tough day at work, the Cuvée 1845 is a balm to the exhausted mind. Even at 42% ABV, The Rhum J.M. Cuvée makes a statement for agricoles that is worth listening to.  It finds a balance between body, mouthfeel, taste, spiciness and warmth in a way that reminds us that agricoles should not be taken as merely a small subset of the greater rumworld, but should hold a place in the pantheon second to none. While these days my preferences run mostly towards stronger, full proof rums, I must say that there’s nothing about this lovely product that [Click here for the full review…]


Rhum Saint James (Martiniqe 1970s/1980s)

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Aug 072016
 
Rhum Saint James (Martiniqe 1970s/1980s)

Rumanicas Review 024 | 0424 Like with many old rhums one is sent or which one finds in shadowed corners of sleepy back-alley shops, it’s almost impossible to track down the provenance of rhums like this one.  I mean, do a search on “Rhum St James 47%” and see how far that gets you.  As far I know this is not a millesime (it’s not the superb 1979, or the 1976 for example), not a massively aged old rhum (in fact, its profile suggests the opposite), and was noted simply as being from the 1970s or 1980s.  Not much to [Click here for the full review…]


Companie des Indes Caraïbes – Review

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Aug 032016
 
Companie des Indes Caraïbes - Review

Lack of oomph and added sugar make it a good rum for the unadventurous general market. Your appreciation and philosophy of rum can be gauged by your reaction to Compagnie des Indes Caraïbes edition, which was one of the first rums Florent Beuchet made.  It’s still in production, garnering reviews that are across the spectrum – some like it, some don’t. Most agree it’s okay.  I think it’s one of the few missteps CDI ever made, and shows a maker still experimenting, still finding his feet.  Brutally speaking, it’s a fail compared to the glittering panoply and quality of their [Click here for the full review…]


Nine Leaves “Clear” Rum 2015 – Review

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Aug 032016
 
Nine Leaves "Clear" Rum 2015 - Review

A quite serviceable, unmessed-with white rum from Japan, steering a delicate middle course between sleaze and decorum with less than complete success. Nine Leaves, that always-interesting one man operation out of Japan, doesn’t find much favour with Serge Valentin, who has consistently scored their rums low, but I’ve always kinda liked them myself.  The 2015 edition of the “Clear” is a case in point, and showcases the move of some rum makers into white, unaged, unfiltered, full-proof, pot still products.  The aren’t for everyone, of course, and may never find broad acceptance, since they always feel a shade untamed – [Click here for the full review…]


La Favorite Cuvée Spéciale 1995 20 Year Old (La Confrérie Du Rhum) – Review

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Jul 282016
 
La Favorite Cuvée Spéciale 1995 20 Year Old (La Confrérie Du Rhum) - Review

A delectable rhum, of an age we don’t see very often these days. Anyone who thinks agricoles are an afterthought in the rum world and should only be taken when one runs out of the more common brown-based stuff, would do well to sample what La Confrérie Du Rhum and La Favorite issued last year. La Confrérie is actually not a company — translating into “The Brotherhood of Rum”, it is the largest Facebook rum group currently in existence —  its French language antecedents don’t stop it numbering nearly sixteen thousand members when last I looked (for comparison, Ed Hamilton’s [Click here for the full review…]


Three More Cachaças from Delicana

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Jul 252016
 
Three More Cachaças from Delicana

#290 In 2014 I looked at three very different aged cachaças from Delicana, the German maker of Brazilian rums; I had met the owner, Bert Ostermann, who has had a love affair with the country lasting many years at the Berlin Rumfest and we had a long and pleasant conversation.  The central theme of his work was to age his rums in local woods, which gave them a piquant, off-base profile that at the time I didn’t care for – indeed, I scored the youngest of these rums the best, because I felt that the peculiar tastes of the wood had not had [Click here for the full review…]


Jamel Cachaça – Review

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Jul 252016
 
Jamel Cachaça - Review

Original enough to make it worth buying just to experience it.  Nose is startling, taste a lot better. (#289 / 81/100) *** In trying the Jamel, Leblon and Sagatiba cachaças together this one stood out quite markedly, even more so when ranked against the German company Delicana’s three local-wood-aged variants that I’ve also tried.  The L’Esprit Brazilian rum might have set the bar high and remains the one I prefer the most (so far) but if you stick with it, this one is pretty damned good too…and this is one of those times that if they did add something in, [Click here for the full review…]


Sagatiba Pura Cachaça – Review

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Jul 222016
 
Sagatiba Pura Cachaça - Review

Great nose. Taste and finish don’t quite measure up. This was a cachaça I bought back in 2011 or thereabouts, and never bothered to open and review because I had zero experience with the spirit beyond getting smacked on caipirinhas a few times; I lacked sufficient background to rate it properly and it seemed to be unfair to score it when there were no fitting comparators.  Several years on, nearly three hundred reviews and quite a few Brazilian spirits later, plus available comparators and controls, and I felt better equipped to write something I can put my name behind.   [Click here for the full review…]


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