Ron Viejo de Caldas Añejo 8 años – Review

 2 Responses »
Jan 062012
 
Ron Viejo de Caldas Añejo 8 años - Review

A low proof rum that is impressive right out of the gate, suggests quality and subtlety past compare, and then gives up and runs full tilt into the wall. What this rum might have been with some extra strength…. First posted 6th January 2012 on Liquorature. Right off the bat I have to state my preferences: I am not a fan of underproofs. They have a fake air of smoothness that has less to do with a blender’s art than with a low alcohol content. Spirit imparts depth and character to a rum (as I have observed with [Click here for the full review…]


Ron Abuelo 12 Year Old Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Dec 182011
 
Ron Abuelo 12 Year Old Rum - Review

First posted 18th December 2011 on Liquorature. Much as I like the Ron Abuelo 12, I must concede that somehow, by a subtle mismatch of flavour, nose, body, complexity and overall profile, this otherwise excellent rum just fails to attain greatness. That’s not to say this is not a really good product, because it is – and at a price most of us can afford, you wouldn’t go wrong adding it to your shelf. The middle tiers, that is. One problem with liking a rum is that the rum as a rule doesn’t really like you back. In fact, the [Click here for the full review…]


Ron Abuelo Añejo 7 Year Old Rum – Review

 1 Response »
Dec 182011
 
Ron Abuelo Añejo 7 Year Old Rum - Review

First posted 18 December 2011 on Liquorature. Better than the Ron Abuelo 12 year old, if not quite as smooth. As a general rule, the older a rum is, the better it’s supposed to be, and price points certainly follow on from that. We pay extra money for the ageing, the loss the maker suffers from the angel’s share, the supposed care and expertise taken in blending and smoothening out all the aged components so as to balance out the oakiness. So you’d think the older the rum, the better, right? Not so in this case. In fact, I reviewed [Click here for the full review…]


Potter’s Traditional Navy Dark Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Nov 232011
 
Potter's Traditional Navy Dark Rum - Review

  First posted 23rd November 2011 on Liquorature A dark navy rum that starts slow and nasty and evolves into a most amazingly flavourful product, and which can even be tolerated by the masochistic as a drink to sip on its own. Honesty forces me to confess that the only reason I bought this rum was because Keenan and I had had it in local pub on a wing night and we couldn’t believe what a powerful deep-tasting mixer it made. Seeing it the other day in a shop, I snapped it up, and I have to tell you, for [Click here for the full review…]


Traveller’s 1 Barrel Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Nov 062011
 
Traveller's 1 Barrel Rum - Review

A medium-bodied golden rum with nose and plalate and finish all a cut above the normal – if this is what Belize can make with so little fanfare, we should all go and get ouselves some of their wares. First posted 6th November 2011 on Liquorature Belize , formerly the British Honduras, is a small piece of the Yucatan peninsula (the eastern side), and a pleasant little parliamentary democracy where that staple of West Indian culture, cricket, is oddly absent (for shame). On the other hand, they are making a sterling little rumlet from one of the four distilleries in [Click here for the full review…]


Bundaberg Reserve Rum – Review

 1 Response »
Oct 092011
 
Bundaberg Reserve Rum - Review

First posted October 9th, 2011 on Liquorature I have a feeling I’m going to catch some flak for this review, of a rum I know many think is the bastard offspring of a low quality formaldehyde mixed with a crazy paint stripper and the stinking armpit of a sweaty canecutter at noon. Short version – miles better than its low-bred coz from the sticks. Full disclosure: I absolutely detested the original low end Bundaberg Rum, and even Aussies with whom I’ve occasionally been in contact seem to despise the rum most indelibly linked with their land. It was a raw, nasty, [Click here for the full review…]


Momento Amber Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Oct 012011
 
Momento Amber Rum - Review

First posted 01 October 2011 on Liquorature A strange rum from Alberta’s Highwood Distillery, Momento is aimed at the high end market without having the cojones to put its quality where its marketing leads it. It’s clean texture and originality of make are its best features, but I can’t say it really works for me. There are some cases where a distillery looking to go in a different direction begets some kind of bratty, youthful rum that dances on your tonsils and tries out its chubby biceps on your palate. Bruichladdich comes to mind, or the reblenders and rebranders like [Click here for the full review…]


St. Nicholas Abbey 12 year old rum – Review

 No Responses »
Sep 022011
 
St. Nicholas Abbey 12 year old rum - Review

First posted 2nd September 2011 on Liquorature A worthy successor to the 10 year old which was also expensive and extremely well made. Succeeds, in my opinion, on just about every level: presentation, nose, taste, finish and aesthetics. This is the point where you start telling yourself maybe two hundred bucks may not really be that much to blow on a single rum…but ensure the spouse concurs. You’ve got to hand it to the Abbey. Not being content to rest on their laurels with the very excellent 10 year old I was so taken by, they issued the dark gold [Click here for the full review…]


St. Nicholas Abbey 8 year old – Review

 No Responses »
Sep 022011
 
St. Nicholas Abbey 8 year old - Review

First posted 2nd September 2011 on Liquorature Much as I loved the St Nicholas Abbey 10 year old (and I have yet to meet a soul who doesn’t like it), I must concede that the corresponding 8 year old is not in its league. This is not to say it’s a bad rum…just not as good as its older brother(s). And that’s a shame, because left on its own, had I never tasted any of the Abbey’s other products, I might have given my pen rein, gone to town with loads of colourful metaphors, and in all ways harped on [Click here for the full review…]


Pusser’s 15 Year Old Navy Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Aug 162011
 
Pusser's 15 Year Old Navy Rum - Review

First posted 16 August 2011 on Liquorature A solidly impressive aged product from Pusser’s. Though it’s “only” 40% ABV, you might compare it to a barbarian using a fork – snickering, but all the while appreciating the strength and the quality. West Indians probably snigger into their shot glasses in every beer garden, corner store or rumshop whenever the name of this Navy-style rum comes up. In fact, I’m pretty sure of it, and if you don’t get that, find a guy fresh off the boat or the plane and get him to explain it to you. Like many Caribbean [Click here for the full review…]


Juan Santos 21 Year Old Antigua Reserva Colombian Rum – Review

 3 Responses »
Aug 062011
 
Juan Santos 21 Year Old Antigua Reserva Colombian Rum - Review

First posted 06 August 2011 on Liquorature. A steal at the price, the 21 holds its own against rums costing twice as much, and might be better known and sell more if the tag was higher. I think of it like I do a Nissan GT-R – too cheap to be taken seriously as a supercar, but a performer that can give any of the top dogs a run for their money. If you see it and you have the cash to spare, my recommendation is to get it. The Juan Santos 21 year old is the epitome of the [Click here for the full review…]


Pyrat’s Cask 1623 – Review

 1 Response »
Jul 112011
 
Pyrat's Cask 1623 - Review

First posted 11 July 2011 on Liquorature and the Rum Connection This review first appeared in two parts on the Rum Connection website, here. It is reposted here with minor corrections and amendments. It’s a bit of a rant, I’m afraid, and somewhat overlong…it speaks to my disappointment in what has been touted as an ultra-premium, but isn’t. I enjoy the Pyrat’s XO rum about as much as I do the leisurely explorations of my favourite proctologist: the thing is a perennial dust-gatherer on my shelf, and I finally traded it away to the Arctic Wolf in Edmonton. And when one considers the [Click here for the full review…]


Ron Diplomatico Añejo – Review

 No Responses »
May 252011
 
Ron Diplomatico Añejo - Review

First Published 25 May 2011 on Liquorature A puzzlingly schizophrenic rum – I can’t quite make up my mind about how good it is: an undistinguished bottle containing a so-so tasting rum with both a lovely nose and a finish to savour. I’m going to go back to this one, for sure, just to nail my opinion down more precisely. The Diplomatico Añejo I had on the night of the last Liquorature club was one of those weird rums that I couldn’t quite categorize, because it had both good elements I liked and others by which I wasn’t entirely enthralled. However, [Click here for the full review…]


Flor de Caña Centenario 12 Year old – Review

 No Responses »
May 232011
 
Flor de Caña Centenario 12 Year old – Review

Original Review 23 May 2011 on Liquorature Outclassed by its older siblings as a sipper and given better dollar value by its younger ones for mixing, Flor de Caña 12yr old’s singular characteristic may be its quickness (insert vulgar and raunchy joke here). This isn’t to say you won’t enjoy yourself, or that you’ll have a bad experience – just not a lingering one. Clint of Liquorature very kindly allowed me to pilfer his bottle of the Flor 12 in order to write about it, once the March 2011 session wound to a close. We’ve looked at the 5, 7, 15 and 18 yr [Click here for the full review…]


Juan Santos Añejo 12 Year Old Gran Reserva Colombian Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Apr 252011
 
Juan Santos Añejo 12 Year Old Gran Reserva Colombian Rum – Review

First posted 25 April 2011 on Liquorature Smooth, soft and unprepossessing, this may be one of the best 12 year old you never heard about. Coming from a maker formed less than two decades ago, it’s quite an achievement to create a rum of such overall worth. It seems that sooner or later one always makes a discovery both unexpected and wholly pleasant. In recent months since I first tried the excellent 9 year old, I’ve realized that Juan Santos rums have been one of mine, and with the exception of the coffee infused underproof, which I do not really regard [Click here for the full review…]


Flor de Caña 4 year old Extra Dry White Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Apr 252011
 
Flor de Caña 4 year old Extra Dry White Rum - Review

First posted 25 April 2011 on Liquorature Astringent as a Brit’s sense of humour, shot and sharp and crushing as Mrs. Jagan’s put-downs in primary school when I was being a smartass, this is not a rum to have by itself; but in a mix of any kind, it rises to the occasion and emerges as one of those quiet and unsung stars that one’s bar simply should not be without. It’s that different, and that good at what it is. Right out of the bottle, Flor de Caña’s white rum bats you with one malicious spirituous paw (is that [Click here for the full review…]


Juan Santos 7 Yr Old Cafè – Review

 No Responses »
Apr 162011
 
Juan Santos 7 Yr Old Cafè - Review

First posted 16 April 2011 on Liquorature A homunculus of a rum, this – it’s got all the hallmarks of a rum – the background taste, the nose, a bit of bite; but at end, you’ll either think it’s a strong liqueur or a weak rum, and in either case it works better as a dessert drink than a true sipper in your glass. “Bloody mouthwash!” my esteemed and geriatric sire sneered years and years ago, as I sipped a Crème de Menthe in the days when I was still searching for a drink to call my own and clutch [Click here for the full review…]


Havana Club Añejo Reserva Rum – Review

 2 Responses »
Mar 262011
 
Havana Club Añejo Reserva Rum - Review

An excellent Cuban rum: it starts out low-tier, and then the taste just blows your ears back. I could take it neat or with just a smidgen of something else, but alone or in company, it’s a worthy first step into the products of this company and its older siblings. First posted 26 March 2011 on Liquorature I think of this particular iteration of Havana Club as a starter rum. No, not a starter for your evening, an apertif, or getting the girl (I like your thinking, mind), but as a beginning for the entire line of enormously palatable rums [Click here for the full review…]


Angostura Premium Dark 5 Year old – Review

 No Responses »
Mar 122011
 
Angostura Premium Dark 5 Year old – Review

First posted 12 March 2011 on Liquorature Simple, rough, surprisingly tasty….good value, I think. You are going to get hit with a molasses club at the inception, and if you stick with it, it’ll reward your patience. I’d say mix it, but a brave soul may take it as is. Like most average folks I grew up watching bartenders mix drinks with Angostura Bitters; and one of the enduring memories of my first years in Georgetown was pouring a couple of drops into a cream soda to make a “rockshandy”. It was years before I realized that the Angostura company [Click here for the full review…]


Renegade Grenada 1996 11 year old Rum – Review

 No Responses »
Mar 122011
 
Renegade Grenada 1996 11 year old Rum - Review

First posted 12 March 2011 on Liquorature One of the acclaimed limited edition bottlings from Bruichladdich, it will remind you of a dry rye, and is a rum worth your buck; deep, tasty with complex flavour and taste. It’s long lasting on the palate, but not in the company of your friends. A few days ago I was on the Ministry of Rum, and a guy there proudly announced that he had just bought all twenty bottles of the current Renegade line. All twenty!!? I’ve only ever seen four in this whole country. You can imagine with what envy I [Click here for the full review…]


 Older Entries  Newer Entries