Tanduay Superior 12 year old – Review

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Dec 052010
 
Tanduay Superior 12 year old - Review

  First posted 5th December, 2010 on Liquorature. Some rums just upend all expectations, and maybe even redefine your assumptions.  Smooth, amber-dark, just sweet enough, and with a body and a finish that simply don’t give up, Tanduay Superior 12 year old is like that. Where on earth has this rum been, and why can’t I find it in Calgary? A very affable individual from my office named Rainerio was heading off home to the Philippines the other day, and knowing there were interesting rums to be found there (though unashamedly confessing ignorance of exactly which ones those were since [Click here for the full review…]


Bacardi Black Rum – Review

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Dec 032010
 
Bacardi Black Rum - Review

First posted December 3rd, 2010 on Liquorature Bacardi Black is a deep, dark rich mixer’s drink just the right side of sweet enough, but lacks the cojones to be a decent sipper on its own merits.  The mainstays of Bacardi’s massive sales are, to my mind, the low-enders: those rums not good enough to stand on their own, but which have a bold taste, a decent body and – somewhat like Johnny Walker – sufficient overall quality to be a cut above the average.  The normal Joe who walks into a liquor store isn’t after all, looking for a life-changing [Click here for the full review…]


Angostura Royal Oak Select Trinidad Rum – Review

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Dec 012010
 
Angostura Royal Oak Select Trinidad Rum – Review

  Original Post Date 01 December 2010 on Liquorature. (#013)(Unscored) Workable blend that makes for a perfectly solid mixer without shining in any other way, except to maybe pip the low-end Appletons. Best save for the 1919 version. *** Royal Oak Select Rum is another one of those annoying rums that tell you nothing about how old it is, which instantly informs you it’s a blend.  I don’t care much for whisky, as my humourous posts have made clear (I think the Peat Heads are misguided, but innocently so, and may be dint of effort and tender ministrations be brought [Click here for the full review…]


Appleton Estate V/X Rum – Review

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Dec 012010
 
Appleton Estate V/X Rum - Review

First reviewed December 1st, 2010 on Liquorature The V/X is an ostentatious shot across the bows of Bacardi – it may be one of the world’s best mixing, use-for-anything rums that you will have no trouble picking up anywhere, but the spicy sting in the tail makes it unsuitable for sipping. It’s always the same: the cobbler’s kids have no shoes, the accountant doesn’t do his own taxes, and this reviewer doesn’t review a rum he’s been drinking for years.  I mean, you’d think by now I would have rounded off the Appleton section by at least attempting a review of the [Click here for the full review…]


Bacardi 1873 Dark Rum – Review

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Nov 272010
 
Bacardi 1873 Dark Rum - Review

First Posted 27 Nov 2010 on Liquorature A pleasant mixer but not worth it as a sipper…like a date you want to kiss but really aren’t sure you want to bring home just yet. I’m at a loss to say what Bacardi 1873 is, based on what I’m reading.  Research is maddeningly inconclusive: is it a solera, as some bottles advertise themselves to be, or a standard blend of some kind?  Some sources suggest that it’s an aged blend that has now been replaced by the eight year old.  I hesitate to commit myself to any of these positions, because [Click here for the full review…]


Cadenhead’s Green Label Demerara 12 year old – Review

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Nov 272010
 
Cadenhead’s Green Label Demerara 12 year old – Review

First posted November 27th, 2010 on Liquorature A dry, slightly overproof schizophrenic rum that is just on his side of being a whisky, and not recommended for purist rum mixologists who like their libation darker and sweeter. Rum is traditionally matured in used bourbon or other whiskey barrels, but this is the first one I’ve ever seen and tasted which was finished in a Laphhroaig cask.  Was that an accident?  Did it just sort of  slip and fall over and said “Oops!” as it boinked into a cask of whisky?  I dunno, but Cadenhead Green Label 12 yr old Demerara [Click here for the full review…]


Tuzemak Czech Rum – Review

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Nov 262010
 
Tuzemak Czech Rum - Review

First posted 26 November 2010 on Liquorature. Herbal, different and like few other rums (we’ll be generous with the term) ever made; will add variety to cocktails and cheer to any Czechs you booze with, but my take is to exercise care when you have it neat. We must establish from the outset that all labeling to the contrary, Tuzemak is not precisely a rum. This is because it was originally made from potatoes or beets, not sugar cane, and while you might find it in the rum section, it’s simply because the Czech manufacturers have in the past included [Click here for the full review…]


Bermudez Ron Añejo Anniversario – Review

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Nov 192010
 
Bermudez Ron Añejo Anniversario - Review

First posted November 19, 2010 on Liquorature. Bermudez is the second rum I managed to find from the Three Bs distilleries in the half-island of the Domincan Republic (Brugal, Bermudez and Barcelo), and is both less and more than its possibly better known sibling, the Brugal Ron Añejo which I took a look at the other day. J. Armando Bermúdez & Co., C. por A. is a distillery located in Santiago de los Caballeros in the north central region of the DR. It was founded in 1852 (hence the year on the label of this Anniversary edition) by Erasmo Bermúdez, [Click here for the full review…]


Brugal Ron Añejo – Review

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Nov 182010
 
Brugal Ron Añejo - Review

First published November 18th, 2010 on Liquorature. Ron Añejo Brugal is one of two rums from the Domincan Republic which I tasted side by side last Friday.  Not to be confused with Dominica, the Dominican Republic is the Spanish speaking eastern half of the island of Hispaniola…the western half is Haiti.  Three distilleries known as the Three Bs operate in the DR: Bermudez in the Santiago area, the Santo Domingo distillery called Barcelo, and Brugal in the north coast.  Brugal, founded in 1888, seems to be the largest, perhaps as a result of being acquired in 2008 by the UK [Click here for the full review…]


Rivers Royale Grenadian White Rum – Review

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Nov 022010
 
Rivers Royale Grenadian White Rum - Review

First posted 2nd November 2010 on Liquorature.  My trip to Toronto last October permitted me to taste rums that never would have made it to Calgary (one or two would never have made it anywhere), and since my circle of friends is admittedly small, and few of those travel to rum producing states, it’s not as if I would have gotten any of the last five subjects of my reviews from them either.  So kudos and thanks one last time to John, who opened his cabinet to my inquiring snoot, and let’s get to the review of the last rum [Click here for the full review…]


The Matter of Ratings

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Nov 012010
 
The Matter of Ratings

(First posted on Liquorature November 2010; edited October 2014) What makes a Bacardi 1873 superior to, or a dog when compared against, a Santa Teresa 1796? On what basis do I compare my loving, cheerfully nostalgic review of the Clarke’s Court overproof “bush” variation with the disdainfulful yark-my-guts-out review of the Bundie? What exactly is the rating of the Bacardi 151, which, when you read it, is remarkably short on facts and long on humour. If I were to make a top five list of any kind – top-enders, dark rums, spiced rums, premiums etc – is there a consistent methodology backing up my assertions, or is it all [Click here for the full review…]


J. Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum – Review

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Nov 012010
 
J. Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum - Review

First posted 01 November, 2010 on Liquorature Raw white overproof, fun to drink mix or celebrate with…as the Jamaicans have long since known. To be honest, I’m not entirely clear why people – aside from binge drinkers, students and serial alcoholics, whose motives are clearer — bother to drink white overproofs straight on a regular basis.  The taste is simply too raw for real appreciation, in my opinion (though I have had several “full proof” rums which avoid this sharp stiletto to the palate, so it’s by no means a hard and fast rule).  But I suppose they’re like those [Click here for the full review…]


Cavalier 1981 Vintage Antigua Rum – Review

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Oct 292010
 
Cavalier 1981 Vintage Antigua Rum - Review

First posted 29 October, 2010 on Liquorature. A discovery you will think all your own and which you’ll be glad you made; smooth, flavourful and velvety as the best kiss of your life, with a finish that doesn’t disappoint. *** The Antigua Distillery has embraced both developing trends in the rum market: it has aggressively worked to address the emergence of premium sipping rums by creating the masterful English Harbour series of rum (I think the 5 yr old is one of the great mixers around, and the 1981 25-yr old, is one of the top five commercial aged 40% [Click here for the full review…]


Angostura “1919″ 8 year old Rum – Review

 9 Responses »
Oct 272010
 
Angostura “1919″ 8 year old Rum – Review

First posted 27 October, 2010 on Liquorature. Excellent presentation; a rich, complex and smooth experience that reminds you why premium rums exist at all and makes for a good gift for aficionados Somewhere in the midst of an alcoholic haze left by the last gathering of the Gentlemen of Liquorature, I had this vague memory of drinking quite a superlative little sipper.  Pat had, of course, been quite miffed when I wrote the review of the Bacardi 8, since he had wanted to surprise me with something I hadn’t had before  – but he got me on the rebound with [Click here for the full review…]


Banks DIH XM Extra Mature Demerara Rum – Review

 3 Responses »
Oct 262010
 
Banks DIH XM Extra Mature Demerara Rum - Review

First posted 26th October, 2010 on Liquorature. Something that puzzles, annoys and confuses me about Toronto is the paucity of rum selections in the LCBO.  I thought this was just a Calgary thing, but it seems that there are more varieties of rums available in cowtown than in a metropolitan area that has several hundred thousand West Indians in the population.  Can you blame me for the head scratching and being grateful for deregulation in Alberta? Fortunately my old schoolfriend Pratima, who also hails from Guyana, had two rums in her cabinet gathering dust (and I mean that literally); I [Click here for the full review…]


El Dorado 25 Year Old Rum (Millenium Edition) – Review

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Oct 262010
 
El Dorado 25 Year Old Rum (Millenium Edition) - Review

First posted Oct 26, 2010 on Liquorature. Note: I have written a companion piece to this review for RumConnection here: it’s more tightly researched, a bit longer, and takes a more structured approach.  But both this review and that one are of a piece, and I hope you enjoy them Of all the rums reviewed here, I believe that the only reasonably complete “age set” of a single distillery’s products I’ve managed to buy is the el Dorado line. Somehow, Calgary seemed to have gotten most of the el Dorado aged rums over time, though some of the estate editions are missing [Click here for the full review…]


Clarke’s Court Pure White Rum – Review

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Oct 212010
 
Clarke's Court Pure White Rum - Review

First posted 21 October, 2010. (#041)(Unscored) A strong white overproof, of which not much can be said, since I had an adulterated version: but that “bush” is one of the most evocative, crazy experiences I’ve ever had, and if you brave the Spice Island to get some, more power to you. *** I have never had a rum like this one, and I know that 99.99% of the people reading this (even if you’re from the Caribbean) haven’t either.  No, really.  When was the last time you a had a 138 proof rum with what looks suspiciously like a worm [Click here for the full review…]


Gosling’s Black Seal Bermuda Rum – Review

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Oct 132010
 
Gosling’s Black Seal Bermuda Rum – Review

First posted 13 October 2010 on Liquorature My younger brother and I have always had an excellent relationship, and the other day when I was in Toronto (I drove there from Cowtown) we had a small session, even though we didn’t have anything special to sample – to my surprise, the LCBO prices were higher than those in Calgary and so I simply laughed at the $550 for the Appleton 30 yr old, or the $120 for the El Dorado 21 and bought the Gosling’s Black Seal. Gosling’s hails from Bermuda: like Appleton’s, Mount Gay or el Dorado, it is [Click here for the full review…]


Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced Rum – Review

 2 Responses »
Oct 132010
 
Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum - Review

First posted 13 October, 2010 on Liquorature The  best selling and most commonly quoted spiced rum in the world.  It’s the standard by which all other spiced rums are measured not because of its excellence, precisely, but because of its overall “okay-ness”. It’s okay everywhere while being truly outstanding at little. It’s sweetness and spice are part of the appeal. The fact that this is a low end mixer should not dissuade you from giving it a shot (no pun intended) if you’re in the mood for a reasonably low-priced little something. It’s about on the same level as the [Click here for the full review…]


Lemon Hart Demerara Rum (Standard Strength) – Review

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Oct 012010
 
Lemon Hart Demerara Rum (Standard Strength) - Review

First posted 01 October 2010 on Liquorature. Lemon Hart is an instructive case study in how one can chose a rum without knowing a damned thing about it. As I’ve noted on more than one occasion, if you go into a store without a blessed clue, you are down to three bases for your decision and only three: the price; the look; and knowledge you have when you enter the joint. Anything different is somebody else choosing for you. So here, what did I have? Well, the price for a flattie, which was less than twenty bucks; the look, which [Click here for the full review…]


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