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

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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

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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

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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…]


Bacardi 151 Overproof Rum – Review

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Oct 012010
 
Bacardi 151 Overproof Rum - Review

First published 01 October 2010 on Liquorature. This deep-throated bellowing maniac of a rum does almost nothing well – but one thing so grandly it borders on Van Gogh-level insanity: it hits you in the face.  A lot.  Welcome to the lost week of your life. Even in the world of lesser rums, there is such a thing as subtlety…a whiff of class, or style, be it ever so humble. Bacardi, with this 151 proof beefcake, sneered long and loudly and stated flat out that they wanted no truck with that kind of pansy nonsense.  They stayed as far away [Click here for the full review…]


English Harbour 10 Year Old Rum – Review

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Sep 252010
 
English Harbour 10 Year Old Rum - Review

Solid all round rum, probably better than most ten year olds around. First posted 25 September 2010 on Liquorature. I’ve been a little reticent about trying English Harbour Reserve ten year old, and have put it off for over a month now.  Its younger sibling the Five is such a good mixer and all round rum (it’s been a favourite of the club for some time), and its older brother the 25 is such a powerhouse in its own right, that it seemed almost like trying to make a good aged rum go up against…well, practically a pair of low and high end juggernaughts. [Click here for the full review…]


Bacardi 8 Year Old Rum – Review

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Sep 172010
 
Bacardi 8 Year Old Rum - Review

  First posted 17 September 2010 on Liquorature A tentative foray, a single spy, sent into the camp of the premium rums, perhaps to scout out the territory for further invasions to come (we can hope).  Capture one and be surprised by its low price and overall quality. If Bacardi can make this one, I don’t know why they don’t come charging into the high-end market in force. *** Maybe it’s just me, but I sometimes find stronger notes and more positive tastes at the middle and lower end of the price and snoot scale;  more premium rated rums can [Click here for the full review…]


El Dorado 15 Year Old Rum – Review

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Sep 102010
 
El Dorado 15 Year Old Rum - Review

First posted 10 September 2010 on Liquorature #036 The 15 year old is a different animal from it’s older and younger sublings, and resides on the top of the sippers lists of many a rum aficionado. The 15 year old is the bridge.  It is the last bottle in DDL’s premium line that will not set you back three figures, and still has the cheery character of a younger rum, the cheeky palate that dances and laughs across your tongue and then happily bitch slaps you for your trouble with all the insouciance of the first girl who ever refused [Click here for the full review…]


The Labelling of Rums

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Sep 012010
 
The Labelling of Rums

(First posted on Liquorature, September 2010) Rum connoisseurs and aficionados must occasionally weep with envy when they see the myriad regulations and hoops that whisky makers have to jump through when labelling their product. That sounds utterly counterintuitive, unless you’re trying to get a handle on what rum actually is – perhaps, like obscenity or time, you can’t define it, but you know it when you see it (or is that the Matrix…?). I think that the advantage whiskies have over rums in this regard, is the geographic nature of production: whisky is so markedly identified with just a few countries [Click here for the full review…]


Stroh 54 Austrian Overproof Rum – Review

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Aug 302010
 
Stroh 54 Austrian Overproof Rum - Review

First posted 30th August 2010 on Liquorature. When I was discoursing about rums with a Calgary Co-op liquor sales manager (in my normal sneering way, and for the usual reason), I asked about this odd little label from Austria, because, with my penetrating insight and encyclopedic knowledge, I was aware that Austria didn’t have any sugar cane fields  — Andrea from the cashier’s till was called over, and noted flatly (in that no-nonsense way that people use to inform you they know the Truth even if you’re too ignorant to), that she’d had them all, tried the lot, was Austrian into [Click here for the full review…]


Mount Gay Old Cask 1703 – Review

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Aug 282010
 
Mount Gay Old Cask 1703 - Review

Stunning.  Strong marriage of well balanced flavours, terrific nose and a silky finish marred ever so slightly by a slight bitterness at the tail end. A damned worthy entry at the top-end, showing Mount Gay is still a force to be reckoned with in the premium lines. First posted  28 August 2010 on Liquorature. Mount Gay.  The premier house of rum on Barbados, the oldest rum distillery in the world, and this rum, their premium product, first seen in 2009.  I was not entirely enthused with the Extra Old, but here, they have created a small gem that takes the [Click here for the full review…]


Smuggler’s Cove Dark Rum – Review

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Aug 182010
 
Smuggler's Cove Dark Rum - Review

First posted 18 August 2010 on Liquorature. Fresh from the intense concentration I brought to the Elements 8 Gold rum, I trotted out the flattie of Smuggler’s Cove Dark to chillax with.  I would have damaged the Young’s Old Sam, but it was almost done, so off I went to this one.  My more romantic side likes to think that the humourous and positive reviews of Newfie Screech and Lamb’s so impressed the family of one of my Maritime friends at the office, that when she went back to Nova Scotia for some R&R (rather more recreation than rest, I’d [Click here for the full review…]


Elements 8 Gold Rum – Review

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Aug 182010
 
Elements 8 Gold Rum - Review

First posted 18 August 2010 on Liquorature.  I’d seen this trapezoidal bottle once in a while on the occasional shelf in Calgary, but  I’d never been interested enough, or seen it in sufficient quantity – let alone heard anything about it – to decide whether it was worth a buy or not.  It was an interesting surprise when a very helpful gent from Co-op named Dan Ellis (may the ice in his glass never melt) sourced the thing out.  Now granted, I had been making sneery remarks at the paucity of his rum selection (as opposed to the Scottish drink) [Click here for the full review…]


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