Havana Club Cuban Barrel Proof Rum – Review

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Jun 092010
 
Havana Club Cuban Barrel Proof Rum - Review

First posted 9th June 2010 on Liquorature. Let’s be clear from the outset, that this is a true Cuban rum, not a product of the Bacardi line which produces a rum under the same name and which it is being litigated against.  The marque was first created in 1878 by Jose Arechabala in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba.  Some might argue that Fidel had no business nationalizing the company after he took over the country in 1959, but the current crop of rums, produced in a 50:50 partnership with Pernod-Ricard since 1994 suggests that quality has not suffered in the [Click here for the full review…]


El Dorado 25 Year Old Rum (1980)

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Jun 012010
 
El Dorado 25 Year Old Rum (1980)

This review was written in 2010 for the online rum magazine Rum Connection, and I add it here for completeness. F. Scott Fitzgerald famously noted that the rich are different from you and me. The same could possibly be said of premium rums at the top of the scale. They are so different, represent such an investment of time and effort, and are usually in such short supply that they come to represent something of the pinnacle of achievement in rum blending and production. Something rarefied, something out of the ordinary box in which most aged rums are placed. Something [Click here for the full review…]


Newfoundland Screech Rum – Review

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May 312010
 
Newfoundland Screech Rum - Review

  First posted 31 May 2010 on Liquorature. All humour and snide Newfie jokes aside, Screech is a thoroughly rock solid rum: not brilliant at any one thing, it is simply good at everything without shining anywhere.  Odd, but if you’re after something that just goes ahead and does what it does, here’s the one for you. One has to smile when seeing a name as evocative as Screech. It has all these connotations of pain about it, mixed up with the Newfie seafaring heritage and their backwoods image so beloved of Canadian humourists: and so one’s imagination goes riot as [Click here for the full review…]


Captain Morgan Private Stock – Review

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May 252010
 
Captain Morgan Private Stock - Review

First posted May 25th, 2010 on Liquorature. Surprisingly mellow sipper from a purveyor not noted for such drinks; not overly complex, but warm, buxom, heavy and with a rich nose and body. This is the Mother Hubbard of rums, to keep in the cupboard. Right from the get go I must mention that I’ve given Captain Morgan a wide berth thus far, simply because it always had a reputation as a low- to mid-level mixer.  The fact that it was a spiced rum – whether or not it says it is – also added somewhat to its plebian cachet.  Not [Click here for the full review…]


El Dorado Single Barrel ICBU Demerara Rum – Review

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May 242010
 
El Dorado Single Barrel ICBU Demerara Rum - Review

  First posted 24 May 2010 on Liquorature. I always admire some level of originality, whether it is in food, drink, a book, movies or simply the way something looks. In an era of mass production and conformity, too much of what we buy or see is an exact copy of the same thing we bought or saw somewhere else. On that basis, I was quite happy to see Demerara Distillers’ square, tall bottle of the El Dorado Single Barrel ICBU when it was presented at the April 2010 session of the club, and since it was not only a [Click here for the full review…]


Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Rum – Review

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May 172010
 
Appleton Estate 30 Year Old Rum - Review

First posted May 17, 2010 on Liquorature. A smooth, complex, warm, rich and all-round-awesome creation which fails ever so slightly on the back stretch because of excessive oakiness, just enough to defer sainthood for Joy Spence.  Should be drunk in miniscule sips, with hat off, and head bowed reverentially down. I’ve remarked before that there are only three ways of deciding whether to buy a rum you know nothing about and which you cannot taste to test in the shop: one, by price; two by information filtering through from others (i.e., word of mouth or one’s own research) and three, [Click here for the full review…]


Santa Teresa Antiguo de Solera 1796 – Review

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May 102010
 
Santa Teresa Antiguo de Solera 1796 - Review

  First posted 10th May 2010 on Liquorature. I remember being somewhat unenthused with this rum from Venezuela when Scott trotted it out last year.  Venezuelan rums seem to be a bit drier, with less body and not quite as sweet as those made in the Caribbean proper (I note that several online reviews have precisely the opposite opinion), and to my mind, that makes them best for mixers, not sippers.  Still, I had never made good notes on this baby since I tried it for the first time, so, when both Keenan and Scott coincidentally came up with the [Click here for the full review…]


Cruzan Single Barrel Dark Rum – Review

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Apr 132010
 
Cruzan Single Barrel Dark Rum - Review

  First posted 13 April 2010 on Liquorature. Completely solid rum, that succeeds on many levels.  Strong taste, well defined flavour profile, just enough sweet and a lovely dark body that doesn’t quit. Wow. A worthy addition to the shelf, to be doled out to real friends.  Against the constant whine I make about rums not stating their proper age on the bottle (like some sly strumpet misrepresenting her quality), I have to concede that having a friend to not only help drink it but who’ll trot out his own cherished stocks to stretch out the binge is some small [Click here for the full review…]


Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva 15 year old rum – Review

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Mar 092010
 
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva 15 year old rum - Review

  First posted 9th March 2010 on Liquorature. For some reason, the Last Hippie was absolutely enthralled by the label design* of this Venezuelan import when Pat trotted it out for the February 2010 get-together, rhapsodically comparing it to a postage stamp, nearly swooning over the originality of it all. It was the first time I ever saw a label nearly bring a Peathead over to the Light and have a shot of the good stuff, but it fell just short of the mark, alas and perhaps embarrassed by his untoward display of emotion, he retreated to the other Scottish [Click here for the full review…]


Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva 15 Year Solera Rum – Review

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Feb 272010
 
Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva 15 Year Solera Rum - Review

First posted 27th February, 2010 on Liquorature. Having friends who will trot out cherished stocks of the good stuff for me to taste and comment on is always a plus.  Having those who share my interests in rum, and pick up obscure bottles from odd distilleries in faraway places is even better.  Granted every now and then one runs across paint thinner or liquified rat turds masquerading as rum, but in the main, the odds work in my favour. Still, though, I’ve had to take a leaf out of the Last Hippie’s book and always have a notebook on hand. [Click here for the full review…]


Bundaberg Rum – Review

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Feb 272010
 
Bundaberg Rum - Review

  First posted February 27, 2010 on Liquorature. (#014)(Unscored) Holy antipodean molasses, Batman: what the hell is this? Years from now, old farts will be discussing their first great love or hate of rum, and this one will surely make the short list. You either embrace this vile sipper or despise it for its difference,  but you’ll never be indifferent, that’s for sure. *** Full of hope and expectations, Keenan and I traded rums over the table yesterday – in his direction went the El Dorado 21 year old (I had really wanted him to sample it since his snoot is more [Click here for the full review…]


Pusser’s “Nelson’s Blood” Blue Label Rum (BVI)- Review

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Feb 252010
 
Pusser's "Nelson's Blood" Blue Label Rum (BVI)- Review

First posted 25 February 2010 on Liquorature. (#012)(Unscored) *** There’s surprisingly little hard information about Pusser’s “Nelson’s Blood” Navy Rum aside from the bare bones history and some folklore about the rum itself. For example, the bottle I bought said nothing about the age, nor did any catalogue or webpage discuss it at length except to refer to its origins.  And when, as noted before, there is a scarcity of expert salespeople to discuss your selection with, well, I guess I had to take a flier and buy it based on rarity – I had never seen it before – [Click here for the full review…]


Coruba Dark Jamaica Rum – Review

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Feb 252010
 
Coruba Dark Jamaica Rum - Review

First posted 25 February 2010 on Liquorature. (#011)(Unscored) Short, sharp sword to the guts when had neat, this rum is without question something to use as a mix and not to risk taking alone.  Needs refinement to be taken seriously, but since it’s cheap as all get-out, it does have a perverse attraction on that basis alone. Go for it if you’re feeling a bit brave today. *** This is another one of those reviews that I wrote in order to give some weight to the Single Digit Rums.  Having tasted it, shuddered and reached for the coke, I can [Click here for the full review…]


Young’s Old Sam Demerara Rum – Review

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Feb 252010
 
Young’s Old Sam Demerara Rum – Review

First posted 25th February 2010 on Liquorature; (#004)(Unscored) Young, rambunctious and strong of nose and taste.  It is the epitome of a low ranking Demerara rum, with powerful scents and tastes lacking in anything remotely resembling complexity: and yet, I really kinda like it.  Perhaps because it’s a simple creation of such primary flavours.  It’s not meant for taking neat, but as a mixer? Yummo. *** The bottle of Old Sam I tasted is a “single digit rum” whose ingredients come from the Old Country, where the primary distillation takes place in DDLs facilities — these are the gentlemen who make the [Click here for the full review…]


Pyrat’s XO Reserve 15 Yr Old Rum – Review

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Feb 252010
 
Pyrat's XO Reserve 15 Yr Old Rum - Review

First posted 25 February 2010 on Liquorature Short version – too much orange peel and marmalade flavours mar an otherwise reasonable rum. It may sound sacrilegious to even mention this 15 year old product of Anguilla in the same breath as Bundie, but when you think about it, Bundaberg is without question one of the unique rums in the world: one may despise it and spit after mentioning its name, but there’s no denying it stays with you. It’s like the dark reflection of the EH25.  And Pyrat (pronounced “pirate”) is another one like that which, love it or hate [Click here for the full review…]


El Dorado Special Reserve 21 Year Old – Review

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Feb 192010
 
El Dorado Special Reserve 21 Year Old - Review

First posted Feb 19, 2010 on Liquorature. Deep, smooth, elegant, complex, affordable. Brilliant rum catering to all my tastes. It seems to be a cruel irony that I always find the rums I desperately want to buy and take a taste of when (a) my frugal better half is casting baleful glares in my direction,  (b) my friend The Bear is unavailable to assist in the sampling and (c) cash is short…or at least, pay day is nowhere in sight, which amounts to the same thing.  All three were in evidence this Friday, when, for reasons we shall not get [Click here for the full review…]


Classifying Rum

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Feb 132010
 

(First posted on Liquorature, February 2010.  Lightly edited December 2014, August 2015, July 2017 and March 2022 – however,  the article is now dated and should be regarded as a backgrounder to how classifications were regarded in 2009-2010, not now. Issues of classification remain thorny and are hotly contested: the issue requires another pass, even if only to sum up the developments). In my wasted youth, those with more discerning palates often confused my rather simple mind with their scientific analyses of their spirits, making sober statements about bouquet, oiliness, finish, colour, nose, mouthfeel, texture, blah blah blah. I was [Click here for the full review…]


English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum – Review

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Jan 302010
 
English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum - Review

First posted 30 January 2010 on Liquorature. (#010)(Unscored) *** Wow!  What a surprisingly mellow, well rounded piece of work this was.  English Harbour is aged a minimum of five years in whiskey or bourbon barrels, but there was none of the whiskey taste that so characterizes the Renegade product line, which I have gone on record as not really appreciating.  This stuff is good for its age and price. For the gathering of January 2010, it was the nominated rum alongside two whiskeys, and, to everyone’s surprise, this thing held up against older, more expensive drinks and was the first [Click here for the full review…]


Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rum – Review

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Jan 252010
 
Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rum - Review

  First posted January 25, 2010 on Liquorature. (#005)(Unscored) The first of the mid-range Appletons where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. From here, Appleton gets out into sipping territory, and it’s worth the extra you fork out for it. *** As I may have mentioned, Appleton is a Jamaican classic. Part of J. Wray & Nephew, which has been making rum since 1749, Appleton takes its name from the island’s largest sugar cane plantation. It’s become a sort of standard for me here in Calgary: I buy a massive mulit-litre jug of the V/X when [Click here for the full review…]


Renegade Trinidad 1991 16 Year Old Rum – Review

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Jan 252010
 
Renegade Trinidad 1991 16 Year Old Rum - Review

  First posted 25 January 2010 on Liquorature. (#009)(Unscored) *** I’m not always and entirely a fan of Renegade Rum, but will unhesitatingly concede that they are among the most interesting ones currently available, and deserve to be sampled. Un-chill filtered at the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Isle of Islay in Scotland, these limited editions have the potential to popularize single-vintage rum if one can get past the whiskey-like finish that jars somewhat with what I expect a rum to be. My research notes that Renegade Rums trawls the Caribbean estates for traditional single distilleries that are no longer in [Click here for the full review…]


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