Rewinding 2022: The Year in Rum

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Dec 292022
 
Rewinding 2022: The Year in Rum

Although 2020 and 2021 were deserts of activities and opportunities to meet, share, drink, talk and socialise, the rumworld never really stopped ticking over, and while RumCask’s annual three-rum top of the year invitational roundup took a nosedive, many of us kept churning out product and adding to the literature, tasting new rums, and keeping the flag of geekdom fluttering. In late 2021 some rum expos timidly cracked their doors, and 2022 was when the world finally opened up and the entrances were flung wide for a resumption of the festival season. The COVID period, for all its many tragedies [Click here for the full review…]


Secret Treasures Gardel Distillery 1989 13 Year Old Guadeloupe Rhum – Review

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Dec 262022
 
Secret Treasures Gardel Distillery 1989 13 Year Old Guadeloupe Rhum - Review

The clear, light, and distinct nose on this Guadeloupe agricole is really quite sumptuous, and hearkens back to a time before more formal rules were put into place (even on Guadeloupe) as to how cane juice rhums were put together. It has a clean sweetness to it, quite crisp, redolent of grapes, green apples and a touch of vanilla and caramel to start. Sweet and sour chicken with tons of vegetables, sweet soya. And it develops into more complex territory after that – leather, freshly mown hay, citrus peel, cumin and pomegranates and was that oregano I smelled there? It [Click here for the full review…]


Engenhos do Norte Rum North “Natural” Rum Agricola da Madeira – Review

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Dec 222022
 
Engenhos do Norte Rum North "Natural" Rum Agricola da Madeira - Review

So here we are again with another rum agricola from Engenhos do Norte, the biggest distillery in Madeira, and another in their line of starter rums from cane juice, column stills and bottled at an inoffensive 40%. These are rums that any cask strength aficionado would be well advised to try neat and first thing in the session, because they have, so far, proved to be relatively light and are easily shredded by the addition of water, a mix or the slightest hint of harsh language. Say “damn!” in front of the “Natural”, and it’ll vanish in a puff of [Click here for the full review…]


Hampden “Pagos” Sherry-Aged Jamaican Rum – Review

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Dec 192022
 
Hampden "Pagos" Sherry-Aged Jamaican Rum - Review

The “Pagos” rum from Hampden — all 1200 bottles of the release — is another one of that storied estate’s experiments involving Luca Gargano, whose company has distribution rights to their rums, and who is known for tweaking things in odd directions just to see what comes out at the other end (and if you doubt that, just visit the NRJ quartet or the EMB rums which are about as non-commercial as it’s possible to get). Unusually for Hampden, this isn’t a multi-bottle series, but a one-off release of a single type, though it is my understanding that there may [Click here for the full review…]


Engenhos do Norte Rum North “Barrica Nova” Rum Agricola da Madeira – Review

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Dec 122022
 
Engenhos do Norte Rum North "Barrica Nova" Rum Agricola da Madeira - Review

Today we’ll continue with another rum from the island of Madeira and the company of Engenos do Norte, which, as its name suggests, is located in the north of Madeira Island. The company was founded in 1928 by the merging of some fifty sugar factories at a time when it was simply not economical for individual small mills to operate. While they had been making rums on the island for centuries, it had a lesser importance to sugar, and most of the local rum was either consumed domestically or in Portugal (wine was actually much more popular and commonly made). [Click here for the full review…]


Cadenhead’s Green Label Demerara 10 Year Old Rum (Late 1990s)

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Dec 082022
 
Cadenhead's Green Label Demerara 10 Year Old Rum (Late 1990s)

Rumaniacs Review #142 | 0957 As noted before (and repeated below for the curious), Cadenhead has three different bottle ranges, each of which has progressively less information than the one before it: the Dated Distillations, the Green Labels and the Caribbean blends. The Green Label releases are always 46% and issued on no schedule; their labels and the company website provides so little information on past releases that one has to take some stuff on faith — in this case, my friend Sascha Junkert (the sample originator) noted it was a 10 YO bottled in 2000, although even the best [Click here for the full review…]


2023 Rum Festival Schedule

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Dec 062022
 
2023 Rum Festival Schedule

ON THE SIDEBAR While 2021 showed a scattering of timid rum festival openings after the ravages of COVID, it was 2022 that showed that the world had reopened with a bang. By the time the year drew to a close, my initial post for that year listed 60+ festivals around the world which either focused exclusively on rum, or had it as a major component of the show – and it’s a fair bet I was undercounting smaller regional festivals which only received local exposure and weren’t widely advertised. These rum expos ranged from the cricket club party atmosphere with [Click here for the full review…]


Saint James “Fleur de Canne” Rhum Blanc Agricole – Review

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Dec 052022
 
Saint James "Fleur de Canne" Rhum Blanc Agricole - Review

By now Saint James needs little introduction. It is one of the premiere rum makers on Martinique, has a long and proud history, and isn’t particularly nervous about straying off the reservation from time to time. They have made rhums in their illustrious history that are among the best, the most original or the most storied (not always at the same time, of course) – such as the legendary 1885, the pot still blanc, and most recently, the stunning Magnum series entry of the 2006 15 Year Old with which I was so enthralled. However, in between all these top [Click here for the full review…]


The Strongest Rums In The World

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Dec 042022
 
The Strongest Rums In The World

Ten years ago, overproof rums (which I mentally designate as anything 70% ABV and above even though I’m well aware there are other definitions) were limited to the famed 151s – juice at 75.5%, often lightly aged, and designed as mixing agents of no particular distinction or sophistication. “Something tossed off in between more serious efforts,” I wrote once, not without a certain newbie disdain. They were fun to write about, but hardly “serious.” But then over the years a strange thing happened – some producers, independents in particular, began releasing rums at serious cask strength and many were powerful [Click here for the full review…]


Engenhos do Norte Rum Agrícola Beneficiado 980 Madeira – Review

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Dec 012022
 
Engenhos do Norte Rum Agrícola Beneficiado 980 Madeira - Review

Every year, especially as the Madeira rumfest comes around, there is a flurry of posts and interest about rums from the islands of that Portuguese Autonomous Region (it’s one of two such regions – the other is the Azores). The better known rums originating there are from the distilleries of O Reizinho, Engenho Novo (which makes William Hinton rums) and Engenhos do Norte, and these three rub shoulders with yet others like Abel Fernandes, Vinha Alta and Engenhos da Calheta. Not surprisingly, there are occasional independent releases as well, such as those from Rum Nation and That Boutique-y Rum Co. [Click here for the full review…]


L’Esprit “A Jamaican Distillery” 2019 “Still Strength” White Rum – Review

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Nov 272022
 
L'Esprit "A Jamaican Distillery" 2019 "Still Strength" White Rum - Review

I view L’Esprit’s unaged still-strength white rums the way I regard Mrs. Caner – with besotted love not unmixed with a little dread. Treat her right and there’s no end of the amazing wonders and complexities that will be provided; drink carelessly and you’ll be belted into next week. Seeing the stats, is clear to see why: the rum is distilled in 2019 in Jamaica, and taken at 85.6% as it dripped and smoked and frothed off the still, then released without any ageing into the wild, unfiltered and unadded-to, and completely, fiercely, joyously untamed. You get the nervous feeling [Click here for the full review…]


Tuthilltown Distillery Roggen’s Rum (2012)

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Nov 232022
 
Tuthilltown Distillery Roggen's Rum (2012)

Rumaniacs Review #141 | 0953 For a distillery whose founder had a not inconsiderable impact on craft distilling in the state of New York, it’s a shame they stuck with a product that has no end of local competition and is at best reviewed with occasional praise, mostly indifference and sometimes outright disdain: whiskey. And yet they produced a rum or two at one time; and one of them, this rum, while no great shakes, suggested that they had potential and to spare had they stuck with it. Maybe. This is a pot still, blackstrap molasses based rum (for what [Click here for the full review…]


Captain Morgan Black Label Blended Rum (Early 1980s)

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Nov 212022
 
Captain Morgan Black Label Blended Rum (Early 1980s)

Rumaniacs Review #140 | 0952 Captain Morgan, of course, requires no introduction, yet its history presented us with some interestingly convoluted pathways (R-139); it showed that although in its modern 2020s iteration it’s a throwaway piece of cheap spiced dreck, made with indifference and sold wholesale with what I can only conclude is contempt for its core audience, the fact is that once, not too far back, it had aspirations to being something quite a bit more interesting. More genuine. Almost a real rum. We can date this one more accurately because the 70º on the label had been replaced [Click here for the full review…]


Velier Saint James 2006 15 YO Rum “Magnum No.1 – Elliot Erwitt” Series – Review

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Nov 172022
 
Velier Saint James 2006 15 YO Rum "Magnum No.1 - Elliot Erwitt" Series - Review

Whatever my personal opinions on the need for the four Magnum rums to exist as a separate collection as opposed to being folding into other series, they are there, they’re a fact of life and we move on. In any case, we’ve learnt a bit about the legendary photo agency (even if we’re not into current history) and read up about the style and importance of Elliot Erwitt (even if we’re not photographers or understand the connection), and have tasted four new rums from old and proud houses, so it’s by no means a waste. Moreover, for all their variations [Click here for the full review…]


Velier Hampden 2016 5 YO Rum “Magnum No.1 – Elliot Erwitt” Series – Review

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Nov 142022
 
Velier Hampden 2016 5 YO Rum "Magnum No.1 - Elliot Erwitt" Series - Review

There was a time not too long ago when anything you got from Hampden was some bulk rum export that got bottled by an indie in Europe. Berry Bros. & Rudd, Murray McDavid, Renegade, Samaroli, Compagnie des Indes, Rum Nation…these companies and more were the ones who kept the name alive and vibrant in people’s memories. And to be fair, the rums they picked were usually quite good – the Samaroli 1992 for example, was really kind of spectacular and even the Murray McDavid edition that was half as old, was no slouch. All that changed after the launch of [Click here for the full review…]


Velier Foursquare 2005 16 YO Rum “Magnum No.1 – Elliot Erwitt” Series – Review

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Nov 102022
 
Velier Foursquare 2005 16 YO Rum "Magnum No.1 - Elliot Erwitt" Series - Review

The new rums of Velier’s first edition of the Magnum Elliot Erwitt series of rums are only four in number, and it’s too early to tell whether future editions will materialise. Honestly, I don’t see any need to create a new series at all: both the Hampden and Foursquare rums already have well established collaborative series of their own, Saint James could have been folded into the 25th AOC Anniversary bottling and I’m sure a home could have been found for Mount Gay somewhere. The Magnum photographic connection — to rum, Velier or the distilleries — is tenuous at best [Click here for the full review…]


Velier Mount Gay 2007 14 YO Rum “Magnum No.1 – Elliot Erwitt” Series – Review

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Nov 072022
 
Velier Mount Gay 2007 14 YO Rum "Magnum No.1 - Elliot Erwitt" Series - Review

By now it’s almost like an annual event at the beginning of each new rum-release season: Velier makes an announcement about a co-bottling or a new rum, or a whole new series, and the rumiverse goes politely batsh*t for a while. To be honest, I kind of look forward to see what they come up with myself, because you really can’t fault their originality, or their style. And the rums themselves are usually interesting, with an occasional gem popping up here and there. Now, most independents go with the standard big Caribbean distilleries, keep the labels consistent, and stay within [Click here for the full review…]


Tanduay Silver “Asian” (Philippine) Rum – Review

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Nov 032022
 
Tanduay Silver "Asian" (Philippine) Rum - Review

Tanduay, in spite of being a behemoth of rum making in Asia (it sold nearly 23 million cases in 2021) with more than a 150-year history, has a spotty recognition in the west, largely because until relatively recently it sold most of its wares in Asia, and wasn’t all that common, or available anywhere else. What knowledge or reviews of the brand as existed, came from people who had friends in the Philippines who could bring a bottle over, or sip there on a sunny beach and write about the experience. And other Philippine brands like Limtuaco or Don Papa [Click here for the full review…]


Captain Morgan Black Label Jamaican Rum (1970s)

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Oct 312022
 
Captain Morgan Black Label Jamaican Rum (1970s)

Rumaniacs Review R-139 | 0946 Captain Morgan was not always the dismissed and derided global rum-killer which has been its lot since it nose-dived into a vat of overspiced and insipid distillate where Diageo put it. But the original spiced-rum recipe — which Samuel Bronfman of Seagram’s bought from the local Jamaican pharmacy of the Levy brothers in 1944 when he had bought the Long Pond Distillery — long predated Diageo’s acquisition. It’s just that Seagram never made it the centrepiece of the brand the way Diageo did. For a long time Seagram’s used rums from around the Caribbean to [Click here for the full review…]


Amrut Distilleries

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Oct 262022
 
Amrut Distilleries

There are many Indian spirits combines on the subcontinent which make rum — Radico Khaitan, Mohan Meakin and United Spirits, are some examples — not all of which are well known by rum folks elsewhere because of their predilection for selling domestically, or only in Asia. Still others concentrate on beer, whisky or various other industrial manufacturing enterprises, and the rum component of their sales is so minor that it is not widely exported. And yet rum is one of the oldest distilled spirits made in India, and it is this which founded the fortunes of Amrut Distilleries way before [Click here for the full review…]


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