Raucous Rum Tasting 27 September 2011

Tuesday 27^th September 2011 was one of those days in which I participated in an event about which, even though absolutely nothing went terrifically wrong, I have mixed feelings: of both appreciation and disappointment. I speak, of course, for the few of us who were there and know whereof I speak, of KWM’s second rum tasting event, rather euphemistically termed “Raucous Rums.”

I suppose by this time I should come to terms with the fact that we Lovers of the Cane are second class citizens n the spirits world. I can’t speak for the vodka lovers, since most are Slavs or flavour-of-the-month-tipplers with all the insecurities and arrogance this implies; and cognac aficionados, brandy sippers and those who drink other relatively marginal spirits all speak to the excellence of their own preferences, however minor the sales of their preferred hooch may be on the world stage. But I can’t help but feel a little aggrieved: the first rum tasting session had had somewhere around 20 people in it, with six very decent rums to be tried; this time, a mere seven months later, though eleven had signed up, only nine attended. And yet the various whisky tastings around the city are doing great guns with loads of people crowding the stores which host them. Like I said, I feel rather, well, second class. An emperor penguin in a sea of elephant seals.

But there you have it. The world is the way the world is, and having observed this, I shrugged my shoulders, comforted myself with the fact that rums are excellent value for money and no opprobrium is attached to (what to others is a shameful act of) mixing the low-enders; and the lack of appreciation for the extract of cane merely keeps prices down. I should be grateful. Disgruntled, maybe, but gratified nevertheless

As before, the Bear and I attended together, he being the only rum aficionado I know in cowtown who likes them enough to really make appreciating them a hobby (as opposed to buying a few different Bacardis and an Appleton, and saying he’s a “rum lover”). Andrew Ferguson, who for such nights should really drop that inappropriate moniker of “The Scotch Guy,” started matters off at seven pm, and didn’t waste time with a blind testing this time around, but showed us front and center what he had on the table…some eight rums in all, with a possible ninth to come (if we wuz all good pickney and behave weself).

Showing he had polished up his speakers credentials in the intervening nine months, he didn’t give us the whole spiel and presentation of rums first, but a little at a time, interspersed with the rums about which he spoke – which was definitely a good way to go about business.

Much to my pleasure, the first two rums were recent favourites of mine: the St. Nicholas Abbey 8yr old and 12 year old.

The 8 had a sweet nose of apples, fruit and caramel, light and somewhat floral; on the palate it was spicy at first, but mellowed like a blushing bride, presenting flavours of vanilla, apples and citrus, tempered with oak. Short and smooth finish with just a brush of spice to remind you it was an eight year old, not quite housebroken yet and still had some rambunctiousness and dotishness left in its DNA.

The 12, made from the remains of the highly rated (by me) ten year old, was still a dark, deep, warm rum that only got better as it opened up. Heavy, rich, dark and creamy nose, it mellowed even further into a lush and warm rum about which I simply cannot say enough good things. On the palate you get dark molasses, liquorice, pecan and nary a hint of oak. Smooth as velvet. Every time I taste this thing I feel like a Victorian paramour swooning over his lady love while spouting atrocious verse.

The remainder of the rums came from a relatively young outfit, Rum Nation. Details about the company and its antecedents and modus operandi will have to wait until I can both do more research and snag some of their products for real. Suffice to say, this is the rum division of the Italian whisky bottler Wilson & Morgan, and founded in 1999 as the emergence of independent bottlers of premium rum gathered steam (following on the unheralded success, I suspect, of the El Dorado line of DDL from the early nineties). Rum Nation products have been around for a while, of course – various reviewers have been waxing rhapsodic about them for years – and finally they are coming to Alberta (or so Andrew says).

RN Panama 18 year old. Eighteen year old to start with? Holy age statement, Batman, is this for real? It’s a 40% rum which it was unclear was blended or not – whatever the case, it came from one distillery. Nose assaulted with a Muscatel reek that was somewhat shocking after the soft and genteel gentlemanly sophistication of the St Nick’s 12, and reminded me of the Legendario. Mellowed into tobacco and fruity hints. Palate – nice. Not overly sweet, smooth and fruity, with a slightly salty tang and traces of tobacco and leather. Not entirely sold on this ‘un myself, but it’s so smooth that I want me a bottle.

RN Martinique “Hors D’Age”. A 43% beefcake wannabe agricole, which normally would turn me off since I think most agricoles are simply too lacking in body (my opinion). Light, pale appearance, like a white wine, and a nose to match; presents scents of fennel, liquorice and fruits. Palate of nutneg, cinnamon, orange and liquorice, a tad dry – it really is more like a cognac than a true rum. Short and spicy finish – did not rank high with me overall.

RN 12 year old Anniversario. Shared my Number 1 spot with the St. Nick’s 12 and the Demerara 23 year old. It’s from Martinique, again 43%, and 12 years old, issued to celebrate RN’s 12^th anniversary (duuh). Nose is coganc-like, sweet, smooth, soft and grapy, with traces of dark citrus and tangerine. The taste was phenomenal: soft chocolate, fruity caramel, fruits, nuts and candy and breakfast spices. The texture was clear and light for such seemingly heavy flavours, yet none overwhelmed the other, and all somehow remained in balance. Finish is long and lasting. Awesome product, nicely done, in a box I like a lot.

RN Solera No. 14. An odd nose of musty grapes, ginger and liquorice, soft and billowy and smooth on this one, and it opened up into dusty molasses and brown sugar. Continuing its right turn on the palate, it arrived with a salty tang, caramel and a trace of nutmeg. Very whisky like, smooth and spicy at the same time, with the oak coming forward to assert its prescence firmly. Short and dry fade. It’s instructive to nose this rum and immediately go back to the Panama 18 year old for a wild contrast…the muscatel from that one disappears entirely and is replaced by the sweet tobacco of a good briar pipe.

RN Jamaica 25 year old. I must admit this was in many ways the most original (I don’t say the best) rums of the night, not merely because of its age. I inhaled the scents of (seriously) tire rubber at the start (wtf?) which faded and were replaced with the smells of autumn that remind me of the leisurely walks I used to take in Berlin and London when the days grew cool and sharp, and ravens perched on fences to preside like mourners of the demise of summer. Fallen leaves, damp earth and a cooling nip in the air that always makes me vaguely sad. Fleshy fruits and heavier floral hints round out a soft nose. Yet the palate is caramel and lighter fruits (apples and green grapes), merging with a delicate hint of tobacco. Fade was smooth and long lasting, and while this wasn’t the best rum of the evening, I think I’m going to try and get this one also when it arrives.

RN Demerara 23 Year Old. Yup, I have a soft spot for the old country. So what? When a rum like this arrives, you have to give it kudos, and with it, it’s clear that Rum Nation is looking to do what Bruichladdich is – to take rums in a direction, and along avenues, not previously considered. A 23 year old 43% with a surprisingly pleasant nose made up of notes you wouldn’t think could come together well – baked biscuits a bit soggy in rain, musty tobacco and aged leather, like a laird’s stable, perhaps…a weird hint of of rubber. It arrived as a solid, dark, just-sweet-enough savoury rum, carrying traces of caramel and orange peel. It was so well constructed and balanced that it was hard to pick out anything else. Brooding, dark and slow finish that just didn’t want to go. What a great rum this was. It shared the pedestal for the number one spot in my estimation, and yes, I’m gonna get me one of those as well.

Lastly, to approve of the fact that we were all such a spiffing bunch of chaps, liked what he had offered and hadn’t burdened him with any snarky questions he couldn’t answer, Andrew came out with the ninth rum: a Juan Millenario Reserva Especial from Peru, and the second solera of the night. Sweet, light and fruity nose on a amber coloured rum. Surprisingly thick and shade too sweet on arrival, I would judge, but nevertheless a pretty good rum with a reasonably long lasting finish. I didn’t jot down the details of what years make up the backbone alas. I thought it was a pretty decent mid-level rum nevertheless.

Let’s just review this line up as a whole. Three makers and six countries were represented (that might be more variety than the audience composition). Leaving aside the first two and the last one, it was clear that the core of it all was the aged Rum Nation products. I’m not altogether sold on making a rum tasting comprise of rums to come so that marketing and word-of-mouth can be drummed up for future sales – but then, I’m a reviewer and a buyer, not a business, and so my focus on such matters would have been to introduce others to the variety of the top enders — to make them appreciate the quality and effort that goes into rums that are out there. And indeed, this is what I do in my own house when friends express curiosity (and on every Liquorature night that was ever mine to host). If I had to make any kind of generalized comments beyond that, it would be to note the odd sulphury notes in some of the RN rums (which comes out as a rubbery aspect of the nose), as well as the feinty and woody/tobacco scents. This is somewhat unusual and may turn some people off – myself I found them intriguing. St Nicholas Abbey, of course, I had tried already and perhaps I learned to appreciate the 8 yr old a bit more than formerly.

So there you have both my appreciation and my disappointment. I mourn the lack of rum lovers in my city, when so many great brands are available (and I honestly believe this province may have the best selection in the country). And I’m a shade miffed that we basically only had three makers’ selections (two, really) on display when we could have gone with more variety. A Renegade or Cadenhead or AD Rattray selection to leaven the crowd might have been nice. But then, I’ve tasted a fair bit of rums on my own, and so I may be just a bit elitist in arguing for breadth. For the crowd that was there, for the rums that we had, all I can say is thanks to KWM for not only putting on a show with some real top end rums, but for having the second one in one year – and they didn’t stint on what they put out. Oh yeah – and thanks to Dale whose catering of the snacks was first rate and (as with all good stuff) not enough.

Now if only The Scotch Guy could turn into the Rum Dude in the future (at least until midnight, when he turns back into the pumpkin of the malts) then my Glencairn runneth over, so to speak. But then, I’ve been known to let optimism get the better of me, so I’m not holding my breath. In the meantime, I’m gonna look forward to the next one.

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Update 2013: by now, all the rums tasted here reviewed and on the site. It was on the basis of this tasting that I bought the entire line of Rum Nation which Andrew had, and I think it was a good buy.