Photo (c) Marco Freyr of Barrel Aged Mind
Rumaniacs Review # 092 | 0604
I want to take you back to 2011, when this rum came out. Even so short a time ago, indie bottlers were the exception not the rule, and the issuance of single cask bottlings was mostly (but not exclusively) the province of whisky makers like Cadenhead, Gordon & MacPhail or AD Rattray, or relatively new (or obscure) indies like Samaroli, Renegade and Rum Nation who themselves had had their start in the whisky world.
Of all the independents and rebottlers I’ve tried over the last ten years, A.D. Rattray holds a special place in my affections, largely because it was one of the first of the kind I managed to sample back when I was getting started (Rum Nation, Cadenhead and Renegade were others). Then, after trying their 1997 Caroni, 2003 Barbados and 2000 Panama rums, I didn’t find too many others and gradually they fell off my scope.
A.D.Rattray was a company established in 1868 by Andrew Dewar and William Rattray, and was originally an importer of olive oil and European spirits, which branched out into blending and storage of malt and grain whiskies. Their core mission – back when they were making a name for themselves with their rums — was to make unusual, exclusive, limited edition rums just like they had done with whiskies from around Scotland
To some extent, they – like many other whisky makers who dabbled in the occasional rum – retreated into a sort of obscurity in the last few years, with the indie big guns (like Velier, Rum Nation, the Compagnie, TCRL, Bristol Spirits, L’Esprit and others) grabbing market share with regular releases, rather than just the no-real-schedule, “Oh well, this cask looks ready” bottling once in a while
Colour – Straw
Strength – 46%
Nose – Shows a structural similarity to the EKTE No. 2 Monymusk (both come from copper pot stills as far as I’m aware), but lighter and sweeter and (of course) somewhat less intense. Dry. Glue. Wet cardboard. Sap. Herbals. Florals and cane juice. Creamy orange chocolate, bubble gum, peaches in syrup, minus the peaches. Wonder where the fruit and dunders in this thing wandered off to? Interesting in its diversion from the mainstream, but also…well, somewhat disappointing.
Palate – Light, dreamy, easy-going…ultimately uninspiring. ADR likes its 46% to a fault, but for this potential panoply, for what this could have been, it’s something of a let-down. Caramel, nougat and coffee, flambeed bananas, faint sugar water infused with lemon rind and brown sugar, brine, red olives. Overall, too thin to seriously appeal to the hardcore rum junkie, who would likely shrug, make some notes and move on. For more casual drinkers, this rum will score several points higher.
Finish – Short, light, easy. Some brine and nuttiness. Toffee and bonbons.
Thoughts – Sorry, but it seems somewhat of a waste of 25 years. A rum this old, with such potential, almost begs to be stronger. To geld it with 46% might actually be a crime in some jurisdictions. Okay, maybe that’s just me. Some like the lighter version of popular Jamaican marks. That’s fine, since it certainly would make them more accessible, and to be sure, I was impressed by the age and the tastes I did sense. However, I was less taken with the overall profile which never quite gelled into something more serious. It gets the score it does because it really is that good… I just think it should have been better. Actually, in spite of its already impressive age, I think it was bottled too early – another five years, when true cask strength rums were becoming the rule not the exception, they could have bottled a 30 YO at 55% and cleaned up.
(85/100)
Other Notes
- January 2026 Video Review
- Marco Freyr felt it to be a pot still distillate in his 2016 review, but no hard information is available.
- 295-bottle outturn
- Distilled June 1986 bottled September 2011; continentally aged. 295 bootles.
- Other Monymusks I’ve tried are: