The finest of spirits include rum. Distilled sugar cane offers an impressive range of styles, so we selected a lineup to study what rum has to offer.
Over two nights we had fifty people review and rate these fine drinks.
Havana Club Barrel Proof 45% Score 8.49 Came First.
NOSE: Smooth, cognac, orange, meths, ascetone, cloves, dark orange chocolate, burnt toffee, fudge, molassis, caramel, treacle, creaming soda, charred toast, powdery, leather, big.
PALATE: Hot, scotch, orange, oily pears, muscavado, burnt toffee, maple on porridge, pepper.
FINISH: Spice, mellow, savoury, alc, toffee, medium.
El Dorado 15 yo 40% Score 8.16 Came Second.
NOSE: Bananas, classic rum, brown sugar, Scotch, playdough, butterscotch, linseed, Xmas pudding, sultanas, mint, menthol, pistacio nuts, ironing, charr, caramel, plastic, new car solvents, plastic, luscious.
PALATE: Brown sugar, builds, nice feel, rich, burnt caramel, metals, chewey, wood, alcohol, anaesthetic kava, dark chocolate, good width
FINISH: Burnt orange, nice with beer, bourbony, sweet, then goes bitter chocolatey, spicey, toffee apple, very sweet, medium.
Santiago 11yo 40% Score 7.93 Came Third.
NOSE: Sweeter and dryer (!), less burn, baileys, caramel, chocolate, raisin, benedral, calvados, smooth, pear grappa, dried fruit, garamasala, port, madeira, cinnamon, cigarette, cardboard, dusty, packing cases, attic, young, meths, cake.
PALATE: Smooth, muscavado, cognac, pears, calvados, benedral, then goes savoury, heat at front, bitter note, still caramel.
FINISH: Mince Xmas pies, nutmeg, dried spices, grassy, bitter, coffee kahlua, mollassis, medium/long.
Appleton 12yo 43% Score 7.44 Came Fourth Equal (presented as the "mystery")
NOSE: Grassy, pine resin, over-ripe bananas, melted plastic, flax, squeeky toy, chemical, ascetone, linen, savoury note, coats, fruity, vanilla, rich, filing cabinet.
PALATE: Sparkle, woody, sweet, bright, solid, oily, alcohol heat, spice.
FINISH: Sweet pepper, honey, lemon peel, chalk, bitter note, perky nana, fizz, coffee, the oak lingers, cough syrup, medium length.
Mocambo Single Barrel #267 20yo 40% bottle 176/230 Score 7.44 Came Fourth Equal.
NOSE: Sultanas, sherry, toffee, cough syrup, spicy, burnt sugar, coffee, thick, creamy, cherry, salad dressing, sesame oil, balsamic, age, rich, gunpowder, leather, earthy, citrous wood, coffee, butter, vanilla cake mix.
PALATE: Light, wrapped in tin foil, musty, muscavado, cardboard, golden syrup, hot tongue, hay, bitter
FINISH: Brittle, toffee, over-extracted coffee, campfire, fruit cake, weird, hay, sherry, prickle, Medium/short.
Trinidad 12yo Green Label bottled by Cadenheads 46% Score 7.23 Came Sixth.
NOSE: Varnish, vanilla, banana, cough syrup, eucalyptus, menthol, apricot, cut grass, chocolate toffee, vinyl, charcoal, red cherry spangles, varnish, floral, hospital antiseptic, aniseed, burnt match, caramel.
PALATE: Tobacco, sweet, petrol, whisky, bourbon and cola, grassy, milk chocolate, warm
FINISH: Pepper, smoke ash, bitter oak, dries out, fruit, raisins, tequila, exhaust, wax, medium
Smoke & Oakum's Gunpowder Rum batch 68 51.3% Score 6.76 Came Seventh.
This is insane stuff. It completely divides opinion. Some people gave it 10 out of 10, some people could not cope with it at all!
NOSE: Fireworks, smoke, caramel, guy fawkes, tea, liquorice, jasmine, burnt hay, paprika, coffee, tomato cup'o'soup, plastic, chilli, tobacco, burnt, gunpowder
PALATE: Chilli sauce, rusty tail pipe, ash tray, shoe polish, chocolate, explosive tom thumb.
FINISH: Initially vanilla, port royal, hicory, dutch liquorice, cordite, the chilli rides the alcohol, longest ever finish.
Flor de Caña 21st Centenario 15yo bottle 109/269 40% Score 6.22 Came Eighth. Presented in a stunning ceramic bottle in velvet bag. On the first night we rated it a very fine 7.46, but on the second night only a 4.97! We wondered if the porosity of these bottles may sometimes allow some evaporation?
NOSE 1st NIGHT: Fish and chips, salt and balsamic, varnish, stale beer, ados F2, nutty bread, bitter grass.
PALATE 1st NIGHT: Charred fruit toast
FINISH 1st NIGHT: Hot spice, drying ginger, mmmm, chocolate, dentist's office, old vegemite, medium/long.
NOSE 2nd NIGHT: Lemon Jif, ammonia, windowlene, toasted fruitbread, maple, reduced sugar, meths, spray'n'wipe.
PALATE 2nd NIGHT: Vodka, spray'n'wipe.
FINISH 2nd NIGHT: Detergent, medium (too long)
Overall these rums had wonderful noses, and much was to be enjoyed in the palate too, there were considerable variations, and several suprises too.
RWS/DMM