The folks behind The Colors of Rum lately sampled a non-public bottle of a really previous rum. It comes from the Daniel Lawrence distillery in Medford, the longest surviving distillery of the area, till it closed down in 1905. It seems that M.E. Bellows & Son was their agent in New York on the time. It was in all probability bottled within the Eighteen Eighties or Eighteen Nineties, I’ve seen a really related bottle of Scotch whisky from the identical importer bottled in 1890.
The Daniel Lawrence Distillery was identified for its fashion of New England rum. This lovel American rum was usually thought-about to be low cost and inferior to imported West Indies rum. Nevertheless Medford rum was marketed as “the perfect rum within the States” .
Superb Previous Medford Rum 1876 (M.E. Bellows’ & Son, +/- 1890)
Nostril: pretty spherical. I imply, nothing tells us that is virtually 150 years previous. Plenty of molasses darkness, wih baking spice, hints of pipe tobacco and caramelized nuts. Then very previous leather-based and a touch of library mud. Additionally stewed plums and thyme syrup, in addition to gentle espresso sweet.
Mouth: numerous caramel now, with loads of espresso liqueur, caramel sweet and the well-known Belgian Caramella Mokatine. Extra thyme syrup and molasses, with some candy mint and hints of spiced rum. Additionally natural honey, a bit of vanilla, black cherry jam and hints of chocolate. A bit like an artisan model of Rumbullion at occasions.
End: fairly brief and really gentle, with extra sweetness, loads of raisins and only a trace of baking spice, leaving a bittersweet notice.
A very candy rum, which isn’t stunning contemplating the period. Like different drinks, it was merely quite common so as to add sweetness throughout maturation or bottling. By at this time’s requirements that makes it much less fascinating, though I’ve to confess candy drinks additionally appear to outlive bottle ageing higher. The refined natural notes provides some welcome depth and the tip result’s properly balanced.
So there, a completely priceless expertise in itself, despite the fact that it’s in all probability additionally an instance of how a lot rum manufacturing strategies have improved. Many because of Maciej. We gained’t give it a rating – it’s not like we’ll discover one other bottle, proper?
(There’s no clear picture of the bottle so I needed to improvise a bit of, sorry)
