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Dwelling
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| Hello, that is certainly one of our (virtually) day by day tastings. Santé! |
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January 12, 2025
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A phrase of warning
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are accomplished from the viewpoint of a malt whisky fanatic who, what’s extra, is aboslutely not an skilled in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or some other spirits. Thanks – and peace! |
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An avalanche of white rums
to deliver the sunshine in
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| Distillerie Bologne, Basse Terre, La Guaddeloupe (Rhum Bologne) |
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We not often get the possibility to style white rums, and to be sincere, they’re not solely at house on Whiskyfun (and don’t get me began on the variety of ‘joven’ tequilas and mezcals we nonetheless must attempt). However for me, white rum, very similar to a spritz, can be an emblem of summer time. So, within the northern hemisphere, January looks as if the proper time to pattern somewhat wheelbarrow-load of them. Our aim: round fifteen or twenty, particularly because it’s sensible to have the ability to discover the DNA of those distillates and examine them extra successfully, one thing you can’t actually do with malt whisky. Thoughts you, we received’t be tasting all of those in a single go, however the whole lot will likely be revealed beneath in a single batch. And I ought to add that we don’t really feel assured sufficient to assign scores with pinpoint accuracy, all the way down to a single level. Good luck to us, and good luck to you…
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Black Stripe (40%, OB, Canada, +/-2020) 
The bottle is sort of intimidating, although it’s value noting that is blended by Forty Creek. One can’t have all of it, can they? Color: white. Nostril: howdy? Properly, there’s a contact of cane juice, hints of bamboo shoots, a drizzle of sugar syrup, and a mere drop of pineapple liqueur. Hardly the form of profile one may recall the following morning. Mouth: it’s tremendous, let’s transfer on swiftly. A little bit of earthy cane, a faint suggestion of artichoke, and sweetness with out precise sugary weight, for those who observe. End: nearly non-existent. A faint observe of lime. Feedback: not dreadful, however relatively weak for a malt fanatic’s palate.
SGP:330 – 60 to 69 factors. |
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La Favourite ‘Cœur de Canne’ (50%, OB, La Martinique, agricole, +/-2023) 
This ‘Cœur de Canne’ (Coronary heart of Cane) can be accessible at different strengths, reminiscent of 55%. Color: white. Nostril: ah sure, fermented cane, olives, capers, lime, parsley, Thai basil, beet syrup (and cane syrup, naturally). Mouth: a contact candy however in any other case superb, vibrant, and completely pleasing even with out water or ice, with a beautiful earthy character. Contemporary carrots, lychee, hints of roses. End: lengthy, clear, and aromatic. Feedback: fairly light for an agricole, but nonetheless very charming.
SGP:441 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Taragawa (40%, OB, Japan, +/-2023) 
Made by sake makers in Okinawa, utilizing shochu stills (metal). Color: white. Nostril: ultra-soft, virtually like rose water blended with lychee syrup. Mouth: strikes nearer to the world of rum. Pretty fermentary notes, with rice and chocolate, roses, violets, and papayas. End: good size, with a pleasing acidic construction past the floral and lychee parts. Pink grapefruit. Feedback: attention-grabbing and weird, I relatively prefer it.
SGP:730 – 75 to 80 factors. |
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Aguardiente de Cana (46.9%, OB, El Destilado, Mexico, +/-2020) 
That is from Oaxaca, although it’s not mezcal. Color: white. Nostril: nicely, it will not be mezcal, nevertheless it actually smells prefer it, with simply the right combination of olives and charcoal. Small pickled lemons, pickled onions… Mouth: frankly, it tastes like mezcal. It’s wonderful, nonetheless filled with olives and smoked lemons, together with earthy tones and a touch of petrol. Loopy stuff. End: lengthy, smoky, earthy. Feedback: I’m unsure they nonetheless produce this, at the least that’s what I collect from the TWE web site. The world’s gone mad if we lose top-quality spirits like this whereas persevering with to churn out oceans of ghastly, sugar-laden gut-rot. Proper, let’s take a deep breath…
SGP:372 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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Duppy Share White (40%, OB, Jamaica, +/-2024)
The bottle could be very fairly. We had tried an aged model earlier than, which wasn’t unhealthy in any respect. Thoughts you, that is Jamaican! Color: white. Nostril: hey, that is pretty! Tremendous-ripe mirabelles, raspberry syrup, blackcurrant juice, and prickly pear. No Jamaican funk at this stage, however who cares. Mouth: oh sure, hints of varnish, fermented fruits, and olive oil, adopted by touches of liquorice and even tar. End: not very lengthy, however the flambéed banana observe is excellent. Feedback: this deserves greater than 40% ABV; it could be sensible at 50%.
SGP:561 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Neisson ‘Clos Godinot’ (52.5%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2023)
One among, if not the very first parcellaire white rum from Neisson. Color: white. Nostril: geranium and jasmine, white peaches, longans. With water: contemporary concrete, engine oil, tropical greenhouse. Mouth (neat): barely scorching, earthy, and loaded with fermented fruits. It wants water. With water: a beautiful saline contact, hints of tarragon and sage, with a fermentary bitterness. End: lengthy, this time with extraordinarily, extraordinarily ripe bananas. Feedback: loads of motion on this Neisson blanc.
SGP:462 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Renegade ‘All-Island Cuvée Aura’ (46%, OB, Grenada, 2024) 
A lot emotion right here, because the distillery has closed. Folks positively favor sugary garbage and that’s why main alcohol corporations favor to put money into manufacturers of faux rum with made-up tales whereas being loaded with components. As Coluche used to say, “To calculate the IQ of a crowd, you are taking the IQ of the dumbest particular person and divide it by the variety of members.”Alright, let’s take it simple, in any case, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Color: white. Nostril: a shocking distillate, saline, tarry, oily, and chic. Tiny pink olives and an attractive manzanilla en rama. Mouth: exceptionally saline and oily, adopted by ripe mangoes and black cherry juice. Magnificent. End: lengthy, with extra citrus and spice. An outstanding saline aftertaste with olives. Feedback: what a distillate! As a white rum, that is simply on this planet’s high ten and even 5, in my view. After the beautiful Neisson, this confirms it.
SGP:462 – 90 factors. |
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Replace: there are some really unimaginable coincidences — we had simply completed wrapping up and modifying this session when the information of a possible refinanced restart of Renegade reached us!!!
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Bielle Blanc (59%, OB, Marie-Galante, agricole, +/-2023)
Color: white. Nostril: closed and easy at 59%, which isn’t actually ‘Bielle’. Sugar syrup (eh?). With water: no improvement, which could be very stunning. Mouth (neat): varnish and cane, however once more, it’s too scorching. This should be made for ti-punches. With water: higher, however a bit messy and poorly outlined. It struggles after the Renegade. End: identical. Feedback: I don’t fairly perceive this. Bielle, in concept, is high 5 as nicely—I’m positive of it. Should be me, I might need accomplished one thing mistaken, I completely cherished this one 5 years in the past. I will attempt once more with one other batch.
SGP:441 – 75 to 80 factors. |
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Domaine de Bellevue ‘Rhum Blanc Bio’ (59%, OB, Marie-Galante, agricole, +/-2023)
It is a single-parcel rum from Marie-Galante, although it carries the Guadeloupe GI, as administratively, Marie-Galante is a part of Guadeloupe. We’ve already tasted some nice Bellevues. In keeping with the house owners, ‘the Bellevue distillery is the one eco-positive distillery on this planet’, although I’ve seen ‘carbon-positive’ rums earlier than. To be verified… In any case, this rum comes from the brand new Bellevue distillery, in-built 2001 proper subsequent to the outdated one. They personal 62ha of sugarcane. Color: white. Nostril: pretty light at first, barely earthy with notes of ripe pear, hearts of palm maybe, and contemporary blackcurrants… In any case, it’s very delicate to date. With water: little improvement, a contact of paraffin. Very discreet, which is stunning. Mouth (neat): very {powerful}, very grassy, fairly bitter, with bagasse and hay. Water is actually needed right here. With water: once more, it’s discreet, however relatively elegant, with inexperienced berries. It then good points complexity with notes of olives and a contact of seawater bringing a light-weight ‘funk’. Rather more to my style now. End: of medium size, fairly grassy and salty. The little olives stay, as does a touch of vanilla. Feedback: it wanted fairly a little bit of water and a few endurance, nevertheless it labored out very nicely ultimately, phew.
SGP:461 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Longueteau ‘Memento L’Intemporel’ (62%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, 2024) 
A mix of roughly one-third blue cane and two-thirds purple cane right here. Like many tremendous white rums, it’s matured for a number of months in vats earlier than bottling. I’m very keen on the less complicated Longueteau blanc at 50% ABV (WF 88). Color: white. Nostril: a particular nostril, beginning with greens and fish (sardines in olive oil), seaweed, and seaside sand… It virtually appears like standing earlier than a ‘low marque’ Jamaican. Naturally, we love this, even at 62%. With water: hints of carbon, exhaust fumes… (in rum, that’s interesting; in actual life, not a lot) adopted by orange blossom. Mouth (neat): sensible, with lime, inexperienced pepper, olives, and seawater. That is daring! With water: the cane reigns supreme, elevated by the identical very saline flavours. End: lengthy, exact, even refreshing. Feedback: I’m unsure all of that is ‘timeless’, nevertheless it actually evokes the fashion of a fantastic white mezcal, as an example.
SGP:462 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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Amrut 2022 (62.8%, Habitation Velier, India, pure sugarcane juice, 2023)
Comprised of cane harvested simply close to the distillery and distilled within the pot stills used for Amrut’s famed malt whiskies. Color: white. Nostril: pleasant! Extra tarmac than in all of the others, with contemporary rubber, zucchini, dried mushrooms, seawater, and whelks… Very stunning. With water: a contact brisker, extra maritime, and even a bit chalky. Have they got all these aromas ‘close to the distillery’? Mouth (neat): oh sure! Attractive ‘funky’ mangos alongside luggage upon luggage of Williams pears, which is solely sudden. With water: sensible—cakey, honeyed, and salty. End: lengthy and tight, with a touch of varnish. The pears stay within the aftertaste, together with a return of tar. Feedback: a pleasant shock.
SGP:552 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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Montebello 2019/2022 ‘Canne Rouge’ (52%, Barikenn, Guadeloupe, 551 bottles)
Color: white. Nostril: tender and fruity, with pears and plums, papayas and bananas, plus tender honey and contemporary cane juice with a faint chalky contact. With water: cement, plaster, limestone, and rainwater. Mouth (neat): earthy, with fermented fruits and saline notes… With water: it’s the earthy aspect that actually stands out. Somewhat dry in profile, which is precisely what we like. A drop of mustard. End: lengthy, mineral, and wealthy. Shares traits with a tremendous fino sherry from Jerez. Inexperienced pears. Feedback: this little Montebello is a real champion swimmer.
SGP:562 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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Wait, we have to reassure ourselves in regards to the Bielle blancs… (We’re already completely satisfied by the aged ones, I insist).
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Bielle 2023 (58%, Swell de Spirits, Marie-Galante, On Tour Collection, for Limoges Spirits Pageant 2024, 250 bottles)
We’ve obtained some pretty pals in Limoges. Color: white. Nostril: coconut, mercurochrome, and peach syrup. I’m positive water will work wonders. With water: the pears take management as soon as once more. Delicate touches of first rain, although it stays discreet. Mouth (neat): wealthy and oily, with lemon, pear, cane juice, and a touch of brine. With water: cane juice, agave juice, and pear juice—very light. End: of medium size, tender, and virtually folded onto apples. Feedback: these contemporary Bielles strike me as surprisingly light, however this one remains to be vastly superior to the official ‘59’.
SGP:551 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Bologne ‘La Batterie’ (58.6%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, canne noire, 3,000 bottles, Version 2020)
Black cane is alleged to be a really fragrant selection, albeit low-yielding. It is a single-plot cuvée from the parcel ‘La Batterie’, because the identify suggests. Sadly, we haven’t tasted a lot Rhum Bologne to date. Color: white. Nostril: loads of freshness but in addition sweetness, with orange blossom past contemporary cane, adopted by fennel and dill, clementine peel, Sichuan pepper, and a faintly brioche-like observe. Very fairly and chic, although not precisely ‘light’. With water: a contact of seawater and a small olive full the profile. Mouth (neat): tender however superbly lemony, with zest, pink pepper, and fennel. It’s a bit scorching at 58.6%, although nothing out of the odd. With water: delicate earthy touches, jasmine tea, citrus peels, saline notes, liquorice, and pepper. End: actually lengthy, with citrus, pepper, and a tiny pinch of wasabi. A touch of coconut lingers within the aftertaste. Feedback: at no level did I really feel the necessity to add ice cubes—nicely accomplished, Guadeloupe.
SGP:551 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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Jamaican Blended Rum (58%, Swell de Spirits, excessive ester, On Tour Collection, for Rhum Fest Paris 2024 10 years, 200 bottles)
Color: white. Nostril: after all. Mouth: naturally. End: clearly. Feedback: pure Jamaica, with tar, olives, antiseptic, paint, petrol, seawater, acetone, and all types of various solvents, plus that little masochistic contact that Jamaican rums (other than Appleton) at all times compel us to embrace. And we do, virtually with disgrace. A high-definition white rum, distinctive.
SGP:463 – 90 factors. |
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Unaged Heritage Mix (56%, Tamosi, Jamaican and Guyana, +/-2024)
From what I perceive, that is Hampden + Port Mourant + Uitvlugt. As blends go, you can do a lot worse. Color: white. Nostril: an acetic aspect, very charming, with touches of ammonia and parmesan, adopted by olive brine, seawater, and fermented fruits (bananas, pineapples). With water: carbon paper and linoleum. Mouth (neat): fairly frankly, the Jamaican dominates. Tar, olives, pickled objects, carbon, and all that. With water: including a good quantity of water proves attention-grabbing, because it brings out the mix’s elements past Hampden’s dominance. Sardines in olive oil, salted anchovies, black olives, and fermented cassava (bitter cassava starch) … End: comparable, very briny. Feedback: all in all, it is a Navy Mix for extremely superior British officers.
SGP:562 – 88 factors. |
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Ghana ‘Unaged’ (65%, FRC, 320 bottles, 2024)
We’ve forgotten the identify of this distillery in Ghana, however we all know, having tasted it as soon as earlier than (whoof), that it’s superb. What a ineffective blogger (a uncommon second of lucidity, S.). Color: white. Nostril: it’s a bit robust (no kidding Erwin), however there are pretty notes of apples and bananas. With water: the solvents and acetone come via—like a medical cupboard. Mouth (neat): varnish, petrol, coconut milk, and apple eau-de-vie, together with huge doses of ethanol. With water: ah sure, right here come the olives, tar, lemon, pine needles, iodine tincture, and oysters… End: lengthy, very saline, and very coastal. Seaweed and seawater. Feedback: Ghana is by the ocean, isn’t it? Undecided if this distillery is in Accra, however that might make sense. In any case, nicely accomplished, FRC!
SGP:562 – 85 to 90 factors. |
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White Pearls ‘Rhum Blanc’ (48%, Vagabond Spirit, Réunion, 2024)
Rum from Savanna, it appears, with a passage in amphora. We’ve at all times been supportive of ageing in amphora/concrete/glass/stoneware, however it seems that authorities typically favor oak or different wooden, which makes one suspect that these authorities are seemingly influenced by the agroforestry trade. Simply joking. Color: white. Nostril: simple, mild, and candy, with honeysuckle, apple, delicate lemon, plums, and contemporary cane juice… This isn’t a grand fragrant profile nevertheless it’s very nice. Mouth: good, simple, with notes of fermented apples, younger calvados, grappa, umeshu, and pear cider… End: medium size, barely acidic, with a curiously mild however refined physique. It’s near the cane. Feedback: tremendous and delicate.
SGP:541 – 80 to 85 factors. |
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Los Convidados 2023 ‘Satvrnal’ (64%, Swell de Spirits, Mexico, 1,000 bottles)
Properly, we don’t actually know what that is, so let’s see. In any case, the oldsters at Swell de Spirits are clearly having enjoyable, and rightly so, for those who ask me. Color: white. Nostril: it appears a bit deadly, however we get pleasure from these whiffs of gunpowder, black olives, smoked bacon, contemporary IKEA plywood, and moped exhaust fumes… (I’m pondering of the Gitane Testi Grand Prix 50cc from 1975). With water: by Zeus, we’re in Jamaica. Mouth (neat): completely explosive. Salmiak and heather maceration, common glue, and concentrated lemon juice with chook’s eye chili. To be sincere, it stings your tongue fairly a bit. With water: loopy, admirable, acetic, spicy, salty, and… pretty floral. There’s mullein syrup, as an example. End: very lengthy, mineral, and salty, with lupins in brine. Feedback: what an journey for a white rum. I find it irresistible, and so must you, if I could say so.
SGP:572 – 90 factors. |
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Final one, let’s grasp on…
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South Pacific Distillery 2017/2018 (83%, L’Esprit, Fiji, third version, 258 bottles)
It appears that is what Fiji’s omnipotent rugby staff makes their opponents drink earlier than matches. Have you ever seen the ABV? We could survive? And who will care for Whiskyfun’s mousers if one thing occurs? Color: white. Nostril: it’s petrol blended with medicinal alcohol. I really feel we should always have notified our insurer earlier than making an attempt this ‘factor’. The worst half is, it’s really pretty—so long as you retain your glass at the least two metres out of your nostril and guarantee no open flames are close by. Olives, anchovies, and sharp inexperienced apples. With water: smoked bacon and fish, plus small thick-skinned lemons with ultra-acidic juice. Or finger limes. Mouth (neat): it obliterates your total airway, however you may inform it’s good. Hyper-concentrated olives and solvents. With water: completely unimaginable. A large mixture of pepper, tar, glue, and lemon so intense even the C.I.A. would lodge a criticism. End: neglect it—you may’t struggle this, even armed with two litres of Vittel (or Gleneagles, Highland Spring, Miller Mild and many others.). Feedback: did we dream this? Did a comparatively discreet French unbiased bottler really launch a ‘very excessive ester’ rum at 83% ABV, the equal of John Bonham in Achilles Final Stand?
SGP:384 – 90 factors. |
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Properly, I feel this concept of sampling a very good variety of ‘whites’ has run its course. It’s attention-grabbing to notice, at the least from my humble perspective as a mere fanatic, that the hierarchy of ‘aged’ rums doesn’t essentially align in the case of the whites from the identical distilleries or manufacturers. We’re planning one other tasting of fully loopy white rums round July 2028, if that fits you (we’ve nonetheless obtained fairly a couple of ready). Oh and nice information concerning Renegade!
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 Examine the index of all rums we have tasted to date
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