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| Hello, that is considered one of our (virtually) every day tastings. Santé! |
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Could 11, 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 perspective of a malt whisky fanatic who, what’s extra, is aboslutely not an skilled in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or every other spirits. Thanks – and peace! |
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Rums, all the time extra rums…
Rums from around the globe.
(Mhoba)
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El Supremo 8 yo (40%, OB, Paraguay, +/-2024) 
From Paraguay we largely know the Fortin rums, that are frankly very first rate and never filled with sugar like lots of their neighbours in South America. However we didn’t know ‘El Supremo’… Color: deep gold. Nostril: nicely certainly, this isn’t half unhealthy, very dry, considerably within the fashion of the rums from Madeira, oddly sufficient. Because it occurs, there are notes of dry Madeira wine, a bit of potting soil, inexperienced walnut, a contact of horseradish, hints of fennel… Mouth: sure, that is very good, it hasn’t been sugared up, it’s dry, with inexperienced spices, chervil, caraway, dill, a bit of oregano, inexperienced walnut once more… Properly, we’re fairly taken with this surprising little El Supremo. End: pretty lengthy, salty, mustardy, dry. Feedback: it actually is sort of near the agricoles from Madeira. Was Paraguay conquered by the Portuguese? Properly certainly, upon checking, the Spanish did cede a part of Paraguay to the Portuguese in 1750. From there to claiming their affect lingers on this very fairly rum…
SGP:461 – 80 factors. |
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Mhoba ‘Choose Reserve’ (48%, OB for Navigate World Whisky, South Africa, Bourbon cask, batch #2023B02, 300 bottles, +/-2023) 
Pure cane juice. We’ve already tasted some wonderful Mhobas. Color: gold. Nostril: essentially the most ‘ester-forward’ of the pure cane juice rums in our view, it smells of latest plastic, seawater and petrol fumes, and we completely find it irresistible. If you happen to add olives, ink and lime juice, you’ve acquired a reasonably full image. Mouth: however who had the sensible thought to combine banana juice, brine and bone-dry white wine with salted liquorice? The salinity is fairly immense. End: lengthy, much more on glue, but additionally pears, garlic and tapenade. Mashed olives and anchovies. Feedback: shocked, no, delighted, completely.
SGP:462 – 89 factors. |
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This session actually acquired off to an excellent begin…
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La Mauny ‘VSOP’ (40%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2024)
A model from Campari’s racing group. Typically, they’re pretty easy-going, with out a lot in the way in which of a marked presence. Color: gold. Nostril: sure, it’s mild, it whispers, however the profile is nice, earthy and near the cane, with touches of anise and gillyflower, then chalky notes and a bit of manuka honey. It’s mild however unmistakably agricole. Mouth: it’s good, with liquorice and honey biscuits in addition to gingerbread, one simply needs for a couple of extra watts on this beautiful little rum that provides Christmassy notes. I do know, it’s Could. End: medium size, good, saline, lemony, liquorice-led. A barely earthy aftertaste, which we get pleasure from. Feedback: this actually is a stunning drop, a couple of further levels can be welcome, even when the development appears to favour ‘mild’ as soon as extra among the many basic public.
SGP:541 – 81 factors. |
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Vieux Sajous 5 yo 2019/2024 (58.3%, La Maison & Velier, clairin, Haiti)
This one from pure cane juice from the ‘Grand Terroir’ of Saint-Michel de l’Attalaye, distilled at Distillerie Chelo. We cherished the 2017 (WF 89). Color: gold. Nostril: magnificently salty and vinegary, ultra-fermentary, filled with glue, olives and pickles in brine. Superb. With water: amusing touches of strawberry eau-de-vie, which is fairly uncommon, then it unfurls over tarragon and olives. Mouth (neat): unbelievable assault of lime, petrol, inexperienced olives and polish. With water: very creamy, very salty, with a thunderous arrival of salted liquorice from the northern lands—the place they put in additional salt than liquorice, ha. End: similar. It’s wonderful for fairly some time. Feedback: it’s fairly amusing to notice how nicely this younger clairin and Mhoba appear to grasp one another—thoughts you, it’s a full 12,000 kilometres because the crow flies between the 2 nations.
SGP:563 – 89 factors. |
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Outdated Navy Rum ‘2024 version’ (57%, Silver Seal, 1430 bottles)
With, on the label, a really outdated map of the… Gulf of Mexico. This one shelters rums from Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados. I believe everyone knows which one will lead the cost, don’t we. Color: gold. Nostril: certainly, the esters are taking the lead, however there’s nonetheless a form of stability, with tar, fudge, marrons glacés and a bit of varnish. With water: the water does it a world of excellent, bringing out honey and fudge with out erasing the hydrocarbons. There’s a reasonably clear Foursquare aspect. Mouth (neat): dominated by petrol, glue and olives, however you too can really feel the Barbadian softness, with hints of roasted bananas and maple syrup. With water: stewed fruits, mangoes, papayas, even a little bit of grenadine syrup with pink pepper. End: pretty lengthy, balanced, leaning in the direction of the sweetness of cane sugar, if not orange bonbons. Feedback: in the long run, the esters performed a little bit of hide-and-seek with the rounder, fruitier aspect, which makes for a really entertaining glass. An outstanding mix!
SGP:652 – 88 factors. |
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TDL 14 yo 2009/2024 (51.3%, Valinch & Mallet, The Spirit of Artwork, Trinidad, 330 bottles) 
There are several types of TDL, so let’s see what we’ve acquired… It reminds us that it’s been ages since we final tasted a rum formally labelled ‘Angostura’. Color: gold. Nostril: this can be a tender model, neither high-ester nor a fruit bomb, extra on bagasse, tender honey and apple and pear peelings for the second. With water: not a lot growth, it’s a really mild TDL. Very faint earthiness. Mouth (neat): nougat, brioche, cane syrup, natural teas, tinned pineapple… With water: nicely now, it feels a bit like a column-heavy Foursquare. Sugar syrup, orangecello (all proper, arancello), white nougat… End: medium size, candy, mild, heading in the direction of syrupy. Feedback: completely middling, should you catch my drift. No esters and no marked fruitiness, but it surely’s superb, little question about that.
SGP:640 – 83 factors. |
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Foursquare 17 yo 2006/2024 (56.8%, Valinch & Mallet, The Spirit of Artwork, Barbados, cask #103, 200 bottles) 
Color: deep gold. Nostril: oh! At first it appears there’s extra pot nonetheless than the same old 15–20–25% (relying on hearsay), but it surely shortly shifts again to banana liqueur, oddly fruity potting soil, and nail varnish. With water: touches of lanolin, orange peel (very Foursquare), geranium (very Foursquare), banana pores and skin (very Foursquare) … Mouth (neat): beautiful pot nonetheless presence, pepper, cinnamon, bitter orange, varnish, berry eau-de-vie, caraway and even mustard… With water: now it’s excellent. Or methods to craft an agricole-style profile with out being 100% contemporary cane juice, nor 100% Creole column. End: similar once more. Pretty fruity and natural freshness. Feedback: we haven’t saved up with the official releases in a while, however this very intelligent indie (no matter which means) offers us nice pleasure.
SGP:651 – 90 factors. |
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How about ending off with two Worthy Parks?
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Worthy Park 6 yo 2017/2023 (54%, OB, Unique to The Whisky Trade, Jamaica, bourbon cask)
Younger pure pot nonetheless from Jamaica, and it seems like this one’s going to go down very nicely. Color: gold. Nostril: neglect it, that is simply ultra-precise—certainly, I imagine WP is essentially the most exact of all Jamaican rums. Banana and papaya juice, each ultra-ripe, all smoked then blended with tar liqueur and Mediterranean seawater. There you go. With water: carbon, bike exhaust, rubber bands. Mouth (neat): curious and wonderful. A great deal of lemon, camphor, pure rubber, and all the time litres of Mediterranean seawater—the place it’s at its saltiest, off the west coast of Sicily (in line with our pals in western Sicily, ha). With water: excellent juice, not sophisticated however as sharp as a Japanese sabre. Excellent lemons of each breed and origin. End: lengthy and curiously very contemporary. Liquorice allsorts and little pink olives within the aftertaste. Feedback: how we do love these sharply chiselled Jamaicans!
SGP:463 – 90 factors. |
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Worthy Park 2006 (57.6%, Rum of the World, Kirsch Import & Eye for Spirits, Jamaica, cask #WP06WP35, +/-2020)
Costs actually have settled, €65 now for a bottle like this, bottled a couple of years again—certainly a cut price. Color: deep gold. Nostril: fairly totally different, softer, even simpler, although much less exact. Flambéed banana and toasted sesame oil rule the second. With water: oh, that is beautiful, there’s suntan lotion, shea butter, seawater and castor oil. Mouth (neat): it’s acquired all of the WP kick, and in reality I actually like this straightforward, peppery, gluey palate. Superb. With water: oh sure, that is actually wonderful, tender but highly effective, salty, toasted, with a playful ‘Ikea’ tendency. End: lengthy, ever salty, veering increasingly in the direction of liquorice. Salted liquorice, in fact. Chlorophyll chewing gum within the aftertaste—nicely now, that’s enjoyable. Feedback: very fairly WP, filled with twists and turns.
SGP:463 – 88 factors. |
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Proper, one final one – although I’ve truthfully no thought if it makes any sense in any respect…
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Hampden 2023/2024 ‘C<>H’ (64.1%, LMDW Foundations, Jamaica, ex-peated whisky cask, cask #775, 285 bottles)
This marque means roughly 1.4kg esters per HLPA, and on high of that they’ve discovered a manner so as to add peat through an ex-Laphroaig cask, and although it’s only one 12 months outdated, they’ve additionally managed to stay the considerably superfluous assertion ‘Absolutely matured at Hampden Property’ on the label (simply joking). Proper. Color: white wine. Nostril: the Laphroaig has nothing to say right here—they could as nicely have used a Glenkinchie or Auchentoshan cask, should you ask me. Briefly, that is pure Hampden on the nostril: glue, brine, juniper, carbon and ink (let’s say purple ink, old skool fashion). With water: in come roots, gherkins, and a hard-to-pin-down sweet-and-sour aspect. Additionally a whiff of shellfish that’s seen higher days. Mouth (neat): pure Hampden, superb. Solvents, roots, charcoal, and certainly, a peaty ingredient beginning to emerge. Reality be advised, at this level the dram gives the look of parachuting with out having remembered to put on the parachute. With water: the peat kicks in, and it will get powerful, because the ash and tar parts begin escalating exponentially. I’ll have to name my insurance coverage firm. End: very lengthy, although the fragrant stability begins to stumble a bit of. Every little thing piles up and turns into barely… wobbly. Feedback: subsequent time, why not chuck in a bit of mezcal when you’re at it, for a near-nuclear mix. In any case, it’s very humorous, that’s for positive. I’d additionally add that the medicinal edge from Laphroaig may be a little bit of a handicap—we imagine Hampden’s extra of an Ardbeg sort of factor, as we’ve in all probability already written 45,342,725,434,812 instances. In any case, glad to have come throughout a Hampden that didn’t instantly blow us away, it makes a change, and it’s good for our fragile ego.
SGP:375 – 83 factors. |
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Nothing – completely nothing else – may probably be loved after this astonishing little monster. CU.
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 Test the index of all rums we have tasted up to now
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