G. Hardy (Tartane)

Today we have G. Hardy, from Plantation Tartane. The distillery on the half-island Caravelle was active until 1994. Today, their Rhum is produced at Saint James. While these are somewhat older bottlings, I have no clue whether they still come from the original distillery or not. I suspect that the first three bottlings date back…

Port Mourant 2008 (Part II)

The first session featuring the 2008 Port Mourant vintage gave us mixed feelings: The Rums weren’t there yet but they demonstrated signs of potential. While we still aren’t where I think these Rums should be age-wise, The Rum Cask released an interesting bottling that I wanted to taste for quite a while already. But we…

Zuidam Distillers

I’ve always had a weakness for windmills. There’s just something cool and aesthetic about them. In fact, we are building them for a living, it is just that we call them turbines these days, you know!? Anyway, Zuidam is a Dutch distillery that’s quite familiar to us, even though it is basically for their Genever…

Armagnac: Cutxan

Cutxan is a very small family-owned domaine that recently sold their entire stock to L’Encantada. Today we shall have a look at a pair from the 2006 vintage. L’Encantada Cutxan “Armagnac.de” 2006 15YO (51,2%): This has been bottled in 2022 and if I understand correctly, only a part of the barrel has been bottled. Nose:…

Monymusk from the 2000s

A bunch of Monymusks that have been distilled two decades ago. We managed to feature almost every possible vintage. Rum Artesanal Clarendon “EMB” 2009 12YO (64,3%): A “new” batch, with new meaning that it is the first Monymusk bottling of this vintage that I am aware of. By the way, EMB is probably our favorite…

Rums from the Lluidas Vale and Worthy Park

The Lluidas Vale is a synonym for one of Jamaica’s most “Secrete” distilleries. In fact, it is such a secret, that no-one to this date figured out what these banana-like Rums with the acronym WP really are. Dear distilleries, just stop this nonsense, please. You are not doing anyone a favour, neither the rumlovers, nor…

Did we just acquire some Bologne!?

There just aren’t many Bolognes so there’s not much to write about. But here’s a brand new pair, at least it is new to us. Bologne Élevé Sous Bois (42%): Admittedly, these basics aren’t the most exciting bottlings but they are always worth checking out. This one ought to be one or two years old….

Travellers Today

Travellers is a distillery that’s always on the edge of greatness if you ask me. Some bottlings could hold their ground between some of the best Guyana column still Rums while others seemingly fall apart between multi-column nonsense. That shows again how important cask management or the quality of a barrel is. By the way,…

Armagnac: Domaine de la Poste

100% Ugni Blanc with Darroze’s Domaine de la Poste, which very quickly made a name for itself, as far as I can tell/ my small bubble is concerned. Darroze Domaine de la Poste 1987 34YO (49%): Nose: Extremely floral with lavender, violets and other fragrant flowers. Then sweet peaches and other related stone fruits, juicy…

New Year – New Yarmouth

Yes, that title was stupid, but what shall we do!? S.B.S New Yarmouth “WK” (PX Sherry) 2020 2YO (58,3%): While we still do not know what WK stands for, it denotes the ultra high ester marque of New Yarmouth, with a registered ester range of 1500-1600 gr/hlaa. This one aged entirely in a former PX…

Not a Rum of the Year List 2022

2022 has been an incredibly tumultuous year for us and, for the first time in over five years (!), we’ve had to take not one, but two breaks from blogging. Instead of rambling about the reasons for it, giving you the “Best Rums of the Year” or reviewing the year of Rum (which can be…

Savanna: Wild Islands and other shenanigans

To take it right away, our 2021 Wild Island edition by Savanna is incomplete and we miss arguably its most exciting bottling, the Grand Arôme. Nevertheless, Savanna knows to deliver on essentially all playing grounds. Alas, let’s ride. How about some basics for a start!? Savanna 5YO (43%): A 5YO Rhum Traditionnel. Yes, it doesn’t…