The 1998 Port Mourants were one heck of a batch and a prime example of what Uitvlugt was still capable of producing towards the end of its Dasein. It is too bad we didn’t get that many expressions of the vintage but we managed to find a very nice pair of Rums for today’s session.

Rum Nation SBRR Port Mourant “Hong Kong Exclusive” 1998 18YO (57,8%): 1998 is probably my favorite Port Mourant batch from the 1990s. What’s worth mentioning is that this matured in a second-fill Sherry cask and as you may know, we adore the combination of Port Mourant and Sherry. Nose: Very rich and intense with stone fruits (apricot, plums), mixed fruit jam, quite some wood and wood varnish, burnt sugar, molasses, quite some fruits such as pepper, anise or fennel seeds, Rum-soaked raisins, more esters than with your average Port Mourant, probably some glue as well as minimally grassy notes. This is very, very good and reminds me of some of the legendary Port Mourants of the 1970s. The major difference is the discrepancy in age and maturity I think. Palate: Quite creamy, almost syrupy, but in a sense also a bit thinner than expected. We get raspberries, plums, dried dates and figs, leather (you really start noticing the Sherry cask more and more), high quality black tea, a few herbs here and there (thyme and oregano), increasingly more wood and even a few tannic notes. This stuff is definitely right up my alley. Later tobacco leafs, Szechuan pepper, strawberries as well as more oregano. Finish: Long and memorable with the sweetness of the Sherry cask (sweet fruits, sugar) and the spicyness of the distillate. It is a match made in heaven and Rum Nation definitely managed to find the perfect balance between both camps. It is an absolute beauty of a Rum that shows you why a full maturation in a refill Sherry cask is so much better than those rather gimmicky Sherry finishes. (93/100)

Tamosi “Karaya” Port Mourant 1998 22YO (61,1%): The bottler is Levy Lane and Karaya means moon, according to the back label, which has a nice story that’s too long to repeat here. Nose: Port Mourant as it is supposed to be. We get a rich and complex mix of licorice, anise, different sorts of tea, soft yet bitter vanilla, dry and wet wood alike, more spices such as pepper or fennel seeds as well as brown autumn leaves. There’s basically nothing fruity about the nose though. Palate: The integration of the alcohol is second to none and the creamy texture is almost unheard of. Flavourwise, we get bitter oranges, different sorts of wood, anise, fennel seeds and caraway, a few roasting aromas that cannot be pinned down precisely and… well, this is where this Rum kinda stops. The complexity of the nose cannot be matched by the palate and all in all we fall short in quite a few regards. That doesn’t really take anything away from this lovely fella however. Finish: Long with pears, vanilla, oak, oregano and old tobacco. Given how few of these 1998s we got so far I have to ask: Where is the freaking rest!? This is excellent! (88/100)

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