The initial plan was to review pairs of all available vintages from the 1990s but I’ve quickly dismissed that thought as that would have been way too much for a single post. Alas, let’s just have just a few of them, shall we!? And 1999 seems to be the perfect start!

The Colours of Rum Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) 1999 21YO (52,6%): Nose: This feels familiar and we are immediately set back to other bottlings of the 1999 batch. Wet, maritime and salty wood meets pepper, anise, a hint of brine and herbs – this is the quintessential “modern” Port Mourant profile if you ask me. Perhaps an oyster and citrus here and there. So far, so good. Palate: At less than 53%, this tastes intense and creamy. What I notice right away is the Rum’s massive complexity, as we are getting different notes every split second. Here I get citrus, there oak and brine, now passion fruit (!), next different kinds of herbs, salty yet sweet licorice and anise. This one is a real chameleon. Great, great stuff, and one of the rare occasions where the palate really outshines the nose. Finish: Long, longer, this Rum. The rollercoaster of the palate continues and while certain notes such as citrus, anise, oak and something salty are omnipresent, the nuances come and go. A great barrel! (88/100)

Rum Nation SBRR Port Mourant 1999 21YO (58%): This one spent the last five years of its life in a former Sherry cask. Nose: Right away, at least in the nose, the Sherry isn’t the first thing I am thinking of. Instead, we get those very same salty and woody notes (think a wooden ship sailing through a fresh sea breeze) that are oh so typical for this batch. It takes a while until we get a mix of dried fruits and leathery notes, but I am not getting anything nutty here. In that sense, it is closer to a Port finish if you want. However, and I really like this, the Port Mourant profile is the definite main actor here. Palate: Soo much more Sherry. The Rum just gives you this creamy mouthfeel as you only get it from these types of maturations. Then I get Rum soaked Raisins en masse. Nice! The Rum’s profile is still coming through with its salty licorice, wet wood, olive brine and anise, especially towards the finish, but the Sherry, particularly the raisins, adds its mark. Finish: Long with raisins, salty wood, licorice, herbs and now also some nutty notes. The Rum Nation and the The Colours of Rum are like night and day, but I enjoy both just the same. A really cool comparison. (88/100)

1998 is just excellent but I am afraid we’ve finished what we’ve had… 1997 then.

Compagnie des Indes Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) 1997 18YO (57,9%): Compagnie des Indes (CdI) is always a slightly sneered at bottler I feel but we shouldn’t forget that they also have a few real gems within their vast amount of bottlings. Nose: The nose starts with citrus, oysters, anise, wood, fennel, Tabouleh (i.e. mint and parsley), pineapple and soy sauce. What a ride that is! It is actually not overly complex, but the combination of aromas is really wild – and good! Palate: You probably know that we love this stuff. The palate is actually even better than the nose I think. We get citrus, lemon pie, a mix of salt and sugar, the fennel again, excellent white wine, sparkling lemon ice tea, those oysters again, high quality butter and clearly also mint (think 7up). Right up my alley. Finish: Long, without offering anything new. It is essentially an extension of the palate, just a bit drier perhaps. When I wrote the first sentence of the review I didn’t know the Rum, but I already felt like this could be one of the rare winners and oh boy, it does deliver. (89/100)

The Rum Cask Uitvlugt (PM) 1997 23YO (54%): Nose: A great mix between herbs, spices and woody notes. Anise is obvious, but thyme, oregano, Szechuan pepper and wet wood can be found as well. Deeper in the glass we find bitter tea, fennel and soy sauce. Cool stuff, even though it is not as complex as the CdI or some of the other top notch bottlings of the batch. Palate: It all starts with wet wood, which is quickly followed by different spices, oregano, an exceeding dryness that isn’t overly astringent, the bitterness of old nuts, a hint of brine and that sparkling lemon ice tea we also found in the CdI. Unfortunately I think that the barrel has already taken away a bit too much of the distillate. It wasn’t overly active, but this probably would have been a more expressive Rum at about twenty years I think. But as you know, that’s complaining about first world problems. Finish: Long with wet and dry wood, a mix of spices, a hint of herbs and green tea. It was a bit tough to score but I feel relatively comfortable with: (87/100)

That was good. To the best of my knowledge, there are no 1996s, so 1995 has to do the job!

Moon Import Demerara Port Mourant “Sherry Wood” 1995 13YO (46%): Nose: A very smoky salty note opens things up, which sounds familiar on paper, but is totally different from all other Port Mourants I know. Then quite some sulphur – all of that has to be the Sherry influence. There’s also quite some wood, anise of course and a few odd herbal notes here and there but it leaves me puzzled more than anything else. I am afraid this won’t be very good but let’s see. Palate: A lot better than the nose with those notes of smokey salt again but now also spicy flavours such as jalapenos and chilies. We are starting to approach Mezcal territory here and I inevitably have to think of Margaritas (we’re not the biggest fans of those…). I am still not sold. Finish: Relatively long with those smoky and salty notes as well as some wood. There’s a lot to like and dislike about this one and depending on where your preferences are, you can love or hate it, or both even. If I hadn’t known that this is an ex-Sherry cask, I might have called this an ex-Agave spirit cask. Maybe ex-Agave-ex-Sherry? Probably not, but it would make sense and actually describes the Rum very well. (73/100)

Nobilis Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) “PM” 1995 26YO (52,6%): I am not sure what that was. All I know is that 1995 PM can also be really good. Let’s see. Nose: Very typical from the get go. Anise, some sort of cheese (cheddar!?), heavily seasoned brisket (i.e. pepper, salt, oregano, thyme, paprika powder – you name it) and oak are the main contributors. As time passes, the herbal notes push more and more to the fore. This is much, much better than the disappointing Moon Import bottling. Palate: Extremely herbal, I did not expect that. Oregano and thyme are once again the main actors, but lavender, rosary and related notes play minor roles as well. Behind that rests a layer of anise, flaky pastry and now lots and lots of pepper. When I tasted the Rum for the first time I hated it. Today I do find a lot of enjoyment – I guess it was simply the mood of the day… Finish: Relatively long with the herbs, oak, anise and pepper. It is a fine Rum, nothing too fancy, nothing terrible but if you are in the mood for stuff like this, there’s nothing you can do wrong with this Rum I’d say. (84/100)

Okay, let’s have a last one. How about 1992!?

Murray McDavid Port Mourant “Sauternes & Laphroaig Finish” 1992 13YO (46%): We typically don’t have much use for Islay-finished Rums but let’s see. The combination with Sauternes doesn’t really make it much more promising at first glance, by the way. Nose: Nowhere near as smoky as I feared it would be, which is a very good sign! While I get a good amount of anise, I also get very atypical notes such as caramel, grenadine, toffee and pineapple. This is very cool. Deeper in the back we can find notes from a bonfire, gunpowder green tea and vanilla. So far this is ticking all the right boxes. Palate: Call this a two face! Much, much smokier than the nose suggested with ash, cold cigarettes and an ashtray on the one hand, but also sweet and decidedly Port Mourant on the other hand, with anise, fruits and herbs. While this is a back and forth at first, the smoky notes of the used ashtray eventually take over, before the finish adds some sweeter notes such as raisins and dates. A very fun Rum. Personally, I am not the biggest fan but I see how this one by itself keeps you entertained for an entire evening. (83/100)

Silver Seal Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) 1992 23YO (50%): Fun fact, this bottle has been sent accidentally to me by a shop once. They offered that I could keep it at a discount, but I refused. With hindsight, it probably was a bad decision. Nose: Nice, rich parmigiano, sage, high quality olive oil, pecorino as well, but also sweet raspberry, pepper, a hint of anise, oregano and fresh flatbread as well. Oh what a beauty this is! Palate: It definitely gives a reduced (read diluted) mouthfeel, but mostly for its high drinkability and not so much because it is too watery. It starts with herbs, oregano first and foremost, but quickly moves over to the olive and cheese compartment. Pepper is another obvious note here. Quite to my surprise however, there isn’t too much more as the palate doesn’t keep the promises the nose made. What a pity. Finish: Not very long with citrus, the herbs, oak and some brine. Perhaps a walnut here and there. This could have been a great Rum I think, but it just gets lost in its high drinkability. Amazing that this is actually something negative, don’t you think!? (84/100)

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