W.I.R.D. is one of these distilleries… they’ve produced a few legendary Rums but besides that essentially only interchangable mainstream. I wonder if Plantation, who are in charge of W.I.R.D. now, will change it for the better or if they will bury the distillery and its legacy for good. For now, I have only tasted a…
Category: W.I.R.D.
WIRD/ WIRR/ Rockley/ Blackrock 1986 encore (old ones)
After the young ones, it is a pleasure to present the old ones as well! Berry Bros & Rudd Barbados (WIRR) 1986 21YO (46%): The youngest of the old ones, bottled at drinking strength. Oh yeah, that was still pretty much the standard in the first decade of the 2000s… Nose: Compared to the “young…
WIRD/ WIRR/ Rockley/ Blackrock 1986 encore (young ones)
A couple of old Rockleys came out recently and we’ve done a massive session to compare them. We’ve also included all the other, younger Rockleys we could find and decided to split the session for the reviews. Today, we will have the “younger ones” (<20), next time, we shall have a look at the “older…
A bag of Bajans
There’s so much debate going on about the Barbados GI and to date I didn’t really comment on it. And that won’t change today for two reasons. Firstly, the disussion is really tiring and annoying. Secondly, others have come up with way better arguments and it should be easy for the concerned reader to come…
WIRD/ WIRR/ Rockley/ Blackrock 1986
This is the first of two large 1986 cross-tastings. Today we will have a look at the legendary Rockley 1986 batch, which has been distilled at the West Indies Rum Refiniery on Barbados. It’s the follow-up on the recent 2000 Rockley-style cross-tasting. For some more background information, let me refer you once again to Cedrik’s…
Another trio of W.I.R.D. 2000
After Cedrik’s article about W.I.R.D. and the Rockley style I just had to go back to them. I’ve already had quite a large session with the 1986 bottlings but I am currently waiting for another sample of an (alleged) legend to arrive. Alas, another trio of 2000s has to do it for now (click here…
Rockley – Deconstructing the Myth
Today we have a guest article by Cedrik, a fellow rum connoisseur who is probably the biggest fan of the Rockley-style I know. He has put together a few thoughts on this particular style of rum and communicated them privately through Whatsapp but I thought that they might be worth sharing with you guys so…
1423 World Class Spirits S.B.S Rums
Today we have the very first vertical tasting in which we examine the range of one bottler. Usually I prefer horizontal tastings (products of the same distillery or even batch) since they allow us to discern the differences between otherwise very similar Rums but some people also advocate this type of tasting so why not…
A triple of 2000 Rockley/ Blackrock W.I.R.D.s
Dear reader, after all the positive feedback I have got over the last couple of months since starting this blog, I came to the conclusion that weekly reviews might not be enough. That’s why you will be getting something extra. From now on, every second Monday (or so) will feature either a small cross-tasting, notes from blind-tastings, a…
Whiskybroker W.I.R.D. 2000 16YO
May the 4th be with you! Another Rockley/ Blackrock style rum from Barbados’ West Indies Rum Distillery (W.I.R.D.). Distilled in June 2000, it comes from the same batch as the Duncan Taylor W.I.R.D. 2000 15YO but got to age for another year. It is the Whiskybroker W.I.R.D. 2000 16YO. The Bottling This bottling is part of…
Duncan Taylor W.I.R.D. 2000 15YO
It is time to introduce a very special Bajan rum style which we have got to know as Rockley or Blackrock. Its profile doesn’t really match that of any other rum and it is in fact a bit polarising. You either love it or hate it. I am probably one of the few people in the middle of the spectrum,…
Single Cask Rum 