Historical Background At the beginning of the 19th century we experienced the first sugar crisis after sugar cane’s boom, which led to the bankruptcy of many smaller sugar estates and hence also the closure of the corresponding rum distilleries. Even though cane sugar can compete with beet sugar on the global market, the reality looks…
Bielle Extra Vieux 2010 6YO (LMDW 60th anniversaire)
We take a trip to Marie-Galante, a dependency of Guadeloupe and hence an overseas department of France. Well, actually we shall just taste a rhum from over there. However, the temperatures over here are also adjusting to what they are over there so we do indeed get some holiday vibes. The Bottling The Bielle Extra Vieux 2010…
Hampden Estate Pure Single Jamaican Rum 7YO
After a long time we are finally having a set of official bottlings again. What’s even better is that they come from Hampden, one of my very favorite distilleries. Today we compare the Hampden Estate Pure Single Jamaican Rum at 46% with its Overproof cousin. The Bottlings While these are official bottlings, even the blind…
2x St Gilles (1950s)
Thanks to several bottle splits I got my hands on a few old rums. We start with a pair of St Gilles from the 1950s but the others will eventually also find their way onto this blog. The Bottlings Unfortunately my background research on these rhums didn’t produce a whole lot. According to Lance, a…
How about these Transcontinental Rum Lines?
I usually don’t see a lot of use in reviewing the line of a single bottler because, well, there’s just not a whole lot to learn from that. Cross-tasting the rums of a single distillery between and even more so within vintages makes much more sense to me. Nevertheless, I participated in a larger bottle…
Cadenhead’s Gardel 1982 20YO
It’s time for another rum from a lost distillery. One of the few I really miss. I’ve tasted a few Gardels over the years and this is not only the very best of them, it is also up there with some of the best rums I’ve ever tasted. Today we have the Cadenhead’s Gardel 1982…
Caroni – Five Bottlers & Vintages (1994-1998)
Today’s tasting features Caronis by five different bottlers and from five different vintages, with some modest uncertainty as you are about to see. In theory, they should span the years from 1994 to 1998. I’ll do my best to provide a comparison with other rums of the respective vintages as much as possible. Origin R Caroni…
Caroni 1999
1999 is another Caroni vintage which we didn’t get from either Bristol or Velier, who acquired the largest stocks of Caroni barrels at the auctions in 2008. What does that mean? Chances are high that these rums have been sold as bulk back then and should thus be continental aged. Since no artificial colouring has…
Velier Antigua Distillery 2012 6YO
Velier releases a rum from a distillery which we usually don’t get from independent bottlers or at full proof: By now it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I just had to try it! Today’s rum is the Velier Antigua Distillery 2012 6YO. The Bottling The story of sugar in Antigua goes back to 1674,…
S.B.S Uitvlugt (Port Mourant) 1998 19YO
Finally some Rum again! And I thought I should start with a Rum that no one really talks or talked about, despite being one of the very best to come out within the last twelve months if you ask me. I am talking about the S.B.S Guyana 1998 19YO. The Bottling Usually, whenever I am…
And a Bottle of Rum
Today I am reviewing what some might call the book on the history of rum, Wayne Curtis’ “And a Bottle of Rum”. It was firstly published in 2006 and has since, judged by how frequently it appears in pictures on rum related Facebook groups, been very popular with the rum crowd. In July 2018 a…
Whiskies or Whisk(e)ys
Finally, we have Whiskies again. Or is it Whiskeys? How else should we distinguish Whisky from Whiskey in the plural? I have no idea. Neither did I really know which ones to put here but I think the following cover a broad array of what’s out there, and what I can find at home. Let’s…
Single Cask Rum 