More or less at random today. I am thinking different vintages and not resorting to Velier this time. I am not sure if that is going to work out, after all it is mostly best of the rest these days but every now and then we find a real gem among these. M.Wigman Caroni Precious…
Tag: Berry Bros & Rudd
Saint Lucia Distillers 2002
Saint Lucia Distillers have finally made the leap from being a distillery where only the IBs were really good to providing excellent co-bottlings under the Chariman’s Reserve line. While we are more than happy to celebrate the latter, we should also not forget the bottlers that have contributed to making the brand what it is…
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…
Hampden 1990
One of, if not the most legendary Hampden batch. Sure, 1993 might have produced the very best Hampden ever, yet 1990 just seems to be a bit better overall. By the way, these Rums wear the marque C<>H, which stands for an ester range of 1300-1400 gr/hlaa. Berry Bros & Rudd Hampden 1990 17YO (46%):…
Long Pond 1982
You know that my introductions have become less and less readable. Either there’s a bad (read: in my world excellent!) joke, some boring anecdote or background information nobody cares about. Alas, let’s just skip that gibberish and jump right in. Robert Watson Jamaica (Long Pond) 1982 26YO (48%): The (alleged!?) blended 1982 Jamaicans by the…
Port Mourant 1975
Essentially antique Port Mourants today. Some have an excellent reputation, others, well, rather an average one. I am not stressing it all time but that’s why we do semi-blind tastings whenever possible. Sure, the difference in abv can often be telling but it is still the best we can do. At least colour is not…
Bourbons Part I
Our dear correspondant Johannes is diving deeeep into Bourbon right now and was splitting more than we could digest in years (of Bourbon, that is). Alas, I participated in the first two sets and Johannes and me are going to give you our opinions on the WhiskEys. I do hope that he will continue with…
Port Mourant 1991
Do you also sometimes get the impression that some batches are just… “odd”!? Well, I do, for different reasons. With this one, its because I am not really aware of many other bottlings. There have been rums by Cadenhead’s and The Secret Treasure but give or take two or three other bottlings, that has been…
St. Lucia 1999
We’re back with St. Lucia Distillers, one of our secret favorites. Secret because there just haven’t been many releases and because so far at least, the official bottlings didn’t really convince us. At least not to the same extent as the IBs. With the distillery not selling bulk anymore and promises of more pure pot…
Rums with an Islay-Whisky Finish
What do you do if you have a bad cask? Right, give it a fancy finish! But hey, some people claim that there are also great rums that might get even better with these fancy finishes. I am not so sure, but what I know is that some styles and base-rums, if you want, are…
Versailles 1985
1985 is probably the most typical and characteristic Versailles vintage I know. At least it is what I associate with the Versailles flavour profile the most. What is more, the rums from the batch are among the very best rums I know, plain and simple. Just in case you do not know, Versailles is the…
German Rum Festival Berlin 2019 – Part I
We’ve spent last weekend in Berlin at and around the 9th edition of the German Rum Festival, one of the by now most important Rum gatherings in the world. But before the festival kicked off on Saturday, me and a few fellow rum geeks received an invitation by Rum Artesanal (RA) to join their boat…
Single Cask Rum 