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The Macallan is nowadays one of the most iconic whiskies distilleries in the world with such high demand for its precious whiskies that they are sold out no mind what the price is. Read this interview with the head and nose behind these inspiring whiskies.
Bob Dalgarno,Whisky Maker at The Macallan distillery since 1996.
He was born to the trade, at Glenallachie Distillery not far away, where his father worked, and started at Macallan in 1984 as a warehouseman. After passing through every stage of whisky making mashman, brewer, stillman, warehouse supervisor, operations manager he joined the panel which selects casks for bottling in 1994.
How long have you worked as master distiller at The Macallan?
Bob Dalgarno, I have been Whisky Maker for The Macallan since 2000. From 1996 to 1999 I worked alongside the previous whisky maker.
Where did you work before?
I have worked at The Macallan distillery since 1984, firstly in warehousing, then in production.
If you had to describe your job to a newcomer to whisky in two sentences…
Working as part of a team, my role is to nose mainly mature whisky samples from casks in our warehouses, building knowledge of stock profile. From that knowledge the whiskies are created.
Are there any specific Master distillers that have inspired you? In which way?
I wouldn’t say other Master Distillers have inspired me, but I have the greatest respect for them, not only for what they do, but the people they are.
Right now The Macallan ages whisky in three kind of casks: sherry, bourbon and new oak. Is there any “exotic” experiment taking place right now?
There are always ideas being looked at in the Sample Room.
How is Macallan doing in this period of global crisis?
In challenging times, we continue to meet those challenges.
Many distilleries are creating right now younger, ageless expressions along as special or limited releases. Are we going to see something like this from The Macallan in the coming months?
Working on feedback from consumers, our commercial team then report back on their findings. We created a strength-driven no age statement range in the 1824 Collection exclusively for Duty Free in the past. This allows greater freedom in the creation of products, rather than restricting us by age. With this range the make-up of the whiskies are older rather than younger. The whiskies used required time to mature, in order to showcase the colour and depth of character seen.
Which one of the whiskies that you do at The Macallan are you more proud of?
I would like to think that I am proud of all the whiskies we put together. They have their own challenges and stories to tell.
I love the Macallan 10 years old Cask Strength. Any chance we see another expressions of Macallan at Cask strength, particularly any of the Fine Oak range?
I am delighted that you enjoy this whisky. We are not working on any other cask strength products at present.
In Spain, people don’t drink much single malt whisky. They prefer for Johnnie Walker, Cardhu or J&B. They see The Macallan as a luxury item (and it is priced like that here!). Any advice for our Spanish readers?
I can understand your Spanish readers’ thoughts on The Macallan. The whiskies you have mentioned, Johnnie Walker and Cardhu are nice whiskies and there to be enjoyed, but everyone should afford themselves a little luxury now and then.
What has been the last whisky you have drank? Any favourite?
Last whiskies drank – Macallan 15 Year Old Fine Oak and Bruichladdich 20 Year Old.
The 1824 Collection
Just in case you want to know about these great Macallan whiskies:
Tired of reading dozens of tasting notes? Do you want to have simply the best whisky right now? Suffer no more! Read about the best whiskies I have had during February and discover where you can buy them before they are sold out, because they will!
1. And the winner is… Macduff 11 years old 2000 bottled for The Whisky Barrel
This stunning whisky with just 11 years old is simply the best I have had during this month. This Macduff really took me totally by surprise as I wasn’t expecting such a great whisky looking at its age.
It is a very nice sherry monster with powerful notes of tobacco, spices and toffee. And the best of all for a really nice price, just £39.99 at The Whisky Barrel
2. Caol Ila Old Malt Cask 27 years old 1984 bottled by Douglas Laing for The Whisky Barrel
On second place I placed this Caol Ila 27 years old bottled for Douglas Laing‘s Old Malt Cask range for The Whisky Barrel. It is a whisky pure, sincere, no finishes, no strange casks: just whisky, oak and lots of years. This Caol Ila has still so much peat punch after almost three decades in the casks… and it sings aloud of tropical fruits and spices.
3. Bunnahabhain 30 years old 1978 bottled by Murray McDavid
This Bunnahabhain whisky is the epitome, for me, of sherried aged peated whiskies. Bottled by Murray McDavid and miraculously not finished in anything, this Bunnahabhain is really sublime, with the peat and the sherry in a perfect marriage. I really love how it tastes of spices, leather, raisins and cocoa.
4. Bunnahabhain 9 years old 2000 bottled by Adelphi
And as a testimony that age doesn’t matter you have here a whisky from the same distillery, also aged in sherry casks that also score really high. This Bunnahabhain bottled with just nine years by Adelphi independent bottler shows a different profile of sherry, dry oloroso, with a nose and taste rich in nuts, leather and nice touches of sulphur.
Finally my last choice for this Top 5 whiskies is Caol Ila Feis Ile 2010. I have had the chance to taste it now because, as you know, the bottle was sold during Feis Ile festival at Islay two years ago. Again, it is a pure Caol Ila with it great peat, honey and citrusy notes but over them stands gorgeous aromas of toffee and biscuits.
Honorable mention: El Dorado Demerara Rum 25 years old 1984
I can’t quit without writing you about El Dorado 25 years old, an awesome ultra-exclusive Demerara rum bottling, never repeated after this one as far as I know. This is perhaps the most delicious and inspiring rum I have. So much spices, nuts and sugar kinds there that you want it not to end. A must-taste for any rum lover out there.
What have you been drinking this past month? Tell me in the comments below.
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No, not my own awards, we don’t need yet another whisky awards. I have been doing some research and after hard working for the last four days I have coded a page where you can browse the most prestigious world whisky awards( if I am missing one please write me ). Well, the result is in the Whisky Awards page or in the Recommended menu of the top bar.
You have a list of awards sorted by year and once you click you can see the results. Unfortunately, by now, you can only see the bottles that I own. I plan to fix this problem/feature during Christmas. By the way, do you think Santa will have room in his sled for so many bottles?
I have never realized how many medals whisky awards give. In fact the most “serious” is Malt Maniacs Awards and they give around 100-130 medals to the whiskies in the competition. What do you think? Would be good to do this in another way?
September. Bye bye to Summer. Autumn is here and so that huge amount of unique special limited releases bottles: Ardbeg Alligator, Octomore 4 and many others. So much work to drink *ejem* do, I mean do, *ejem.
Dr Whisky updated his blog, after three months!, with an interesting opinion about his experience at Maltstock 2011
Nonjatta features several japanese whiskies, you didn’t saw that one coming, didn’t you? Most interesting ones are Akashi 12 years old and Ichiro’s Malt Final Vintage of Hanyu. Also they point out the fact that Chichibu first single malt is already being sold as Ichiro’s Malt ( Keep an eye on this one if you like whisky ).
John Hansell from Malt Whisky Advocate magazine writes about a show from History Channel about Whiskey that you can see on Hulu. He also writes an article about the name change of both the blog and the magazine. Many tasting notes from Dominic Roskrow and Dave Broom.
Whiskyforeveryone wrote about Pure Festival in London, about the Irish Single Pot Still range recently released and about the latest Balvenie Tun 1401 release.
Serge from Whiskyfun writes about a new round of articles called Time Warp Sessions. Serge tastes two whiskies from the same distillery but from really different distillation dates, up to 40 years of difference. Check for example those Bowmore or those Glendronach. I dunno about you… but when I read Whiskyfun I get the same feeling that when looking from the top of cliff: Most of those whiskies are older than myself and almost as expensive as my house.
Galg from WhiskyIsrael featured an article about the twasting of Compass Box driven by Steve Rush. Tasted three different Balvenies whiskies: 12, 12 Signature and 15 Single Barrel. He also tasted three Buffalo Trace jewels: Thomas H Handy, William Larue Weller and Sazerac 18.
And at last but not the less, Ruben from WhiskyNotes.be with lots of great tasting notes as Karuizawa 1977 Noh, several of the new Glendronach Single Cask as 1992 and Shacklenton’s Whisky
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”
What the hell! No way. But it has been a quite interesting and fun year. It looks as it was yesterday but this blog has turned one year today.
Only a year but it has been a great travel of personal discovery: whisky, history, facts, geography and friends.
Before I started blogging I was already collecting malt whiskies but I wasn’t really interested in how they tasted. One day I decided to open one miniature of Compass Box Spice Tree and I was impressed about how good it was. Then another, and another, and another. And just one day I decided to write tasting notes about what I was drinking. I could have do it the way other great whisky blogs does, but being myself engineer (Dilbert! You are not alone!) I preferred the hard way: write tasting notes so a computer can process them and do interesting things with it. Just a few months later I created whisky-o-matic, which is really fun if you haven’t tried yet!.
I have learnt lots of things about how whisky is made, how barley is grown, how water is chosen based in its characteristics. I have learnt a lot about ageing of whisky and how the wood influence the final result, with two bottles of a great Laphroaig 10 years old Cask Strength sacrificed in the altar of knowledge.
I still have to improve my world geography but now I know where Islay, Orkney, Kentucky and Hokkaido are situated.
And I have known great people related to whisky: from bloggers like Galg of WhiskyIsral, Steve of The Whisky Wire, Ruben of Whisky Notes, John Hansell of MaltWhisky Advocate, Billy Abbott of Billy’s Booze Blog, John Campbell of Laphroaig for their invitation to Laphroaig Live 2010, Richard Barr who shared with me a whole Whiskylive show. Special thanks for the chaps at Master of Malt for their support during this year.
Crying already? Feeling emotional?
Ok, so let’s get back to the crude bare numbers! :)
Naked Statistics
This year can be resumed in a few numbers and two or three great posts.
1 year
365 days
1 whisky show ( hey! I have had to fight for that single one a lot! )
619 bottles of whisky bought ( don’t panic! Most of them are samples! )
372 tasting notes written.
356 posts published.
150K visits. ( and growing! )
Tasted Macallan 30 years old Fine Oak.
Bought a bottle of Highland Park Earl Haakon.
Drink Kilchoman Inagural Release.
A new son ordered.
Built a whisky library for reference.
Sensual promises for the future
Those are my promises for the future.
2 whisky shows ( I must be at The Whisky Show 2012 and Maltstock 2012. At least! )
Less whisky bought. ( My wife is going to kill me. And the worst thing is that she may be right about it )
More tasting notes.
More and better articles about distilleries.
Better whisky-o-matic suggestions.
More friends, more social. ( Did you know you can submit your own tasting notes for whisky-o-matic now? )
It has been a long time since I was able to write the round up. I expected to write this weekly but I have been extremely busy and I haven’t been able to do it.
So in a new hope, I plan to do a monthly blogs round up with just the best of the best, so in a ten minutes you can stay updated ( or outdated! ) of what has been happening in the amazing world of whisky worlds.
WhiskyNotes has some great tasting notes of Inchgower 36 years old from Master of Malt( guess who bought the last bottle of it! ), a japanese whisky Akashi White Oak, a not really favorable review of DYC blended whisky( I have to agree with Ruben that the whisky isn’t good, it is hell better to get the DYC Single Malt Coleccion Barricas, this one is a great Spanish whisky ). Also he writes a few reviews of Japanese whiskies, among them Yamazaki 18 years old. Worth reading them really.
Whiskyfun turned nine years on July and Serge is now over 7400 tasting notes. The archived post features lots of tasting notes from many independent bottlers.
Finally I got Ardbeg Alligator, a very interesting Macallan 1968 and the much-wanted Kilchoman Inagural 100% Islay.
This month of June I have order a few bottles more for the collection from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt, not as much as I would like as car is taking a part of the budget but quite a lot anyway.
Also I got some other bottles that I were after, like Hakushu 12 years old or Compass Box Great King Street. I bought some samples from Master of Malt and a bottle of Arran bottled by Caskstrength.net for their 3rd birthday.
And in my quest to get a sample of Shacklenton’s whisky I ordered a few samples from Sjoerd, another whisky zealot ;)
Now it is time for other rum outside the Caribe: Venezuela and Guayana are awesome producers of great rums
Central American rum
Guatemala
To be labeled rum in Guatemala the spirit must be distilled from fermented virgin sugar cane honey, a dark sweet syrup made from freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. The virgin sugar cane honey, as it is called in Guatemala, is made by filtering fresh sugar cane juice and then boiling off the water until the syrup contains about 72% sugar. Only sugar cane grown in Guatemala is used to make this virgin sugar cane honey since it would be impossible to transport cane cut in another country to a Guatemalan sugar mill.
Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year
“This Guatemalan rum is outstanding! You can taste there every kind of sugar. Spicy!”
90
The Ron Zacapa is produced from a blend of vintage rums with up to 23 years of barrel age
Ron Zacapa represents the pride of Guatemalan rums, the pride of closely guarded recipes known only to skilled master blenders, and the pride of a government that strictly mandates the aging process.
Guatemalan Rum must be made of "cane honey" which is essentially cane juice concentrate. They do take care to prevent caramelization, which would create a molasses.
This dram has a old oak-like color.
Nose (88): more than average.
sugar cane, floral, brown sugar, citrus.
Venezuela produce some high quality rums thanks to its geographic and climatic factors and because the exceptional characteristics of the raw material: the sugar cane.
Santa Teresa Ron Selecto
85
Brown rum distilled from fermented molasses. Aged 3 to 10 years in used whisky and bourbon barrels.
This dram has a cooper-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
sweet, brown sugar, sugar cane, alcohol, grapes, floral.
First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.
“A really interesting rum from Venezuela with lots of floral and spicy notes.”
91
Master of rums and the flagship of the house, Santa Teresa 1796 results from a careful blend of Santa Teresa’s finest aged spirits ranging from 4 to 35 years that is then further aged in a style borrowed from the Spanish sherry producers. Santa Teresa 1796 is the first premium añejo rum in the world to be aged in the Solera method: a cascade process in four levels of oak barrels that combines barrel ageing and cask "crianzas." The blend of añejo (aged) rums enters the top barrels and is aged until it reaches a desired level of maturity. Half of the contents of the top barrels are then transferred to the oakbarrels below that have also had half of their contents removed and transferred to the barrels below and so on until the fourth set of barrels. When the cascade is concluded, the golden liquid is transferred to large Limousin oak casks that, again, are only ever half emptied thus producing even softer and rounder rum. This system is unique in Venezuela and the Rum industry.
This dram has a cooper-like color.
Nose (92): strong.
sugar cane, floral, vanilla, light, brown sugar, cocoa, wood, tobacco.
A rum liqueur, Rhum Orange is the perfect blending of the finest rums aged for at least 2 years with an exquisite orange peel maceration. With its splendid golden amber color, its fragrant aromas reveal the scent of oranges. Fantastic after a meal on the rocks or blended in cocktails. Substitute for Triple Sec in your next Margarita!
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
orange, brown sugar, sugar cane, cinnamon.
First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.
The fertile banks of the Demerara River were cultivated by indigenous inhabitants long before European planters arrived in the 16th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, more than 200 plantations produced sugar and rum in Demerara county. Demerara sugar was much sought after while the rum became one of the key ingredients in the Royal Navy Rum which came to be known as Pusser’s Rum.
El Dorado 3 year White Rum
“It is a light white rum but it is a hell better than other similar rums I have tried.”
81
An award winning rum; this took a silver at the 2006 and 2007 International Wine and Spirits Competitions. This also attained a Gold at the International Review of Spirits. A great mixing rum, very crisp and fresh.
This dram has a white-like color.
Nose (81): strong.
sugar cane, floral, a bit toffee, tropical fruits.
A recent addition to the El Dorado range of splendid golden Demerara rums from Guyana, this brilliantly versatile rum works well in a luxury Mojito or Rum Old-Fashioned, but is also delicious on the rocks or sipped slowly. A terrific all-rounder.
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (85): strong.
sugar cane, floral, burnt sugar, toffee, a bit banana.
Palate (87): oily, powerful.
sugar cane, floral, burnt sugar, citrus, peaches, wood, a little cinnamon.
Finish (87): long.
burnt sugar, sugar cane.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this El Dorado 8 year with 86 points over 100.
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“A good step over the El Dorado 8 years old. This 12 years old rum has an incredible flavour. Really worth the money.”
87
An absolutely brilliant 12 year old Demerara rum from Guyana, that uses the Port Morant double pot still as the lead spirit. This wins oodles of awards including the the gold medal at London's Caribbean Rum Taste Test. We cannot recommend this sipping rum highly enough.
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (86): strong.
floral, sugar cane, toffee, a little wood, banana.
“Stunning flavor! Awesome! A great rum from Guyana.”
89
“A monumental aged rum that is one of the world’s greatest rum drinking experiences”
That is how the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago summed up their appreciation of El Dorado 21 Year Old Special Reserve. Designed for true rum connoisseurs its warm subtlety is best savoured slowly on its own – and shared with a few very special friends.
The superb colour and character of this exquisite rum is the creation of our Master Blender. His special recipe blends specially selected rums, oak aged for at least 21 years, from the Enmore wooden Coffey still, the Versailles single wooden pot still and the Albion Savalle still.
This dram has a mahogany-like color.
Nose (88): strong.
brown sugar, sugar cane, floral, a little wood, a little cinnamon.
On the Atlantica ocean there are also other rums producers. Mainly in Bermuda islands and Canary islands.
Bermuda
Gosling's Black Seal
“Really interesting rum that remind me a lot of Crema Catalana with a got amount of Cointreau over it. Yummy!”
83
Black Seal has a rich, intricate flavour, well balanced and nuanced with butterscotch, vanilla and caramel. Or, as expressed up by the Beverage Tasting Institute when they recently awarded it their highest honour, the Platinum Medal: 'Deep, assertive and highly flavoured. Very fragrant with herbal sharpness. At the finish there is a softness and elegance. A most complex, unusual spirit.'
This dram has a old oak-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
brown sugar, sugar cane, floral.
Palate (83): smooth, oily.
brown sugar, sugar cane, custard, cinnamon, burnt sugar, floral, vanilla, a little oranges.
Taste like Crema Catalana, a typical Spanish kind of custard.
Finish (82): longer than average.
brown sugar, floral.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Gosling's Black Seal with 83 points over 100.
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As we saw, rums are very hard to classify due to regional differences, so I am going to sort them by regions instead.
Cuba
Havana Club Añejo Especial
87
Havana Club Anejo Especial Rum is a premium golden rum, a blend of rums aged for up to 5 years in the ageing cellars of Havana Club, under the watchful eye of Don Jose Navarro, Havana Club's Maestro Ronero.
As the name suggests, it is something special, a blend of old and young rums that results in a rich, warm gold coloured rum.Its character combines the lightness of white rums and the robust aroma of dark rums.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
brown sugar, wood, honey, spices.
Palate (92): .
brown sugar, flowers, sugar cane, wood.
Finish (84): longer than average.
floral, brown sugar.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Havana Club Añejo Especial with 87 points over 100.
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Most Dominican Republic rums are done using Cuban recipes because when Castro raised to the power in Cube many distillers flee.
Ron Matusalem 15 year
85
Two Spanish brothers Benjamin and Eduardo Camp traveled from Spain to establish a distillery in Cuba. In 1872 the brothers, along with their partner Evaristo Álvarez, they founded the Matusalem brand in Santiago de Cuba. They combined their skills and experience in distilling and blending with the principles of Solera, which was originally developed for production in Spain of wine, sherry and brandy.
The name "Methuselah" was chosen to refer to the aging process the rum is subjected to get those flavors. It comes from the Spanish proverb "This is older than Methuselah." Methuselah is the patriarch as the Old Testament lived 969 years.
This dram has a amber-like color.
Nose (85): average.
sweet, floral, sugar cane, brown sugar, wood.
Palate (90): smooth.
brown sugar, sugar cane, floral, a little fruity, wood, spices.
Finish (80): long.
brown sugar, wood.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ron Matusalem 15 year with 85 points over 100.
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This is a “Superior Blend” from a select group of premium rums aged naturally for up to four years in American oak barrels. Its smooth golden tones and soft aroma can be enjoyed straight or wisely mixed.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
brown sugar, honey, wood, floral, cinnamon, a little light.
Palate (84): smooth.
brown sugar, toffee, cream, pineapple.
Finish (80): average.
toffee.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ron Barcelo Añejo with 83 points over 100.
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“Not a bad rum, but a bit light. Not my kind of drink”
83
Extra Viejo, meaning extra old, is a sophisticated and elegant rum from Brugal which was available only in the Dominican Republic until 2009, when distribution in the United States began.
A blend of older reserves, it commands attention with its dark crystallized amber appearance and fragrant bouquet of vanilla, raisins, toasted oak and pipe tobacco notes. Its medium-bodied texture delivers long-lasting flavors that include roast coffee, warm toffee, cocoa and hints of nutmeg and anise.
Brugal Extra Viejo Rum, first released in 1976, is best when sipped straight or on the rocks. In a simple cocktail like the rum Old Fashion, it's bold and intense flavors stand up well with other ingredients.
This dram has a mahogany-like color.
Nose (84): average.
sugar cane, citrus, brown sugar, spices, cinnamon.
Palate (83): smooth, oily.
wood, burnt sugar, sugar cane, citrus, cinnamon.
A bit light
Finish (83): average.
burnt sugar, sugar cane.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Brugal Ron Extra Viejo with 83 points over 100.
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Distilled in state-of-the-art stills, then aged in oak bourbon casks in Barraques (a form of stacking and aging of barrels seen in the production of brandies and cognacs) and bottled at 8 years of age, this rum is part of a series, the others ranging from a unaged white to this, their oldest offering.
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (86): strong.
sugar cane, floral, a little brown sugar.
Palate (85): smooth, oily, powerful.
brown sugar, sugar cane, floral, wood, a little cinnamon.
Finish (84): long.
brown sugar, sugar cane.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ron Barcelo Imperial with 85 points over 100.
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“ Outstanding. So spicy rum, so well blended, so balanced. Really artisan stuff.”
93
OLIVER & OLIVER’S top rum. The best result of a combination of our best rums selected carefully by our Rum Masters. It has a very attractive dark cherry color and a very sophisticated bouquet, unique. Sweet and pleasant. Very well-rounded with delicate aromas and flavors, taste persistent. It is our flagship and we consider it the best rum in the world.
This dram has a treacle-like color.
Nose (92): strong.
brown sugar and sugar cane, floral, spices, cinnamon.
Finish (92): very long.
cinnamon, honey, sugar cane.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Opthimus 25 year with 93 points over 100.
Puerto Rico
Bacardi Superior
79
After 23 years of experimentation, Don Facundo Bacardi set the standard for all future premium white rum. Established in 1862 in Santiago de Cuba Bacardi Superior Rum became the world's first premium aged white rum. To produce such a superior spirit Don Facundo combined the best of dark spirits production techniques (ageing and blending) with his pioneering filtration process (charcoal filtration, now used by other white spirits) to create the perfectly balanced mixing rum that neither overpowers nor disappears in your drink.
This dram has a white-like color.
Nose (80): weak.
sugar cane, floral, light, alcohol.
Palate (80): light.
sugar cane, a little brown sugar, burnt sugar, a little floral, honey.
Finish (76): average.
sugar cane, floral, a little honey.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bacardi Superior with 79 points over 100.
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So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bacardi 5 year Añejo Superior with 71 points over 100.
British Islands
Ah! The true british navy rum. Really, if you like rum you must get one of these as they are superb. I do really prefer the non age statement as it is really cheaper and bottled at cask strength.
Nelson's Blood Hip Flask Pusser's Rum
85
Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, Royal Navy, one of the world's greatest fighting admirals, never lost a major battle. At Trafalgar on October 21st, 1805, although outnumbered, he defeated the combined navies of Spain and France. In this fierce battle that would determine who ruled the waves for the century that followed, Nelson sank or captured 19 of the enemy while losing not a single British ship. Unfortunately, at the age of 47, he was mortally wounded and died three hours before the end of the battle with the knowledge that victory was his. For the journey home, his body was carried on board HMS VICTORY, his flagship. Legend has it that to preserve it during the long voyage, they placed him in a large cask of Pusser's Rum. Upon arrival in England, it was discovered that the jack tars (sailors) had drilled a small hole at the base of the cask and drank all the rum - thereby drinking of Nelson's Blood. This term is still widely used today by Navy and history buffs as their alternative name for Pusser's Rum.
Pusser's is the same rum that was issued on board ships of Great Britain's Royal Navy for more than 330 years. The gold medals won at the world's two most prestigious wine & spirits competitions in 2001 and 2003 attest to its unsurpassed quality. Unlike most other rums, Pusser's contains no artificial flavouring agents. It is all natural.
THE ROYAL NAVY TOASTS on the back of the flask are those that have been offered for more than 200 years. They are still offered today at dinner on board Royal Navy ships and shore installations.
The four flag signal to "SPLICE THE MAIN BRACE!" was flown to signify a double issue of rum. Today, to say to a friend, "Let's splice the main brace!" is akin to saying, "Let's have a drink!".
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (88): strong.
sweet, roses, sugar cane, wood, grapes.
Finish (84): longer than average.
candies, floral, wood.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Nelson's Blood Hip Flask Pusser's Rum with 85 points over 100.
Pusser's Navy Rum 15 year
89
A recent bottling from a historic brand, the original of which is based on the recipe for the official rum that was given as a tot to sailors in the British Navy. Pusser's is traditionally dark and strong, however this version is a more standard 40% abv. A bargain for a rum of this age and provenance.
This dram has a tawny-like color.
Nose (88): strong.
fruity, grapes, brown sugar, raisins, wood.
“An interesting rum. Delicious sugar cane notes along toffee and vanilla.”
82
Easy-going and sweet, but absolutely delicious and highly recommended if starting out with rum. Distilled in copper-piped continuous stills in Antigua, where the climate is particularly dry. 5-8 year old rum, and great stuff!
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (79): more than average.
sugar cane, sugar, plastic, floral, a bit vanilla.
The story begins in 1857. A young liquor maker of Limoges, Paul Bardinet, took an interest in the sugar cane alcohol imported from distant islands to arrive to port the old world. The 'ratafia' as they called in those days, lacked of great value for the pirates but under his apparent rudeness it hid big secrets.
This dram has a fino-like color.
Nose (80): average.
sweet, brown sugar, floral, alcohol.
Palate (72): light.
sweet, alcohol, brown sugar, floral, alcohol.
Finish (68): very short.
alcohol.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ron Negrita with 73 points over 100.
Barbados
Doorly's XO Rum
88
With a rare Blue Hyacinth Macaw on the label, Doorly's is a rum that is finished in Oloroso sherry casks and blended with rums aged from 6 to 12 years old. Given 5 stars by Dave Broom in 'Rum'. Arthur agrees, and was very impressed by its silky, rounded and easy-sipping style.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (84): more than average.
sugar cane, floral, brown sugar, fruity,a bit meat stock.
Palate (92): smooth, oily.
sugar cane, brown sugar, floral.
Finish (88): longer than average.
brown sugar, wood.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Doorly's XO Barbados Rum with 88 points over 100.
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Aargh! Scurvy dog! Here is a booty! Let me show you our most precious treasure: rum! Even better than pieces of eight!. Argh!
Who of you ever have dream about being a pirate? Fighting, sailing and drinking rum!. An with a love on each port as part of the deal. This story shows you a bit of rum history and the different types that can be found.
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