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I was there working on the webpage and tasting some delicious whiskies when I got an email from Jean-Marie asking me if I want to join them in tasting blindly some rums. Oh my God, such a problem! Who would want to taste such pesky liquor distilled for pirates to support their pesky living conditions.
Of course I couldn’t but to accept such a wonderful invitation! And so here I am with six samples of rum. I just hope they are not cheap mainstream blended rums. Ummm! The delights of blind tastings!
The smell of the drams is simply outstanding and delicious. Definitively I am going to enjoy this…
After several weeks wanting to taste it I finally have the chance.
Rumbullion is a rum liqueur made by Professor Cornelius Ampleforth and bottled and sold by the chaps at Master of Malt.
So taking as a base a good dark rum they have added orange peels, clove, vanilla and cinnamon to obtain this drink.
Excited? You are right. This drink is a cracker. So good in fact that I have done myself the experiment with two bottles of Laphroaig 10 years old Cask Strength. I will write about this crazy experiment of my later.
“Perhaps this is not the best rum I have had but it is quite an experience. Really tasty and delightful. I like it a lot.”
87
A sure-fire hit from Professor Cornelius Ampleforth, Rumbullion! is a cockle-warming spiced concoction, based on the kind of rich, full-bodied rums the seafaring fraternity would have enjoyed centuries ago.
At the core of this fabulous winter warmer lies a blend of the very finest high proof Caribbean rum, to which was added creamy Madagascan vanilla and a generous helping of zesty orange rind. A secret recipe was followed, and the Professor finished his hearty tipple with a handful of cinnamon and cloves and just a hint of cardamom.
This dram has a old oak-like color.
Nose (88): strong.
sweet, vanilla, brown sugar, lemon, cinnamon.
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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