tanstaafl2

I will happily accept that the funk is coming from the high ester content of the rum and the type of still may have had little or nothing to do with producing it. I certainly make no claim to be a distiller. But the funk is there for me. Maybe it isn't for you, presuming of course you have tried it yourself. The appearance is indeed rather surprising for what is presumed to be a relatively young rum. But as for the use of additives I wasn't there when it was produced and bottled so there is no way I can know other than what is printed on the bottle which clearly makes the public claim that it contains no additives. Could that be untrue? Sure. But you declaring here that he does use additives doesn't make your claim any more valid to me than does his claim if your argument is based soley on what you happen to think a rum should appear like. I am guessing you weren't there when it was produced and bottled either. He is very clear that his barrels are "treated" with Oloroso Sherry which can certainly provide some of the plum and fruit character in the spirit. This is a common, if somewhat less desirable technique, in other spirits but does not qualify as an additive as far as I am concerned, unlike say the Spanish Brandy added directly to the recent Jim Beam Signature line bottling for example. I was never under any illusion that this spirit was aged for an extended period of time and I would always like to know those kind of details too but we both know that isn't going to happen in the majority of cases especially when it comes to rum, whether it is a giant producer or a small "craft" operation. While he may use light frequencies to help "age" his barrels he also reports using standard techniques of heat and flame. Can light frequencies cause changes in the chemical composition of a substance? You betcha! Can they break down sugars in wood to the point where it impacts a spirit aging in a barrel? No idea. Sounds a bit improbable to me as well. I have not seen any comment about the use of staves in this rum but the notion that use of staves "has never worked" is not at all accurate in my opinion. Makers 46 has certainly demonstrated it can have an impact on a spirit. Whether that impact is good or bad is open to opinion but it can clearly have an impact. Dunder may benefit from many years of "aging" but from a chemical standpoint (as a chemistry major in a long past life) it seems entirely probably that high esters can and likely were produced in a shorter period of time. Would they potentially be as complex as a dunder that had been brewing for years? Likely not. But they would still have the capability to bring a unique flavor to the spirit. I find that your "banana peel" comments don't deserve further recognition for me as they seem a bit churlish and beneath your usual level of commentary. So in the end I don't much care how it was made if I like what is in the bottle and it doesn't have anything in it that will kill me (any faster than any other alcohol will). Where I would take exception is if it was shown that he was coloring and/or flavoring the rum and claiming otherwise. If you can show me that he does in fact add coloring or flavoring to the spirit I will happily join you in calling out the producer for dishonest practice. I believe the contact number is on their Facebook page and tours of the distillery are possible. I would be delighted to have you take it up with Bryan Davis and let us know!

Although overproof this is easy to drink at proof. The bottles notes it has no additives which I take to mean no added color, sugar or other flavors so what you see is what you get. A nice rich dark color that is almost hard to believe as I doubt it is aged very long.But that is the first impact of the molasses. The high grade molasses base comes through first but it is also filled with these delightfully pungent spoiled (in the best possible way) plum and banana notes (bacteria from overripe bananas is used as the dunder after all!) that start on the nose and carrry through to the palate. This is clearly enhanced by the fact that this was aged in sherry "treated" barrels (barrels soaked with sherry rather than true sherry barrels). I don't know exactly why this should all work but it does. The rum also has that moderate funk presumably from the copper pot still that you find in S&C. It isn't as strong because there is a lot going on here but it is still present. Finish is fairly long and a bit of water helps tame the heat a bit although it certainly is quite drinkable. Certainly plenty of Tiki potential but it will almost certainly change the nature of a drink. I think it might make a very interesting Mai Tai style drink as the only rum in the drink.

A friend returning from Paris was kind enough to bring me a couple of bottles back that I had been interested in to add to my "odd and unusual" bottle collection. The Eddu Silver and Hammer Head 23yo Czech malt were for me. The Amer Picon Club was his but he was sharing! Unfortunately this was yesterday during one of my marathon Wednesday tastings and the old palate had been getting seriously beaten up before he arrived with Caol Ila whisky and overproof rums, not to mention a taste of the 2014 edition of the Devil's Bit. We tried them all anyway but they deserve a chance to be tried on their own as they are both fairly light low proof whiskys.

Oh yes! I have that and it is seriously interesting stuff! I also got Miodula from them which I like, both because it is good and seriously unusual. Practically nobody here has ever heard of either one of them which makes it a must have for me. Speaking of seriously odd stuff (nothing to do with London) but I finally got around to trying the new Lost Spirits overproof high ester navy style 136pf rum from K&L and it is seriously odd and interesting as well. Worth a try if you are into rum.

The Redemption White Rye is the basic MGPI (formerly LDI) rye found in the regular Redemption Rye that is aged for 2 years. This is the same 95% rye mashbill base spirit found in many other NDP ryes like Willett, Bulleit, Templeton, Dickel and some of the High West ryes only of course it hasn't been aged. I haven't tried it yet and am in no great hurry (although I wouldn't turn down a taste if offered!). I rather liked the JD rye although the price was indeed absurdly high. The 2yo version of this same JD rye is now about to hit the market at supposedly the same price. So I guess those 2 years of aging had no value! Or maybe it is the tons of JD white that still fill up the shelves that impacted the price...

And in this thread it is the W&N overproof white rum.

Wray and Nephew rum from Jamaica.

Rum manufacturers often do indeed typically scrape down a previously used bourbon barrel but I don't know that they always fully rechar it. That barrel looks more like a heavy toasting or fairly light char. Even a light char typically has a somewhat "scally" appearance like a lizard skin that in heavy chars is sometimes referred to as "alligator char". because it looks like an alligator skin. But if that is a 5L barrel then do you know for sure it was used for something else prior to having Clement rhum in it? Or even previously used at all? 5L seems like an odd size for standard production. A typical quarter cask is about 12-13 gallons and is about the smallest size most companies use except for perhaps for experimental stuff. I know Corsair sometimes uses small casks for their experiments and other micros might as well. Not sure about Clement.

I have experienced that tendency with more than a few bottles, so much so that I am not inclined to pass judgement on a bottle, especially a newly opened one, until I have tried it several times over a few days or weeks. Can't recall that Whistlepig was this way but can't say for sure it wasn't either. Interestingly I have never had a bottle I enjoyed when newly opened that tasted bad on retasting a few days or weeks later. Some people feel a bottle, especially one that is getting around 1/3 left in it, can begin to oxidize especially if it has been sitting for a long time (months & years even) and will either rebottle into a smaller bottle or use gas like with a wine but I have so far not had a bottle that I thought had deteriorated with time if it was tightly sealed and kept in a relatively well controlled place out of direct prolonged light exposure. A bottle inadvertently left open or poorly sealed can deteriorate significantly though and potentially quickly, sometimes in a day or two or perhaps even a few hours.

Hell, I cut the grass afterwards this week and didn't lose a single finger or toe! I guess I am getting hard core... And I am not about to spit any of it out. Heck, I paid for most of it so I am damn sure gonna drink it!

Oh, I was thinking pretty quick! It just didn't make much sense in retrospect...

No clue about that. I didn't even think to ask how much the Fernet was.

Nah, not my workplace. I am just an enthusiastic consumer who has developed a good relationship with the owner! We often do Wednesday afternoon tastings (since I fortunately am usually off on Wednesdays) with what ever new or interesting products happen to be at hand. Sometimes a distributor is pushing a new product. We did ten different bottles of Corsair one week. But mostly it is whatever new bottle I have at hand compared to similar bottles in my liquor cabinet or what has come in new to the store that I buy. It is usually whisk(e)y but that is not a given. One week it might be bourbon, cognac and armagnac. The next might be Scotch Or Irish Or a mix of rum, tequila, rye and bourbon! This past week just happened to be kind of potpourri of things I brought and new things a distributor rep brought by.

Had a chance to try the Contratto Fernet a couple of days ago and liked it. Hard to know how that might apply to the vermouths but it is one I would consider trying based on my experience with their Fernet.

I am rather curious about it as well so I may move it to the head of the line for sampling. I had planned to give it a try this past Wednesday but one of the distributor reps brought in some samples of Smooth Ambler for a potential store barrel pick and the owner asked me to help out. And he brought some other goodies as well so the rum got set aside for the moment. Some of the new St. George fruit brandies and liqueurs as well as the NOLA "New Orleans style" coffee liqueur (pretty intense!) and a couple of Fernets to compare to the old standard of Fernet-Branca. I liked the Contratto, not as sweet as Leopold but less minty than Fernet-Branca. And did I mention a few genevers and gins I brought in to share with the distributor rep? It was a busy afternoon...

In the pursuit of drink perfection it is a notable but small sacrifice!

A bottle of the Lost Spirits showed up on my door step just this week. Yet to try it but it is quite the curiosity! The description of it on Spirits Journal was rather notable in its own right. I am just glad he elected to use overripe bananas instead of decomposing bats...

If you recognize what you have done in time then you can always scale up the other ingredients to match the error. Drink is better and you have more of it. That is what I would call a win, win!!!

And the bottle looks like a giant cologne bottle! Who wouldn't want that?

Another interesting and relatively recent Canadian true 100% rye is the Collingwood 21yo rye finished in toasted maple like the regular Collingwood is. The kicker here is this is 100% MALTED rye. A nice creamy well aged rye that is in the same price range as Whistlepig or Mastersons but waaaaay too easy to drink!

A favorite post prandial cocktail for me and I like it with the sweet Black Bush. Then again I rarely find anything to be too sweet for my sweet tooth!

You might still have a bit of time but I wouldn't dawdle! It appears Hall will be hanging around for the time being but there is already some speculation on how long he might last. If he gets frustrated/annoyed with the realities of corporate decision making he may bolt sooner rather than later. It will be interesting to see if some of the special editions get any wider distribution or if the intial focus will be on the basic stuff. But as they try to increase distribution stocks are likely to get stretched thin pretty quick. Can't make more overnight!

I would have to concur! For me, with rare exception the añejo's are for sipping or maybe a delicate Tequila Old Fashioned with a touch of agave nectar and a dash of mole bitters. Reposado tends to be the jack of all trades and the blanco, well I admit I rarely use them for anything any more but if you are going to shoot tequila with salt and lime for effect rather than enjoy the taste it doesn't really matter what you use! Indeed, in that situation the nastier the better it would seem in order to produce the appropriate grimace... Sotol is in an interesting but different category for me as it generally seems like a much lighter spirit than tequila.

Don't know that a blanco is a hard and fast rule! Might be that the anejo was a bit too delicate? I do like a bit of age on the tequila but tend to use a reposado for my Margarita and I have developed a fondness for Solerno as the liqueur with a bit of Damiana for an additional touch of sweetness (although I admit to having a sweet tooth!). So maybe a bit more tequila and try a reposado. My "house" brand is Espolon but any one with a bit of agave kick should work. I tend to eyeball it these days but i think i started with around 3 oz reposado, 1 oz Solerno blood orange liqueur, 1/2 oz Damiana, 1.5 oz lime juice.

Would love to find the Teeling in the US but haven't seen it yet which is disappointing. Have you tried it yet?