Understanding Rum

[FrogPrincesse]

A white rhum agricole would be my pick, but I know it's not traditional.

 

Flor de Caña extra dry is a safe bet. I also really like Plantation 3 Stars. Havana Club añejo 3 años if you can get it. Banks 5 is an interesting twist.

Edited July 31, 2015 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[EvergreenDan]

A white rhum agricole would be my pick, but I know it's not traditional.

+1

[ChrisTaylor]

Just finished off my bottle of El Dorado 3, which was mostly used for making daiquiris. Also have Barbancourt 8 and Smith & Cross at home.

 

What do you all recommend I pick up next as another great daiquiri rum?

 

Rhu JM Blanc 100. It's hard to choose anything else afterwards--at least in the 40-45% APV range.

[Moto]

Once you go Agricole Blanc you never go back!  The 50% abv for these is the important part.  You get the funk and grassiness to come through and it just makes the daiquiri an amazing drink.  My preference is for La Favorite so far.

 

Plantation 3 Star works good as well.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Moto (log)

[tanstaafl2]

A white rhum agricole would be my pick, but I know it's not traditional.

 

Flor de Caña extra dry is a safe bet. I also really like Plantation 3 Stars. Havana Club añejo 3 años if you can get it. Banks 5 is an interesting twist.

 

While I too think a nice 100 proof agricole blanc is always a good choice I would second the Flor de Cana Extra Dry as a good place to start for a readily available good quality and yet relatively inexpensive choice.

[ChrisTaylor]

A new rum on the Australian market, No41. It's named after a Brisbane rum bar, Substation No41. They commissioned this rum, apparently. It's inexpensive and low apv--37%--for what I imagine are tax reasons. Despite the price tag they're billing it as a premium rum: a sipper and a mixer. I wish there was a boozier version.

 

On the nose there's rubber. Freshly burned tyre tread. Molasses. On the palate there's a boatload of molasses. Vanilla. I can't stomach a side-by-side with Sea Wynde but I'm reminded of it ... but not in a bad way. Almost like this is a somewhat sweeter, more approachable, less completely bonkers version of Wynde. It's very drinkable even though it's not especially complex or even especially delicious. For a cheap rum it's workable. Shame about the APV--I reckon the base flavour profile would be pretty banging in something like a Mai Tai or Zombie.

 

[mhdousa]

Someone brought me a bottle of Matusalem rum back from Mexico. Any suggestions for the best way to use it? I tried it in a daiquiri and didn't love it, but am willing to try again.

[FrogPrincesse]

I'd try it in a Zombie or a Jet Pilot.

[scubadoo97]

Got to sip some Hamilton Demerara rum as well as some Lemon Hart at a bourbon event recently. Full of flavor that sipped surprisingly well at proof but was amazing with some water

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Got to sip some Hamilton Demerara rum as well as some Lemon Hart at a bourbon event recently. Full of flavor that sipped surprisingly well at proof but was amazing with some water

 

I have both but have not yet popped the Hamilton, as it is not grapefruit season here.

 

Let me understand this:  you say you were at a bourbon event??

[scubadoo97]

Yes a bourbon, whisky and cigar centric event and gathering of friends from around the country. We get together a few times a year.

Both rums were full of flavor. They did very well with a little water.

I was expecting more heat and less flavor but then I've had some high proof whiskies that are very flavorful and don't taste as hot as you would think.

[Craig E]

I was amused to hear the story behind this censored label of my new Hamilton 151 rum. Apparently it was after the labels went to the printer that the lawyers determined that the phrase "Demerara rum" was a copyrighted term unavailable to Hamilton. ("Rum from the Demerara River" was okay.) So I imagine some intern in New York was handed a Sharpie and told to get to work.

[haresfur]

 

I was amused to hear the story behind this censored label of my new Hamilton 151 rum. Apparently it was after the labels went to the printer that the lawyers determined that the phrase "Demerara rum" was a copyrighted term unavailable to Hamilton. ("Rum from the Demerara River" was okay.) So I imagine some intern in New York was handed a Sharpie and told to get to work.

 

A perfect activity for sitting on the boat watching the sun go down.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I was amused to hear the story behind this censored label of my new Hamilton 151 rum. Apparently it was after the labels went to the printer that the lawyers determined that the phrase "Demerara rum" was a copyrighted term unavailable to Hamilton. ("Rum from the Demerara River" was okay.) So I imagine some intern in New York was handed a Sharpie and told to get to work.

 

I just checked and my bottle of Hamilton is uncensored!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

While still on the subject of Hamilton, I'm tasting a tumbler of Mississippi punch as we speak, made this time with Hamilton's Jamaican Pot Still Black in place of S&C as the Jamaican component of the punch.  Both are nice.  Not sure which works better.  Of course I'm more used to S&C.  Plus S&C has the advantage of higher ABV.  Fortunately, either way, Mississippi punch is not lacking much in proof.

 

Guess I'll have to try Jamaican Pot Still Black in my next mai tai.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I recently restocked Cana Brava and noticed it now comes with an age statement:  3 years.  The color is noticeably darker than the prior bottle with no age statement.

 

Sadly the new bottle is only 750 ml.

[FrogPrincesse]

Impromptu Four Square rum tasting a few weeks ago. They were all really great. My preference was 2004 > Port cask > Zinfandel cask.

 

 

 

 

[scubadoo97]

My preference as well when tasting them at one of Richard's lectures and I should have picked up a few when I last ordered the 2004s since it was  significantly cheaper than the 2004 and would have been nice to have in the rotation 

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 8:19 AM, scubadoo97 said:

My preference as well when tasting them at one of Richard's lectures and I should have picked up a few when I last ordered the 2004s since it was  significantly cheaper than the 2004 and would have been nice to have in the rotation 

 

As much as I like Port finishing I did find I liked the Zin more than I thought and probably would put it (a distant) second behind the cask strength 2004 and just ahead of the port finish.

 

I should finally get my own bottles of the 2004 in hand by next week. At least I hope so!

[scubadoo97]

3 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

As much as I like Port finishing I did find I liked the Zin more than I thought and probably would put it (a distant) second behind the cask strength 2004 and just ahead of the port finish.

 

I should finally get my own bottles of the 2004 in hand by next week. At least I hope so!

If I had a bottle or two of the zin finished i may feel the same way.   Things have a way of growing on me when I've had more exposure.  So far I've only had a few sips of the port and zin finished and the 2004 over shadowed them in the tasting.  So bottom line, I should have ordered both!

[haresfur]

1 hour ago, scubadoo97 said:

If I had a bottle or two of the zin finished i may feel the same way.   Things have a way of growing on me when I've had more exposure.  So far I've only had a few sips of the port and zin finished and the 2004 over shadowed them in the tasting.  So bottom line, I should have ordered both!

 

Always a good plan!

 

I need to keep reminding myself that tasting isn't the same thing as drinking. I have a bottle of rye that I found nice enough to buy but I have been disappointed mixing or even sitting down with a glass.

[tanstaafl2]

Well, at long last I made time for a little rum side by side by side by side.

 

 

Some interesting history for the sufficiently nerdy (like me!) on the different versions can be found here at Tiki Central.

 

Only the first bottle on the left had been opened prior to this tasting (and it was opened some time ago). Let's face it, these are big boys no matter how you cut it up. But there were a few surprises.

 

The original bottle, owned by Pernod Richard but presumably still blended and bottled in Canada, still had tons of caramel/demerara/molasses flavor and was drinkable at proof if a touch fiery.

 

Surprisingly the red label "Mosaiq" label (they acquired the brand from Pernod) which was blended in Guyana and made from around 2011 to about 2014, had pretty much all of the same flavor but a bit less heat making it most enjoyable.

 

The surprise was the Hamilton 151, which was made available in about 2015 by Ed Hamilton when Mosaiq stopped making the red label and was also blended in Guyana but was perhaps not the exact same formula in the blend as the Mosaiq red label, which came across as all heat that seemed to overwhelm any flavor. Water seemed to make very little difference. A bit disappointing and will need to be tried again.

 

Finally the newest edition of Lemon Hart (again reportedly made by Mosaiq who still owns the brand and still blended in Guyana like the former red label, not Canada as had been the case with the original Pernod bottle) had a good balance of flavor and heat. The family resemblance was there but it was not quite as rich as either of the first two bottles and it was not overwhelmingly hot. It seems an adequate if not ideal substitute for the earlier and now dusty labels. 

 

Now even I am not going to sit around drinking 151 rum (very often... ) but it was interesting to see how each differed.

 

But the winner here, in a bit of an upset was the Red Label "Mosaiq" bottling which sadly is no longer available. Indeed neither of the first two bottles is available so if you like tiki and see one I suggest you grab these dusty's quickly!

[scubadoo97]

Staff note: This post and the responses to it have been moved from All About Bourbon Whiskey.

 

@Eatmywords  Give a rum like Doorlys a try.  El Dorado has a significant amount of added sugar added after distillation 

[TicTac]

10 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

@Eatmywords  Give a rum like Doorlys a try.  El Dorado has a significant amount of added sugar added after distillation 

Good suggestion.  Also Plantation Single Cask just dropped some new releases which are supposed to be excellent.

 

@scubadoo97 - seems like you have access to a nice bourbon selection down in FL...seen the new Sam Houston 15 yet?  Wish we could get that up here in Canada....damn LCkgBO!

[Eatmywords]

12 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

@Eatmywords  Give a rum like Doorlys a try.  El Dorado has a significant amount of added sugar added after distillation 

Thx, yes, I found out about the added sugar post purchase but I don't mind. It's not overly sweet and has an enjoyable complexity. Recently tried the Ron Zacapa 23 and did detect added sugar but it was still pretty good esp if you think of it as a cordial 😁.   I do want to try the Doorly's as well Appleton (also no added sugar).