Advice for a novice rum taster (and maybe spirits in general)?

[FrogPrincesse]

12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I don't believe it.  Neisson l'espirit is around $70.  The most expensive that I know of.  Admittedly I have to think a moment before I down a glass, but I would not call that expensive as rhums go.

 

Capovilla PMG is about $90 in the US, and that is the most expensive white rhum agricole I've ever seen.

[edgarallanpoe]

19 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I have a bottle of Neisson 18 on my shelf.  I assure you it is not a white rhum.  I doubt JM 15 is either.

 

True, it is not and I wasn't saying it was.  I was responding to the statement that good rhum was hard to find and was not implying that all rhum was white.

[tanstaafl2]

Rhum agricole blanc is typically not as expensive as high end Scotch to be sure, although they are generally more expensive than molasses based white rums. Of course most molasses based white rums aren't very good (at least to me).

 

But well aged rhum agricole, like the Neisson 15 or 18 (although Neisson, a smaller family distillery on Martinique, while very good, seems pretty expensive in general) or Rhum JM 15, are typically very expensive (and also can be hard to find). And are oh so goooood!

 

The sorry state of rum regulation is very frustrating. I agree with the idea of making the labeling be more honest but getting so many different countries to agree to a single set of rules, and rum is made in a LOT of places, doesn't seem likely any time soon. The economy of some small countries is largely tied to major rum producers and they aren't likely to do anything those massive companies are opposed to.

 

Rhum agricoles and in particular Martinique agricoles are a good bit more regulated and are not allowed to add sugar (although there is even some suspicion of skirting rules with at least some of those brands). Jamaica and Barbados (home of Doorly, Foursquare and R.L. Seale 10yo, all made by the anti-sugar rum producer Richard Seale. His recent Foursquare 11yo cask strength rum is superb!) also have rules about sugar in rum. But most places do not.

 

Sugar is rampant in rum and hard to always get the facts on. But there are places where the sugar contents of rums are listed. The ones from the Swedish and Finnish governments presumably are pretty reliable. I can't speak with certainty to lists on other blogs although since they are partly based on the government tests it seems they are likely to be fairly accurate.

 

Of course I could say as much with almost any spirit although rum seems to be the gold standard for having a lack of standards! But Scotch, American whiskey and other whiskey producers tolerate a fair bit of their own nonsense within their industry. I would love to see requirements for the DSP being listed on any American whiskey produced, regulations to require labeling of coloring in Scotch as well as more transparency with age statements in both of them. The mystery 9.09% rule in Canadian whisky that doesn't have to be disclosed seems like a lot of nonsense as well.

 

(I am going to have to start making sure I have gotten to the last page of the thread!)

  

Edited February 3, 2017 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

5 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Capovilla PMG is about $90 in the US, and that is the most expensive white rhum agricole I've ever seen.

 

The cost of the Capovilla is a bit less (like half!) if you go to Marie Galante to get it!

 

Of course there is the cost of getting to Marie Galante you have to account for...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, edgarallanpoe said:

True, it is not and I wasn't saying it was.  I was responding to the statement that good rhum was hard to find and was not implying that all rhum was white.

 

You had quoted a post by @EvergreenDan on the topic of white rhum...anyhow I agree rhum agricole can be expensive and hard to find.

 

[edgarallanpoe]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You had quoted a post by @EvergreenDan on the topic of white rhum...anyhow I agree rhum agricole can be expensive and hard to find.

 

 

Yeah, I can see how it was interpreted that way.  I should have been more clear.  Fair point.

[Ashen]

On 31/01/2017 at 8:48 PM, edgarallanpoe said:

 

Yes, I do.  I wont touch the stuff.  El Dorado is one of the more egregious examples of what I was talking about earlier.  Their 12 yr has tested at between 35-39 grams of added sugar.  That's an insane amount of added sugar and it begs the question...if it really was 12 yr old why the heavy dosing?  Only they can answer that question and they haven't as far as I know.  Please understand that I am in no way trying to keep you from drinking that rum, I am simply saying that I have a real problem with companies that, IMHO, are misrepresenting what they are selling.  If they are adding that much sugar, then it *legally* ceases to be a rum and is actually a liquor.  Please keep in mind that sugars are destroyed in the fermentation process and a pure rum should only have trace amounts in it...35-39 grams of sugar can't happen unless it has been added after, it is simply impossible.  If you enjoy the rum, then by all means, drink it and please enjoy it....just know what you are buying and be an educated consumer.  American whisky and Scotch whiskey would *never* tolerate this nonsense and companies who did it would be ostracized by the people who love those spirits.  Why these rum companies get away with it is baffling to me.

 

 

that is probably why the 12 smells so much like brown sugar then.   I will be honest, I am not particularly worried about sugar in rum, but it is nice to know what I am drinking.    The spirits world is full of shenanigans unfortunately, even in American whiskey and Scotch.