Holidays are coming up and that’s always a stressy time of the year. Since I’ve been publishing larger sessions with more drams at the same time, my review buffer has become smaller. I don’t have 30-40 reviews in the pipeline, like I used to. That means scheduling three weeks of holiday reviews is quite a big task… which I can only achieve by publishing smaller sessions. Five rums, is that alright?
We start with a 60 year old rum from Cuba. It was distilled in 1963, that’s only four years after the revolution! If you think about it, it’s quite wonderful that such a spirit would end up in Scotland eventually and now provides a time capsule for rum lovers. Thanks to The Whisky Agency who bottled this as one of the highlights in their 15th anniversary series.
Cuban Rum 60 yo 1963 (48,5%, The Whisky Agency 2023, barrel, 284 btl.)
Nose: a bright mix of old cedarwood, Campari, cigar boxes and some earthy notes. Some sourness, mint leaves, drops of old Huang Pian cakes. Pipe tobacco. Then sour plums, cranberries, hints of raisins and dark chocolate. Despite the sour side there’s also a surprising sweetness. Overall very inviting, just a tad soft-voiced perhaps, which is understandable given the age.
Mouth: this feeling of softness is gone now. Nice intensity, with dark sugary notes, hints of caramelized bananas, along with sweet liquorice and old leathery notes. Then more raisins and dried prunes, as well as chocolate, pecans and a hint of black tea with honey. Thick molasses actually. Precious woods and flashes of fruits towards the end. Fades on sweet coffee and cough syrup with thyme.
Finish: long, still showing baked bananas, tobacco, subtle honey and caramelized nuts.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this had been sweetened at some point, in the same way that all the really old (dry) Oloroso sherry soleras have been adjusted back in the days. Simply a sign of the times. In any case this comes accross as a dark, complex and highly drinkable old spirit.
The Duo is a series of small batch blended rums from The Whisky Jury. Every release consists of two rums from different distilleries. Check our review of the first release. Now there’s Chapter #2, a mix of 6yo South American rum (pot still) and 2yo HD C<>H.
The Duo – Chapter #2: South America + HD (50,7%, The Whisky Jury 2024, 50 cl, 523 btl.)
Mouth: lots of bananas, both greener (Pisang style) and mashed, creamier banana. Oranges and lemons again. Then a slightly drier side, with peppery notes, liquorice, lemon candy and just echoes of green olives (with very little salty notes). The amount of sugar syrup / honey rounds off the sourness and the esters in a nice way.
Finish: now the South American sweetness takes the lead. Sweet banana candy, with a drop of caramel and honey.
The art of blending two rums should not be underestimated. Especially when you look at the age of both components, this is an outstanding composition that far exceeds our expectations. If you then take the price into account, it becomes a total no-brainer. Score: 90/100
Uitvlugt 33 yo 1990 (51,8%, Decadent Drinks 2024, refill barrel, 182 btl.)
Mouth: there’s an old woody side at first, along with walnuts and pencil shavings. Also light tarry notes and liquorice. Later fatty notes, nutmeg and citrus peels come forward. A lightly medicinal, herbal side. Closer to black olives now, with a charred edge.
Finish: long and fairly woody, with liquorice and a subtle metallic edge.
I remember not liking an early Uitvlugt 1990 from Decadent Drinks too much. This is better, in my opinion. I find it very classy but it’s still lacking a bit of punch, somehow. Still available from Decadent Drinks. Score: 89/100
The next one is the latest rum release from Wu Dram Clan. It contains old Jamaican rums: 40% Moneymusk EMB 1995, 32% Long Pond LPS 2001 and 28% New Yarmouth 1994.
Jamaican Rum Blend 23 yo (57%, Wu Dram Clan 2024, 218 btl.)
Mouth: very drinkable considering the ABV. Still this tropical core of pineapples / bananas, maybe even pink grapefruit and passion fruit. This fades into greener notes, olives and citrus, along with mint, leather, subtle cedar wood and floral touches. Mild coconut and oak spice as well, with a few drops of herbal bitters towards the end.
Finish: long, with a bit more esters including a drying woody edge. Lingering bright fruits and bananas too.
The funny note on the nose took a while to convince me – at first I wondered why they hadn’t bottled the tropical fruit component (New Yarmouth?) on its own. But then the complexity is hard to resist and I suppose the whole is more unique than the sum of parts. Hard to pin down but I really like it. Score: 91/100
We end this session with Savanna, the rum from the isle of Réunion. We don’t have much experience with this brand.
Savanna ‘Unshared Cask’ 6 yo (59,5%, OB for Germany 2022, ex-cognac cask #25, 50 cl, 768 btl.)
Mouth: fairly light-textured, with a sweet-and-sour profile, mixing bananas, lemons, vanilla and oak spice. After a while the sweetness takes the upper hand, with citrus candy, custard, yellow apples and peaches. Hints of cedar wood and grassy notes in the end. You do get echoes of (very young) cognac.
Finish: long, slightly salty, with pine wood and citrus.
Quite nice, even though it suffers a little from the serious line-up before. Réunion is another set of colours in the wide range that rum occupies. To be investigated further. Score: 85/100