In case you didn’t know, August 16 is National Rum Day. And honestly, I don’t care. In fact, the best way to not get me to drink a specific spirit is to tell me I’m supposed to drink it on a specific day. Give me a margarita on St. Patrick’s Day, when I’m supposed to be drinking Irish whiskey, but not on Cinco de Mayo, when I may well be drinking… Irish whiskey. You get my drift. And industry-created “days” of unknown origin are even more annoying. So let me be clear, I am not advocating that you drink any of the delicious rums mentioned below on August 16th. In fact, as far as I’m concerned you should go out of your way to drink anything except rum for the day. But that leaves another 364 days of the calendar to check them out. So with that in mind, here are some amazing sipping rums that have come out since the last National Rum Day. Explore, expand your horizons, and enjoy.
Aged in Jamaica for 25 years, yet miraculously doesn’t taste like you’re licking an oak tree.
Photo courtesy Appleton Estate/Campari
Appleton Estate Hearts Collection: 1998 (63% ABV, aged 25 years, $650). Appleton Estate is the oldest (founded in 1749), best selling, and best known Jamaican rum. It may not be the most quintessentially “Jamaican” (read: big and funky) rum, but it’s a brand you could use to convert even the most stubborn whiskey snobs. The Hearts Collection, an ongoing series of superannuated 100% pot still rums (Appleton’s standard roster is a blend of pot and column still), is curated by longtime Appleton master blender Joy Spence in collaboration with Velier’s Luca Gargano, one of the foremost movers and shakers in the rum world for the last few decades. After 25 years of aging in hot and humid Jamaica, you might expect it to taste like licking the inside of a barrel, but these Appleton folks know what they’re doing. It’s actually quite fruity, with mango, apricot and dark stone fruits leading into dry tobacco and coffee notes, and finishing off with long waves of spicy oak. A little water dims the intensity a bit without dulling the flavors, but hey, some people like their rum intense. If you can afford it — and can find one of the 2,706 bottles available globally — it’s worth it.
Holmes Cay Venezuela 2007 15 Year (55% ABV, aged 15 years, $100). The world of whisky has its share of what’s known as independent bottlers — brands that source choice barrels from various distilleries and bottle them (and sometimes age them as well) themselves. You may know some of them, like Gordon & MacPhail and Duncan Taylor in Scotland, or Proof & Wood covering (mostly) North America. Rum has its share of independent bottlers as well. One of my favorites is Holmes Cay, founded by two New York-based rum fanatics who, since the company’s founding in 2019, have managed to score terrific additive-free casks from distilleries all over the globe. One of the latest in their Single Cask Editions line is from an unnamed (for legal reasons) distillery in Venezuela whose solera-aged column still rums, to be honest, I’ve never been crazy about. But this is from a single cask, tropically aged for 15 years, and bottled at a healthy 110 proof where the stuff bottled by the distillery comes in at 80 proof. These factors make a world of difference, and a much better rum. Vanilla, toffee and melon notes on the front of the tongue morph into bright citrus and chocolate covered orange by midpalate, with a long finish that’s equal parts fruity and oaky. In a word, oh yeah. OK, that’s two words….
Rolling Fork The Wheated Cask Wonder (57.09% ABV, aged 10 years, $100). Rolling Fork is another top-notch independent rum bottler working out of Kentucky and Indiana, two locales better known for their work with American whiskey. This limited edition, taken from a mere four casks’ worth of liquid, was distilled, according to Rolling Fork, at “FSD in St. Philip.” Any rum fan worth their salt will tell you that’s legalese for Foursquare, the Barbados distillery run by the legendary Richard Seale, which makes some of the world’s best and most desirable rums. This beauty was aged in ex-bourbon barrels in Barbados for eight years and then finished in wheated bourbon barrels “sourced from Frankfort, KY” (home of Buffalo Trace) for two years at Rolling Fork’s own rickhouse in Indiana. Despite being bottled at damn near 115 proof, it’s an easy sipper — buttery and lightly sweet, with notes of vanilla and coconut leading into spicy, drier oaky notes and a long, vanilla cake finish. This one likely won’t be at your local retailer, but check it out at Seelbach’s, a great online source for interesting and noteworthy hooch.
Distilled and aged for a dozen years in Thailand and less than $50? Yes please!
Photo by Tony Sachs
Shakara 12 Year Old (45.7% ABV, aged 12 years, $42). There are a lot of interesting rums being made in Asia, but not too many of them make it to the States in any great quantity. I couldn’t tell you where Shakara, from Thailand, sits in the pantheon of Asian rum, but it’s definitely worth your while. Column distilled from local molasses, it’s aged for a dozen years in ex-bourbon barrels in Thailand’s hot and humid climes. Column still rums are supposed to be light and less flavorful, but Shakara drinks like it came from an old-school pot still, with grassy notes mingling with intense flavors of roasted nuts, coffee and toasted coconut. As it slides throatward, burnt caramel and hints of tobacco take over. The finish is long and lightly sweet and practically compels your hand to lift your glass for another sip. It’s a primo sipping rum and also makes a stellar rum Old Fashioned. And it’s affordable. What more could you want?
Hampden Estate Great House 2023 (57% ABV, no age statement, $130). The 2024 edition of this annual release is out any minute as I write this, but before it appears, let us praise once more the 2023 edition, which should be findable at your more refined boozy establishments for a while. For those who don’t know, Hampden Estate is arguably the Jamaican rum distillery for high-ester pot still rum. It’s been a going concern since 1753, but until the 21st century Hampden’s rum was shipped to Europe, where it was aged and used in some of the most desirable blended rums. It was only in 2018 that the first estate-aged rum bottled under the Hampden name appeared. Hampden is to rum as Four Roses is to bourbon — it has eight recipes, or marques, which it uses in varying proportions in all of its rums. Each annual release of Great House uses a different combination and has its own vibe. The ‘23 comes on with an aroma of sweet banana bread underpinned by olive brine, a combo that’s a lot more mouthwatering than it may sound. On the palate, sweet tropical fruits mix with bright lemon, intense baking spices, salinity, and vegetal notes that linger for a good long while post-swallow. There are funkier, weirder Jamaican pot still rums out there, but there aren’t many better.
Ten To One’s Five Origin Select is a worthy addition to their permanent line.
Photo courtesy Ten To One
Ten To One Five Origin Select (46% ABV, aged up to 15 years, $65). Trinidad native Marc Farrell was the youngest VP at Starbucks when he decided to devote his life to the far more noble cause of sourcing, blending and bottling rums from throughout the Caribbean. Ten To One, launched in 2019, was an immediate success both commercially and critically — its white rum, a blend of Dominican column still and Jamaican pot still rums, has been one of my go-tos for daiquiris since I first tasted it. The first permanent addition to the Ten To One roster, Five Origin Select is a blend of aged rums from Trinidad, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the focal point, 11-15 year old Guyanese content sourced from Port Mourant’s famed double wooden pot still. The meaty flavor of the Guyanese rum is immediately recognizable, but this is a well executed blend — a combination of vanilla, sweet pear, milk chocolate, and a touch of peppery spice. It’s approachable enough to sip neat, but holds up well with ice or in a daiquiri, if you’re so inclined.
To some people, a rum that smells like overripe banana and moldy cheese sounds disgusting. To … [+] others, it sounds like a must-try. I’m in the latter camp.
Photo by Tony Sachs
Renegade Single Farm: Dunfermline (50% ABV, aged 2 years, $70). Mark Reynier, who started up Renegade in Grenada in 2016, uses vintners’ techniques in making Renegade — terroir-focused rum using specific varietals of sugarcane (as opposed to molasses) that were grown on individual fields, with all the relevant details available on every bottle. Dunfermline, named after the farm where the cane is grown, is part of Renegade’s Cuvée line, which employs cane from multiple fields on single farms. Whether or not you’re interested in the granular details, you should be interested in tasting it, because it’s distinctive and delicious. This combo pot/column distilled rum is aged for just a couple of years, both because the tropical climate of Grenada does the job quickly and
because Reynier wants to retain as much of the cane’s influence as possible. The result is what my wife describes as an aroma of overripe banana and moldy cheese, reminiscent of a funky Jamaican pot still expression. On the palate it’s grassy and sweet, with notes of vanilla and grapefruit segueing into oak, clove, and a bit of vegetal funk. The finish is long and earthy, as befits a terroir-forward rum. Definitely not for everyone, but if you want to understand just how broad the rum category is, it’s worth a try.
For those occasions when you don’t feel like sipping. here’s a terrific mixing rum (though it’s good … [+] for sipping, too)
Photo courtesy of La Maison & Velier
Transcontinental Rum Line: High Seas (blend of aged and un-aged, 45% ABV, $30). All these sipping rums are well and good, I hear you saying, but what if I just want a daiquiri, for cryin’ out loud? Well, there’s no law against making a daiquiri from a fine sipping rum — although in a lot of cases it’ll be an expensive daiquiri as well. But one of my favorite mixing rums – which is also quite a fine sipper — comes from the Transcontinental Rum Line, which sources and bottles (in beautiful packages, I might add) rums hailing from all over the world, from Australia to Mauritius to Fiji. The three rums in this blend are an aged rum from Panama; unaged high-ester rum from Jamaica (possibly Hampden Estate?); and unaged grand arôme (molasses-based) rum from Martinique. It makes for a hell of a combo, with sweet banana and pineapple notes balanced out by orange peel and hints of coffee and toasted oak, with a beautiful salinity underpinning the whole thing. It’s a fine sipper, but it makes a hell of a daiquiri — or a mai tai or Jungle Bird or pretty much any other rum cocktail you can think of.
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Publish date : 2024-08-15 05:00:00
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