Ron Aldea Maestro 2006. Ron Aldea are a rum producer from the Canary Island of La Palma. They have been producing rum since 1936. Originally based on the island of Gran Canaria, the concern moved to nearby La Palma in the 1950’s.
If you have ever travelled to the Canary or even the Balearic islands around Spain you will have come across Ron Aldea in the Duty Free. It is also present in most mainland Spanish Duty Free outlets. Quite often they have tasters available – which to be honest never exactly blew me away but we won’t pre-judge based on that.
Vale Verde 12 Anos. This cachaca has a very good reputation and is widely available (there is even a stockist here in the UK). It has won some quite prestigious awards since it’s release back in 2012.
Mount Gay XO Triple Cask Blend. For once in the rum world new packaging does 100% mean a change in the blend. It is not just the work of conspiracy theorists, who can remember exactly, what a rum tasted like 20 years ago and immediately notice tiny little differences to the blend – but only I hasten to add once the bottle shape and/or label have changed……..
Rhum Neisson Blanc 55%. Neisson are a Rhum Agricole producer from Martinique. Neisson produce their rhums from sugar cane harvested at their distillery and are a cane to bottle operatiion. They are not a brand that buy in rhum for blending and ageing.
Hampden Great House Distillery Edition. It is always good to see producers such as Hampden putting out their own bottlings of aged rum, rather than selling bulk rum for others to profit from. It seems the distillery has grown in confidence and they now have a commercial bottling of the rum they drink on the estate.
Independent Bottler The Duchess have begun a line of Hummingbird inspired r(h)ums, with artwork, as always from Dutch artist Hans Dillesse.
Black Tears Spiced Rum. This is quite a unique spirit. It notes that this is the first Dry Cuban Spiced rum on the market. Now currently in Cuba the legislation around rum production allows for 20g/L of sugar. Any rum which exceeds that amount is noted as an Elixir – such as Legendario