Clarendon 2007 Aged 12 Years Selected by Thompson Bros. These rather nicely presented bottlings of Independently bottled Caribbean rum, first came to my attention with another Jamaican rum. That rum was bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange and came from Worthy Park it was also 12 Years Old.

Thompson Bros are more than just Independent Whisky and Rum bottlers. Back in 2015 the brothers Simon and and Philip also began setting up Dornoch Distillery with a view to making the “kind of whisky that has long been extinct”.

The brothers are perhaps better positioned than many, to do so as they run the award winning whisky bar at the Dornoch Castle Hotel. The bar is renowned for its rare and antique whisky bottlings. For more information on Thompson Bros you can visit their website.

So let’s take a look at the rum in this rather snazzily presented bottle. Presentation wise this is certainly a step up from a lot of Scottish Independent bottlers but we’ll come to that shortly. Clarendon 2007 Aged 12 Years Selected by Thompson Bros may seem a bit of mystery to some of you. It probably depends on how long and how deeply you have delved into the world of rum and in particular independent bottlings.

You may well be more familiar with the output from Clarendon Distillery under the guise of the Monymusk brand or even by the numerous “Monymusk” labelled independent bottlings. The Monymusk Estate which is owned by National Rums of Jamaica distills most of its output at Clarendon, this includes the distillate which is used by Captain Morgan.

Clarendon 2007 Aged 12 Years Selected by Thompson Bros is (and I quote from the label) “Fine Pot Distilled Jamaican Rum”. It was distilled back in 2007 and bottle sometime in 2019. There were only 262 bottles available. It has been bottled at 53.5% ABV which is likely to be Cask Strength or near enough. It has been aged in ex-bourbon casks.

This was available at both Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange. I think I paid around £55 for the 70cl bottle. I regret to say this has now sold out. If I thought it would sell quite so quickly I would have reviewed it quicker. So apologies!

Presentation wise although it is fairly minimalist with just a front label and a normal tall style bar bottle the label is designed by KMG who design a lot for the Dornoch Distillery/Thompson Bros. I’m not particularly arty so I don’t know how you might describe the design but it’s quite catchy on the shelf and looks pretty slick to me.

I think it’s time to move on and give this rum a run out.

Now first up I’ve been overall fairly disappointed to date with my experience with Clarendon/Monymusk bottlings. They are far from my favourite distillery. However, I heard good things about this bottling from people whose opinion I value (there are at least 2 people I occasionally listen to), so I thought I would give it a try.

In the glass Clarendon 2007 Aged 12 Years Selected by Thompson Bros is a light/golden brown colour. Quite light for 12 years ageing. Going from how National Rums of Jamaica operate with their bulk rum operation it is highly likely this has been entirely continentally aged, here in Europe.

On the nose this is much more fruity and “solvent” led than I have experience in the past with Clarendon/Monymusk offerings. It is more in line with my experiences with the Long Pond Distillery (which is also part of National Rums of Jamaica). For those familiar with the site, this is not a bad thing………..

Solvent, Creosote and Pineapple Cubes/Pear Drops (Boiled Sweets) fly out of the glass. The mix of the strong glue and varnish notes compliment the sweeter notes of Pineapple, Pear and fresh Green Banana. I’m only getting very mild notes of oak and wood ageing. This is a fruity and very funky nose. There is however a slightly smoky note and a bit of English Breakfast tea which reminds me of Worthy Park.

On the initial entry the rum is sweet with lots of pineapple juice and sweet ripe pear. As the entry develops it becomes much more savoury and malty than I was expecting from the sweetness on the nose and initial entry. Notes of charred banana and English Breakfast tea are quite predominant.

It has a bitter-sweet note to it and each sip seems evolve differently as it hits different parts of your taste buds. It’s a very complex and very well defined rum. The solvent, varnish notes remain throughout the experience giving an extra weight to the overall flavour sensation. It’s quite a spicy rum particularly on the mid palate and towards the finish. Spicy Chilli Pepper heat and some Black Pepper come more and more into play. These mingle with some light ginger on the finish.

The finish is pretty long and the burn takes a considerable time to fade. The finish is spicy with a woody tone – pencil shavings and chewed pencils. As the burn fades out you are left with a very gluey taste in the mouth. If you enjoy the smell of petrol then you will probably quite enjoy this. I certainly did.

If I was given this rum blind I would swear it was a blend if Worthy Park and Long Pond. I wouldn’t have noted this one as being a Clarendon/Monymusk.

Overall a really pleasant surprise and again apologies for not reviewing this sooner though in fairness I only got it on the 23rd June. I guess the whisky guys must have got their hands on this.

Addendum you can still pick up a bottle here. Not sure how I missed it!