Dead Reckoning Port Broadside. Today we have another review of a rum from Australian Independent bottlers – Dead Reckoning. They have recently expanded distribution into Europe and the US. However, this is Single Cask release for the Australian market only.

This is a blend of rums from three different “secret” distilleries. It should be noted at this point that some Rum Producers have requested that Independents do not use the distillery name on their bottlings.

I am not entirely sure if all three of the distilleries used in this bottling have such informal arrangements in place. Dead Reckoning Port Broadside does have identifiers though. In the shape of rum marques which can be used to determine which distillery the rum hails from.

First of all though we will consider the name used for this release – Port Broadside. Rather than being an actual Port the term is actually a reference to firing all guns/cannons from one side – Port (left) of a warship. Which suggests this is quite going to quite a “fiery” number.

So it is a little bit of surprise to see which rum marques have been used in this release. You might expect this rum to be made up of the higher ester Rum Marques. It isn’t. Dead Reckoning Port Broadside is made up of marques at the lower end of the ester count. That said this is Jamaican rum so it is by nature more “funky” than just about everything else on the planet.

I’ll give a quick run down on the marques used in this release

LFCH – First up we have a marque from the Hampden Estate. This is a more recent marque – Lawrence Francis Close Hussey a member of the Hussey family who own Hampden Estate and the grandfather of current Marketing Director Christelle Harris who is often the “face” of Hampden Estate. The ester range is between 85-120 gr/hl AA.

For context Hampden Estate’s ester level marques range from 40 gr/hl AA OWH (Outram W Hussey) to 1600 gr/hl AA DOK (Dermot Owen Kelly-Lawson).

This is a Pot Still distilled rum.

WPL – Secondly we have rum from Worthy Park Estate. Worthy Park Light which has between 60-119 gr/hl AA. Worthy Park are a different kind of distillery to most of the other Jamaican producers. It is a much more modern, more technologically advanced distillery.

Worthy Park operate a Pot Still only set up and there rums do not go as high ester-wise as the likes of Hampden, Long Pond and New Yarmouth. The highest ester rum produced by Worthy Park is Worthy Park Extra (WPE) which can go up to 800 gr/hl AA.

NYE/P – The New Yarmouth Estate has only recently become more well known thanks mainly to Independent bottlers. New Yarmouth is situated in Clarendon Parish (not to be confused with Clarendon Distillery) and was acquired by Appleton Estate (Campari) in 2012. It operates both pot and column stills.

The distillery produces rum for various Jamaican blends and is also where the world (in)famous J Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum is produced.

From what I gather the rum used in this release is a column distilled rum. NYE/P – New Yarmouth Estate Plummer is the marque. I have also seen this marque attributed to Pot Still rums. It will also be familiar with anyone who has had a bottle of Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum.

The ester count for this one is between 95-150 gr/hl AA. Again for reference New Yarmouth Estate rums can run up to 1600 gr/hl AA with their NYE/WK – New Yarmouth Estate Winston Kennedy marque.

So that is the information on the juice in the bottle. I am not sure in what quantities the rum has been blended. The bottle notes this is Single Blended Rum, As it is from multiple distilleries this should just be labelled Blended Rum. Justin at Dead Reckoning has acknowledged this error. It’s not a big deal for me as we get plenty information from Justin and co at Dead Reckoning so there is no real confusion over what we are getting here.

As noted this rum is a Australia only release with just 360 bottles available. ABV is 50%. The overall ester count is noted as 96.5 gr/hl AA. It has been aged for 4 and a 1/2 years. 3 Years in ex-bourbon casks in Jamaica and 1 and a 1/2 years in a 120 year Australian Dry Tawny (Port to all intents and purposes) Cask “Dry Aged” in Adelaide.

The cost of this rum is around $125. Information on this rum can be found at The Rum Tribe.

As with all Dead Reckoning releases – no added sugar or any other additives and non-chill filtered.

I think we have enough information on the contents of this bottle so now lets see how it goes down…….

The nose is quite mellow, fair bit of influence from the Tawny casks giving it a sweet, slightly floral aroma initially. There is a hint of “funk” lurking beneath.

Further nosing reveals more tropical fruits – pineapple and coconut in particular. There is also a hint of stewed prunes, breakfast tea (no milk) and a mix of allspice and some slight woody/aged notes. I am also getting hints of nail varnish and some charred banana skins.

All in all the nose is complex and inviting at the same time. Even at 50% ABV this is very approachable.

Sipping Dead Reckoning Port Broadside offers a quite different experience initially. On the first sip their is a real “tang” and a hit of sour notes. There is a lot more Jamaican funk going on now. After a couple of sips the tangy sour notes begin to give way to more traditional, familiar Jamaican notes. I’m getting more of the nail varnish and pineapple. It’s a kind of sweet and sour note now.

As the palate becomes more accustomed to the rum you will begin to notice some stoned fruits, banana bread and a touch of icing sugar.

The mid palate really begins to open up and you will start to experience the black tea notes again. Alongside a nice mix of vanilla/bourbon and some spicy oak. There is a slight herbal note to this as well. Mango, Passion Fruit – the list goes on…..

There is so much going on with this rum. By the time you reach the finish you will have went through a real array of flavours and aromas.

Length wise the finish is a good length, nice and dry with a good amount of spiciness. Even a touch of ground coffee. Sweetness from the Tawny cask comes through leaving a nice taste of what I can only describe as funky blackcurrants.

With this rum Justin at Dead Reckoning has achieved a complex sipper. One which will appeal to more experienced rum buffs but  won’t have more casual or less experienced rum drinkers running to the hills.

It might not be the liking 100% of the more extreme 1% of rum drinkers who only drink perfume, sorry DOK (Dermot Owen Kelly) marque rums but hey ho.

I think this is a great piece of work again from Dead Reckoning.