FAIR 10 Year Old Rum
FAIR Spirits are the first line of socially responsible spirits, so the tagline on their website goes.
This 10 year old rum hails from Belize a Central American country which shares it eastern shoreline with the Caribbean sea. I have reviewed a couple of rums previously from Belize. One bottled directly by their largest rum operation Travellers and one which was produced for a third party – much like this FAIR rum.
The 5 year old FAIR Belize rum is still widely available but this 10 year old is not part of their usual line up and cannot be found on their website at present.
So what is it exactly that makes this rum FAIR? Well it is produced using Fair Trade Certified Sugar Cane. Hence making it socially if not environmentally responsible. It is transported from Belize to France for bottling and further distribution. Like most rum it has a huge global footprint!
If you can still find this rum (it is still stocked in the UK by Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange) it will set you back around £45-55. It comes in an attractive stubby bottle with clean sloped edges. For your money you get 70cl at an ABV of 40%
The 5 year old has gained quite a bit of attention and is widely seen as being pretty decent (I take more notice of feedback from key people on Social Media than Awards). Personally I was quite surprised by this as I’ve been very disappointed with the rums of Belize so far. Both products I have tried were altered one to the point where it really was pushing it to describe it as rum. For anyone who hasn’t read my review of 1 Barrel – please do before you consider buying that particular “rum”.
The rum has been aged for 10 years in ex-Bourbon barrels – I have no details on how the rum has been distilled (pot/column) unfortunately.
So moving on to the nosing and tasting. FAIR Belize 10 Year Old has a very familiar nose. It’s around about 90% Bajan with nice light notes of vanilla and toffee, a little spiced oak. The remaining 10% is more a slight added sweetness when compared to drier Bajan rums. This made me think that it could be sugared as it reminded me most of English Harbour 1981. (I originally nosed this completely blind and came to the conclusion that it could be English Harbour 10 as it didn’t seem as oaky as the 1981)
Bearing in mind this blind nosing was done without ANY options whatsoever – my wife had acquired the rum for me with no input from myself (I’ve never even spoke about this rum before) I was pretty pleased with my guess and I don’t think I was far off in terms of profile at all. Though I concede I was very surprised to learn this was something from Travellers. Just goes to show what good rum they have their on the island and have no need to go down the 1 Barrel route or trot out the Small Batch Claims of Tiburon.
As awful as this may sound the nose was so familiar that you could almost say it is a little safe. Slightly boring, I’ve been here before with a good few rums. Having said that this rum does appear to have been made the right way. It’s not Bajan but its as close as you will get.
A quick sip, the FAIR rum is nice – it’s pretty dry and very oaked. It doesn’t burst with fruit flavours and the taste is actually quite “boozy” and a little young. On the tongue it still hold the vanilla but once sipped the throat is coated with spicy oak flavour and little else. It has a nice tingly warming finish with not much burn but it doesn’t offer a great deal.
To me this rum seems to have been “watered down” too low. At 40% it seems a little thin and insipid. It doesn’t do a great wrong and you feel you are drinking “proper” rum, problem is I could do the same for £20 with a bottle of Doorlys 5 Year Old. I can get Cockspur Fine Rum for £11.50. Both do pretty much the same job as this 10 year old FAIR rum. At £45-55 it is really lacking, its flat and just not at all exciting.
I would imagine this would make a perfectly competent mixer but at this price you would regret doing that. As a sipper I doubt it will inspire. It is more of a palate cleanser than a complex sipping rum. In many ways it suffers in the same way Cruzan Single Barrel rum does. It’s just not all that exciting or different.
Everything seems to be in order with this rum but ultimately it falls way short of greatness and the price due to the Fair Trade side of things means you are likely to be left disappointed.
J Gow Wild Yeast Series NMO 2021 Moscatel. Today we return to Lamb Holm in the Orkney Isles for the latest release in J Gow’s “Wild Yeast Series”. For those of you who have been following this page, over the past few years the J Gow Brand from VS DIstillers should be familiar.
Ron Cartavio Solera 12 Years, hails like Paddington Bear from Peru. Whether it is deepest darkest Peru I am not quite sure but its definitely Peru. Alongside Ron Cartavio sits Ron Millonario as Peru’s other notable rum.
The Colours of Rum Trinidad 1998. Whilst the Independent Bottler of this rum may be fairly new, stocks of 1998 Caroni Rum have been circulating for a while. It’s probably one of the most released vintages, particularly over the past few years.
Another independent bottling up for review this time a Port Morant Demerara Rum from English bottlers Bristol Classic Rum. Rather than bore you all with yet another monologue about Demerara Distillers Ltd/Diamond Distillery I will instead focus on the possibly incorrect labelling of this rum.
The fruity notes in the rum shine once you become accustomed to the rum. Classic Demerara flavours such as raisin and currant but the port finish seems to give way to more plum and even a little orange citrus.
That Boutique-y Rum Company Blended Rum No.1 – Jamaica 9 Year Old Batch 1. Nice short and snappy name for this particular rum from the sesquipedalian orators That Boutique-y Rum Company. Anyway I’ll get my head out of my Thesaurus and get this particular rum reviewed.
Botran are a rum brand from Guatemala. The rums are distilled at the same distilleries as Ron Zacapa – Industrias Licoreras de Guatemala.
connisseurs.
Sipped the rum is quite sweet but not overly so – the rich oaky notes and vanilla are very pleasant. It gives a very nice spicy kick in the mid palate – all spice and a little ginger, perhaps.