Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum

Bythefatrumpirate

Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum Review by the fat rum pirateJamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum. This is the second of the Jamaica Cove rums that I have for review.

Jamaica Cove takes its name from the caves and coves dotted around the Cornish Coast of Southern England. Used by smugglers to hide their booty of rum from British Colonies such as Jamaica.

In recent years Plantation Rum have made Pineapple Rum a thing, with their Dicken’s inspired “Stiggins’ Fancy” pineapple flavoured rum.

Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum uses a base rum of Pot and Column still Jamaican rum aged up to 3 years. The rum hails from distilleries such as Hampden, Clarendon and Worthy Park. It is then infused with authentic Pineapple flavouring. The process doesn’t sound quite as intensive as Plantation’s hand cutting and macerating Queen Victoria Pineapples but this Pineapple rum is considerably less expensive than Stiggins Fancy.

In the UK you should expect to pay around £26 for a bottle of Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum. It is bottled at 40% ABV which is quite bold for a flavoured rum. Most like Bacardi’s “Spirit Drink” flavoured “rums” are bottled at 32% ABV and below. Which is why they are noted as Spirit Drinks not rum. To be labelled as rum in the EU it must be 37.5% ABV Even though the base is rum.

Presentation wise Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum comes in a stubby bottle with a plastic topped chunky synthetic cork stopper. Presentation is clear and modern. Although the marketing may be a bit “fairy tale” it is actually based on truth and several films/documentaries etc have been made about the smugglers coves.

Reviewing Flavoured rums is not something many reviewers bother with. I’ve always approached this blog with the view that I will write about what I think is popular or what people are curious about. I try and cover all bases. I know a lot of people will be looking at this rum and its price point and considering giving it a try over Stiggins’ Fancy. Which is £10 more expensive. At the lower and mid level price points consumers are very price conscious in the UK.

I am hoping that I get a rum which has a good Pineapple flavour but a decent weight of “rum” as well.

Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum Review by the fat rum pirateIn the glass Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum is a dark/reddish brown with orange flashes.

On the nose Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum is well – very Pineapple(y). You would identify straight away that this is a Pineapple flavoured spirit.

Would you identify it as being a Pineapple flavoured rum? Thankfully yes. Beneath the sweet Pineapple juice notes you can still nose the Jamaican rum base. Particularly the Clarendon element which shines through onto the nose.

Although Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum is very sweet on the nose – it thankfully hasn’t been packed full of additives. Aside from the Pineapple flavouring which has been used in just the right measure.

Sipping Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum is a much subtler affair than the nose suggested. You get more authentic slightly bitter Pineapple flavour than the very juice like nose. It’s still quite sweet but no cloyingly so. It’s really easy to sip neat. Thankfully there is enough rummy goodness in the sip to make you feel you are still drinking rum. Nice notes of young Jamaican rum add a spicy and slightly fiery undercurrent to the sweet Pineapple flavour.

Once you get past the Pineapple flavour Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum reveals some quite complex notes of Breakfast tea and some really noticeable Pot Still Jamaican rum – a really nice punch of funk towards the end of the sip.

I particularly enjoy the finish which is nice and boozy with a lot of fiery pepper and ginger. Some really nice notes of oak as well.Jamaica Cove Black Pineapple Rum Review by the fat rum pirate

At the price point you may find yourself mixing it. The rear label suggests mixing this with Pineapple Juice – personally I wouldn’t as it just gets all too much. However it works really well in a Pina Colada and I particularly enjoy this with cola. This is a sweet tasting treat but it has sufficient menace and rumminess to keep me happy.

The obvious comparisons will be how does it compare to Plantation’s Stiggins’ Fancy? I would say pretty favourably to be honest. It’s a Pineapple rum that tastes of Pineappel. Like Stiggins’ Fancy it retains enough rum character to stop it from becoming like a sweet liqueur or flavoured Vodka.

Nicely done.

 

 

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  • Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia

    Bythefatrumpirate

    Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia rum review by the fat rum pirateDiplomatico Seleccion De Familia. At one time Diplomatico was perhaps second only to Ron Zacapa in terms of “Premium” rum. For many, rums such as Ron Zacapa, Diplomatico, El Dorado and Bacardi are still seen as the very pinnacle of rum production.

    Lets be honest in certain Rum Circles, the likes of A.H Riise and Don Papa are heralded as King of the Rums. The “outing” of these rums in terms of additives has made people think twice about what they are paying for. Unfortunately the sad reality still remains. Pretty bottles, promotional gimmicks and sweetened, easy going rum still sell by the truckload.

    Don’t worry I’m not going off on another tirade about sweetened rum. I’ve covered that issue more than enough.

    In line with recent changes to EU Regulations rum producers now have to adhere to a limit on additives allowed in any product they wish to label as rum. Some producers have simply dropped the “rum” from their label such as the aforementioned A.H.Riise. Thus continuing to sell their ultra-modified “rum” concoctions.

    I don’t know exactly what Diplomatico will be doing going forward. There will still be a lot of their product available within Europe, which was produced and imported long before the new regulations.

    However Diplomatico Seleccion de Familia is a more recent addition to the portfolio. It was released late in 2020 and it complies with the new EU Regulations of 20g/L for a spirit to be labelled “Rum”.. Readings for this rum show around 18g/L of sugar/additives. So they are sneaking just under the limit. Which is what people always suspected they would do.

    Which if fair enough. This is an addition to Diplomatico’s “core” range which consists of Planas, Manuato and Reserva Exclusiva. Price wise this offering sits at around £50 for 70cl bottle. So its the most Premium of the core range of rums. You can pick up a bottle online at The Whisky Exchange and other online retailers.

    Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia is bottled at 43% ABV and is said to be a blend of rums aged up to 12 years. I’m sure I’ve heard that one before. The rum is made up of Pot and Column distilled rums from the distilleries “Scottish” Pot Still, “French” Barbet Column Still and the “Canadian” Batch Kettle Still. What ratio of each is unknown to me. 90% of the rum is produced using the know mythical “Sugar Cane Honey” and 10% from the less mythical and rather more honest staple which is molasses.

    The rum is also a blend of rums aged in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry barrels/casks. Though I have seen it noted as being aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry seasoned casks rather than actual ex-sherry casks.

    Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia rum review by the fat rum piratePresentation wise the rum used the traditional rounded stubby bottle favoured by the other expression in the core range. Presentation is very similar to Reserva Exclusiva just with a different colour scheme. Once again the renouned 19th century rum lover and explorer Don Juan Nieto Melendez or Don Juancho, is pictured on the label. A nice chunky cork stopper and a nice “cannister” complete the Premium look of this particular rum. It is easily available here in the UK and you can pick it up at Master of Malt for £49.95.

    As is the way with these heavily branded products, I don’t really have any inside information or anything interesting to add. I have noted though that due to the success of Diplomatico in France, this rum is said to have been produced with the French heavily in mind. Which is interesting.

    The rear label as pictured does seem to have some “information” of some sort but sadly, I’ve been unable to re-size the photo well enough to read it. Yes I am reviewing this from a sample, I don’t have the bottle. It’s not something I would buy nowadays.

    Anyway I think we may as well move onto a little nosing and tasting to see what this rum has to offer. I may well be wrong about the rum and maybe I should have bought a bottle?

    In the glass I am presented with dark bronze liquid which may (or may not) be coloured. In all honesty it doesn’t bother me that much if it is……or isn’t. Rum has many issues more serious for me than a bit of colour adjustment……

    The nose is light and unassuming. There is a kind of strange perfumed sherry type aroma. I’ve only experienced this once previously with a sherry seasoned cask finish rum. It’s not quite the same as an ex-sherry cask. I wouldn’t say it is artificial but it’s certainly a lot lighter and more flowery with a kind of weird banana chew like note (?). I don’t know if this is what “Paxarette” smells like? A kind of boiled grape must used to season casks.

    Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia rum review by the fat rum pirateAt 43% ABV it’s very easy going on the nose and it isn’t pulling up any trees to try and get my attention. It’s pleasant enough in a kind of “Plain Jane” sort of way. I’ll even that up and say its quite an “Average Joe” kind of nose. I don’t want the Cancel Culture posse getting on my back and calling me sexist.

    It’s sweet – notes of a kind of sweet sherry aroma, Floral Gums (really not very nice “perfume” smelling gummy sweets), Cherry Lips (as before only with a hit of Cherry). There is an almost Bubblegum note on the nose as well.

    Further nosing reveals a smattering of peanuts and some peanut brittle. A touch of light chocolate and maybe a little raisin. Hints of toffee and caramel.

    It’s all very “nice” and I guess balanced in its own rather meek way.

    In all honesty, it’s bloody boring.

    Sipping Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia is pretty much the non-event that the nose suggested it would be.

    The initial sip goes down really easily and there is minimal burn or any kind of “kick”. It has sweet, almost artificial kind of taste to it. It doesn’t really taste of anything in particular. I’d love to expand upon the notes on this rum but there is just not much really going on!

    Diplomatico Seleccion De Familia rum review by the fat rum pirate

    I won’t be as rude about as I have with other rums and suggest it is just sugar water. It does have a little more beyond that. But in all honesty – not a great lot.

    Your treated very briefly to a little bit of a kick on the mid palate and a very short explosion of something approaching spice or oak ageing. There’s a little burst of something oaky and spicy. A little ginger and some signs of wood or something a little more challenging.

    Sadly, these sensations and flavours are fleeting. The rum quickly returns to the sweet, slightly artificial sweetener like notes.

    This rum hasn’t given me any cause for excitement. At the same time it is relatively inoffensive. It’s still a little too sweet for my tastes but it’s certainly better than the likes of Don Papa and A.H Riise.

    That isn’t really praise though. This is bang average. Doesn’t even have enough about it to even annoy me.

    Just very boring.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Admiral Rodney Extra Old St Lucia Rum

    Bythefatrumpirate

    Admiral Rodney St Lucia RumThe first rum I tried which wasn’t from a supermarket was a bottle of Chairman’s Reserve.  Chairman’s Reserve is from St Lucia Distillers, as is this rum.  The rum is “ACR” (Authentic Caribbean Rum) which is a accreditation system drawn up to identify a]Authentic Caribbean Rum.  There is also a petition ongoing to save Authentic Caribbean Rum.  Historically, Admiral Rodney is much the same as Captain Morgan (no not the actual rum).  Admiral Rodney was the military governor of St Lucia after the British seized the island back from France in 1762.

    Buying this rum in the UK will set you back around £45 so you need to make sure you like this type of rum before buying.  That’s a lot of money to be sat with something you don’t like and to expensive to just guzzle down like a drunken sailor.  I don’t know the price in the US of A because……..I don’t think you fella’s can get it unless you vacation in St Lucia.

    Admiral Rodney comes housed in a sturdy cardboard presentation box.  The bottle itself is a decanter style bottle.  It has a huge wood and cork stopper.  The presentation really is excellent. The rum looks expensive and anyone visiting will be drawn to THAT bottle and want to try some.  There is no ageing statement on the bottle.  Looking online I have learnt that the rum in this blend is up to 12 years old.  So its pretty good aged stuff.

    Upon pouring out, the rum is  a rich amber colour, it is quite thick and viscous, the legs flow slowly down the sides of the glass when swirled.  Nosing the rum reveals a sweet brown sugar, caramel and molasses.  Notes of banana and a little tropical fruit.  The rum is sweet yet light not overpowering.  It isn’t a navy type rum.  They haven’t laced it with caramel like so many of the more nautically themed “English” rum’s (Skipper, Lambs etc).

    Sipping the rum is pretty smooth.  There is an alcohol burn but if anything the burn gives the rum a little more character.  It adds a little spice like kick, maybe a little black pepper to the finish.  It adds a little oakiness to the mix.  The rum (like many ACR rums) has clearly not been adulterated.  Any flavours come as a result of ageing.  When sipped an ice-cube brings out more of the fruit flavours.  Banana and a little black grape, hints of vanilla contribute to the overall smoothness of the rum.  The finish is long and very pleasant.  There is bitterness but it gradually fades and the fruit flavours return.st lucia distillers

    This is primarily a sipping rum.  It’s presentation in what amounts to a decanter demands that it be enjoyed slowly and that it be showed off to friends.  Presentation wise it has similarities to Angostura 1919 (another ACR rum).  Taste wise it the Admiral would easily blow that ship out of the water.

    I’m still going to add some cola to the rum.  It makes a lovely rum and cola with a few ice cubes and only a small amount of cola.  The fruitiness combines with the cola beautifully and the oakiness also adds something to the drink.

    So far I have yet to be disappointed with any of the offerings from St Lucia Distillers. These rums are similar in many ways to the rum’s of Barbados.  In terms of style I’ll probably always rank these as Bajan (even if they aren’t).

    4 stars

     

     

  • SeaWolf Premium White Rum

    Bythefatrumpirate

    SeaWolf Premium White Rum review by the fat rum pirateSeaWolf Premium White Rum. This rum has been around for a while. Indeed it claims to be the first white rum to be distilled in Scotland. I wonder who distilled the first dark rum? Answers on a postcard please……..

    Joking aside the brand has been around since 2016. I was aware of the brand but never heard much about it. so as a result it passed me by. SeaWolf Premium White Rum has been created by Mike Aikman and Jason Scott, who are behind the Edinburgh bars Bramble, The Last Word and the Lucky Liquor Co. The duo are joined by Gavin Ferguson who is the co-founder of wine merchant Vino Wines.

    SeaWolf Premium White Rum is named after the native American terms for Killer Whales (obviously that’s just the SeaWolf part of the name). These can frequently be seen off the coast of Scotland.

    The rum is made with a combination of champagne and rum yeasts. The fermentation of the cane molasses is done at low temperature for four weeks and then distilled in a Copper Pot Still. SeaWolf Rum is currently distilled in Angus at Ogilvy Spirits.

    Seawolf Premium White Rum is an unaged white rum. I have reviewed a couple of unaged white rums from Scotland in recent times. Sugar House Rum and Ninefold.

    It has recently been moved from 50cl bottles to 70cl with only a slight increase in price point. The clear, aside from the Seawolf logo and a painting of SeaWolves, old “medicine” style bottle with an un-topped cork stopper is simplistic. At the same time though its stylish and modern. A bit hipster if you like.

    SeaWolf Premium White Rum review by the fat rum pirateIt is bottled at 41% ABV and as mentioned comes in a 70cl bottle. It can be found at most retailers. Master of Malt are currently offering free delivery on this bottling. It is priced at £37.95.

    So lets see how this latest bottle of Haggis Juice does in a review.

    In the glass we have a crystal clear liquid. As expected of an unaged rum. As with the other Scottish White rums I have tried recently the nose is full of molasses and chewy caramel. It’s sweet and treacly.

    Beneath this I am noticing a kind of Rosehip like note -slightly floral and perfumed. Further nosing reveals some Red Apple and a touch of banana.

    Even at the fairly low ABV of 41% it’s quite “boozy” and has a bit of menace about it. Sipped it is a touch on the metallic side with a bitter edge to it. That said for an unaged rum it has a fair amount of flavour going on. It’s not as sweet as the nose suggested but its good a good body to it. As a sipper it’s perhaps a touch on the metallic side maybe a bit too medicinal but it’s certainly not a bad little tot of rum.

    It’s really as a mixer where you get the best of out of SeaWolf. It works really well in long drinks and it particularly good in a Daiquiri or a Mojito. It’s versatile and really interesting.SeaWolf Premium White Rum review by the fat rum pirate

    It’s clean and very crisp. Not as quite as “funky” as maybe Ninefold or Sugar House White. That said it is not a “light” style of white rum. Whilst this might be a bit cleaner in profile it is still quite a molasses forward 100% Pot Still White Rum.

    The profile of Scottish Rum (I’m not talking about the Spiced and Flavoured nonsense) will hopefully be raised over the next few years. There are a number of exciting releases in the pipeline. I don’t know the plans are regarding further SeaWolf releases but this is certainly a very good start/re-boot.

    White Rum often gets a bad reputation but rums like this certainly show that it should not be dismissed as readily, as it if often is.

     

     

     

  • Chairman’s Reserve Finest St Lucia Rum

    Bythefatrumpirate

    Chairmans ReserveThis is without the doubt the most difficult rum review I have done so far. When I first got into rum this was the first rum I bought online.

    Confused by all the information available on the Internet and still with little understanding of dark, golden, demerara, pot still, column still, agricole (god help us) etc I decided to try a bottle of Chairman’s Reserve. I’m still at a loss as to exactly why I decided to try this particular rum. Was it the unusual dumpy bottle? The mostly positive reviews? The price? The awards? Was I drunk? Who knows I really cannot remember……

    I plumped for a bottle from Amazon. I think it cost my including postage and packaging about £23. Which considering this was someone who had bought only supermarket rum was pretty expensive! I’m not sure if I bought it to convince myself that supermarket swill was just as good or whether I was really intending to try every rum I could get my hands on.

    The rum could have been a massive disappointment. It was coming up against Cockspur 5 star Fine Rum. That was setting me back about £13 a bottle a the time so it had to be good because I could get two bottles for the same price!

    It’s difficult not to biased with regard this rum. It was the rum which made me realise just how good rum could be. It convinced me that a more expensive rum could actually be worth the extra money. It’s the bottle that led me to write and set up this blog. Over two years on I find it amazing that I’m sitting sipping this rum (I’ll add cola soon don’t worry) and contemplating just how I’m going to actually review it. Anyway here goes……….

    Chairmans Reserve is produced by St Lucia Distillers it is aged in Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace barrels. It is aged for around 5 years and is blended using continuous and pot still rums.

    ACRThe rum is quite a dark not navy or demerara rum dark but definitely darker than say a Mount Gay or Bacardi Gold. The extra ageing is noticeable.

    The bottle itself is one of the dumpy style rum bottles. The rum is around the £20 mark and whilst it would be brilliant if it had a cork stopper it doesn’t it has a metallic stopper. A shame but not a surprise at the price.

    On the nose Chairman’s is quite smoky and reminiscent in many ways of the drier Bajan rums such as R L Seales 10 Year Old.  It is not a sweet smelling rum though it does have a notes of tropical fruit.  It isn’t, like many of the younger rums laced with sugar.  It doesn’t have any caramel or treacle notes like many cheap mixers.

    Clearly, I’m quite sentimental about this rum but that is not without good cause. It’s the first rum I tasted where I thought “wow”. It’s an excellent rum. It’s sweet and fruity but has a bit of smokiness to it as well. For a 5 year old rum its quite complex. It can be sipped and it isn’t rough or harsh. There is a bit of an alcohol burn but even that is quite smoky and pleasant.  To me this is what rum should be.  To complain it isn’t smooth (many peoples definition of smooth is rum that has been heavily sugared).  This is real rum done properly.  It has the ACR (and whilst that doesn’t always mean its unadulterated – this definitely has no additives)

    Chairman’s is now available in Sainsburys for £20 and I will be ensuring that I have a constant supply of this rum.  It’s really a bargain at this price.

    St Lucia distillers seem to be quite overlooked on the Internet and world of rum blogging this may be because their rums don’t seem to be available to readily in the US of A so here is a link to their website.

    http://www.saintluciarums.com

    I would also recommend the Chairmans Reserve White Label and Forgotten Casks also Admiral Rodney. In fact I would recommend anything St Lucia Distillers produce.  It’s all been excellent for me thus far!

    4 stars

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kane’s Golden Rum

    Bythefatrumpirate

    Kane's Golden Rum Review by the fat rum pirateKane’s Golden Rum. Every so often I’ll walk into one of the Supermarkets and find a new expression of rum. More often than not I am already familiar with the brand. Supermarkets in the UK have been greatly expanding their rum selections, over the past 3 to 4 years. On occasion though, I come across a bottling which I have never seen or heard of before.

    I won’t pretend I stumbled across this in the Supermarket. I actually became aware of this rum via a post in the UK Rum Club, on Facebook. Kane’s Golden Rum is available in Tesco and a few people were curious as to what it might be like.

    So I thought I would take the plunge. I paid £13 for this, though it is usually meant to retail at £16 per bottle. The bottle is a standard bar bottle complete with a bright blue metal screw cap. The presentation screams out “Tiki” and it certainly does stand out on the shelf. Currently, it seems you can only get this in Tesco supermarket. I did a bit of digging around the Internet, to find out some more information on this rum.

    I was quite surprised to find that they had a website. Though it offers little further information on the rum. I was particularly interested to learn who Kane might be. It turns out that he is In Hawaiian mythology “considered the highest of the four major Hawaiian deities, along with Kanaloa, Kū, and Lono, though he is most closely associated with Kanaloa. He represented the god of procreation and was worshipped as ancestor of chiefs and commoners. Kāne is the creator and gives life associated with dawn, sun and sky. No human sacrifice or laborious ritual was needed in the worship of Kāne. Apparently.

    Bearing in mind the presentation of this bottle that kind of makes sense. If anyone knows differently please let me know. What the website did let us know though, is who the charming lady on the front label is. She is “Betty” and she has four suggestions of how we should enjoy Kane’s Golden Rum – A Kane’s Classic (Cuba Libre/Rum and Cola), Kane’s & Ginger, Kane’s Mojito and finally a Kane’s & Orange. Hardly ground breaking cocktails but clearly Kane’s is marked as a mixing rum.

    Kane's Golden Rum Review by the fat rum pirateWhich is no surprise bearing in mind the price point. So what are we actually getting in our glass? Do we have any real information about the rum? Well yes for once we do have some information beyond “age in oak barrels”. Fair play to the producers they have provided some very relevant information on the rear label.

    “A blend of fine Caribbean Column & Pot Still Rums” underneath which you might not be able to quite work out reads

    “3 year old rum from Barbados, 2 year old rum from the Dominican Republic and fresh rum from Trinidad”

    For fresh read – unaged but hats off to them for giving us a bit of information about the rum components. On the downside this rum is bottled at the lowest possible ABV of 37.5% ABV. No doubt to make it as competitive price wise as possible and they have went for that age old tradition of random “stars” across the label, for no particular reason other than to make it appear highly rated?

    Kane’s Golden Rum is part of the Whyte & Mackay portfolio, which goes some way to explaining why Kane’s is a mixing rum. Whyte & Mackay, whilst having some premium expressions such as the Dalmore and Jura single malts are well known for stocking supermarkets with their blended whisky, Vladivar vodka and Harvey’s Bristol Cream. It is also worth noting that in Scotland, rum particularly dark rum, is enjoyed largely as a mixer. The Scots are very keen on their dark Navy style rums such as OVD and Watson’s.

    I guess this is Whyte & Mackay’s attempt to introduce something slightly different. So lets see how this rum compares to the other “gold” rums on our supermarket shelves.

    Kane's Golden Rum Review by the fat rum pirateIn the glass you’ll never guess – its a golden brown colour. A medium golden brown to be exact. The nose is young with quite a lot of booze going on. Surprisingly there is quite a interesting weight of oakiness and a touch of spice.

    With a little more time in the glass you begin to notice the sweeter notes of vanilla – which remind me very much of just about every Dominican Rum I have had to date. Slightly confected but at least there is something going on with this rum. It’s not the biggest nose in the world but it has a reasonable amount of impact. It’s not entirely bad.

    Sipped it really shows just how young the blend is. It’s bitter and very short on flavour. It tastes a little like weak vodka. There isn’t a great deal of flavour beyond alcohol and bitter oak. Even as a “shot” this is pretty harsh going down.

    For £16 I wasn’t expecting to do much with Kane’s Golden Rum beyond mixing it. So, let’s bring out the cola and see how things go.

    It’s actually not at all bad to be honest. The Dominican sweet influence returns so you get a fair amount of vanilla. Despite the low ABV, a decent amount of oak and spice runs alongside the sweetness. The Trini rum in the blend is probably pretty neutral and is in the rum to bring the price down (apologies Angostura). The Bajan maybe brings a bit of balance but the Dominican element is certainly where the flavour in this rum is coming from. It’s not overly smooth, so it is still a little rough around the edges. I would take it over Barcelo Anejo anytime. It is more in keeping with their Gran Anejo.

    In all honesty its pretty average fair, but it isn’t a terrible rum by any stretch. It’s certainly better than the dark supermarket own brand rums. Not quite as good as the likes of Appleton Signature and Chairman’s Reserve though. For the price you can’t grumble too much.

     

  • Kill Devil Barbados 9 Year Old

    Bythefatrumpirate

    Kill Devil Barbados 2007 9 year old rum review by the fat rum pirateAnother rum from the Kill Devil Single Cask range.  This time hailing from Barbados.  This bottling is identified as being from the Foursquare Distillery.

    Due to a surge in releases and activity over the past 12-18 months.  We have featured a number of Foursquares releases.  It is likely that their key releases would have been reviewed as a matter of course, even if they weren’t as good as they are.  Had I not enjoyed them as much as I did it is unlikely we would have featured as many Independent bottlings. Please note there are more to come as well.

    Distilled in June 2007 this is a 9 year old rum.  I don’t have a great deal of information on the actual makeup of the rum.  I don’t know if it is a single cask rum, in that it is a blend of rums married together in one cask or if it is truly just a single run from a pot or column still.  I’d guess (before tasting) that it is a blend.

    There is a total of 374 bottles of this available and it retails at under £50.  As is the standard for the Gold and Black labelled Kill Devil rums, it has a very drinkable ABV of 46%.  This rum has not been matured for 9 years in Barbados.  Hunter Laing buy their rums from a broker here in the UK.  I’d guess this rum probably spent around 3-4 years in the tropics.  Again this is just guesswork from past experiences and questions I’ve asked people in the know.

    My first thoughts on this rum is how it will compare to another 9 Year Old Bajan rum – Foursquare’s  owen Port Cask finish.  From what I can gather this has been aged only in a Bourbon cask.  It may be more in keeping with Doorly’s 5 or 8 neither of which have a port or sherry type finish.

    In the glass the rum is a straw to golden brown colour.  I don’t think that caramel colouring has been added to this rum.  It is quite light for a 9 year old rum.

    Kill Devil Barbados 9 Rum Review by the fat rum pirateThe nose on the rum has nice balance to it – as I expected.  The usual notes of vanilla and sweet/sour mash bourbon like oaky notes.  What is a surprise is the strong smell of varnish – which really does make the nose tingle a little.  I quite like the extra bit of oomph it seems to deliver to the nosing experience.

    Sipping this 9 Year Old Bajan is also a bit of a surprise.  I don’t think its entirely down to the extra ABV but it does seem to be a bit more menacing than a lot of Bajan rums. 

    It is very spicy.  Even if it wasn’t tropically aged for long it has definitely taken on quite a lot of the oak from the barrel.  You get a lot of spice and quite a lot of heat.  I wouldn’t say it was a particularly young or immature rum but it is a lot spicer than similarly aged Foursquare’s I have tried.  Could it be all or mostly Pot Still rum?

    It has a nice spicy heat to it – Black Pepper and perhaps even a little Chilli.  A little savoury and very woody.  I’m noticing more savoury aspects of European aged bottlings lately.  Whilst tropical ageing accelerates maturity, European ageing also brings its own distinctive character to many rums.

    In the bigger picture of Foursquare rums both commercial and independent offerings this isn’t quite up with the elite bottlings.  It is interesting though and will offer you more of a variety in flavour than you perhaps would get from, say the progression from Doorly’s 5 to the 8 Year Old.

    Balance wise it is arguably just a bit to oaky and a touch to spicy.  Maybe another couple of years would have seen it mature better?  Or maybe it was left too long to start with?

    It reminds me of Captain Bligh’s XO but I don’t think it is as good.  I’m giving it the lowest score I’ve ever given a Foursquare rum.  It is the “worst” of their rums I have had.

    In the overall scheme of things its still far from being a bad rum though.  It’s good/very good just perhaps a little below the usual high standards set.

    3.5 stars

     

     

     

     

     

     

One Comment

  1. I originally wanted the plantation rum, but when i tried it i couldnt taste much pineapple so went for this- i love it! Great in a pineapple mojito.

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