Kill Devil Hampden Distillery Jamaica Aged 35 Years

Bythefatrumpirate April 28, 2019

Kill Devil Hampden Distillery Jamaica Aged 35 Years. Another bottling of Jamaican rum from Kill Devil but this time you can find this particular bottling at a few different online outlets as it isn’t a Whisky Barrel exclusive. Though you can still buy it from them should you wish.

As you can see from the photo the presentation for this one strays from the usual Kill Devil bottle and presentation tube. It perhaps might not surprise you, bearing in mind the age of the spirit in the bottle that the pricing is also significantly different. The most expensive Hampden from Kill Devil before this bottling was £200 for a 24-year-old rum.

Kill Devil Hampden Distillery Jamaica Aged 35 Years retails at £695 (or thereabouts) and is currently available at The Whisky Barrel and The Whisky Exchange. The presentation has been upscaled to a decanter style bottle with a huge cork stopper and a very nice presentation case. Complete with a booklet with tasting notes and information regarding the rum.

Like all Kill Devil Releases this is a single cask rum. Due to the age of the rum only 198 bottles are available. It is 100% Pot Still rum. I am unsure how much continental/tropical ageing has taken place. I would say the vast majority must be continental or we probably wouldn’t have any rum left to taste! It has been bottled at final Cask Strength of 58.1% ABV. Non chill filtered is another ethos of the Kill Devil brand. As to the marque for this particular rum – I do not know that either unfortunately.

Rums as old as this from Hampden aren’t unheard of but I haven’t seen a lot of rum aged from 1983 around recently. The rum was distilled in 1983 and finally bottled in 2019.

I noticed on the front of the bottle that this is noted as being bottled by Edition Spirits which I found a bit odd. They are an independent whisky (and now I guess rum) bottling business owned by Andrew and Scott Laing, the sons of Hunter Laing director and former Douglas Laing, founder Stewart Laing. They have released over 150 bottlings of single cask whiskies since being created in 2010. All bottled at cask strength.

In the glass we have a straw coloured rum. The uninitiated would conclude this wasn’t a spirit as old as 35 years. This colour is no surprise and further evidence of the continental ageing involved in producing this particular rum. It’s a straw to golden brown colour.

The nose is surprisingly sweet and nowhere near as “woody” as I was expecting. Navy Tablet, Pear Drops and a hefty dose of nail varnish give way to scents of caramelised banana, peaches in syrup, lychees and some guava. The time in the cask shows itself with some meaty woody notes. Spicy with some vanilla, licorice and a touch of shoe leather. Overall the rum is held together by huge doses of sweet Pineapple juice.

It’s a very complex nose and reminds me both of the Duncan Taylor 2000 and the more recent Velier/National Rums of Jamaica TECC release. Both of which come from Long Pond rather than Hampden. The more savoury notes I would associate with Hampden aren’t as apparent as their more recent releases. This is a slightly sweeter spirit to nose.

At £700 a bottle I was expecting a very complex spirit and in that respect I am not disappointed. This so far, is very much “on point” as far as my Jamaican rum preferences go. So lets see how nicely it sips.

The initial burst of flavour is sweet followed by a slightly tangy sour note – a touch of vinegar. The sweet notes – overripe bananas, guava, strong hints of Pineapple Juice prevent this from getting anywhere near tasting “over oaked”. On the mid palate the oak influence and time in case does show its self.

Nice spicy oak spice and vanilla, lots of ginger and a touch of white pepper. There is a lot going on with this rum and it is very complex and each sip reveals further waves of flavour and fresh nuances.

The finish is very long. This is a Cask Strength rum so the flavour shouldn’t leave early but this really sticks around. Such is the huge flavour burst on each sip, it’s difficult to determine when this rum stops coating the palate with rich tropical fruits. The mid palate gives away more oak and some slight smokiness. A touch of tobacco but the finish, as the oak notes fade, the fruit seems to come back. It’s a rum you can taste long after sipping.

This is a very “fresh” and very vibrant rum despite the extensive ageing. I was concerned it may be overoaked and simply too woody to be truly enjoyable. It has retained some of its youthful exhuberance and the time in the cask has gently aged and shaped this rum into something quite wonderful.

Obviously this is a pretty rare rum with less than 200 bottles. It will be too pricy for many. Should you get the chance to try this though I would thoroughly recommend you make sure you take that chance.

It’s pretty sublime though – bordering on being perfect and easily one of the best Hampden’s I have tried. Which in itself is high praise as that distillery never produces “bad” rum.

Rum Nation Rare Rums Savanna 2006/2016 10 Year Old

Rum Nation Rare Rums Savanna 2006/2016 10 Year Old
Bythefatrumpirate September 2, 2018September 2, 2018

Rum Nation Rare Rums Savanna 2006/2016 10 Year Old. Reunion Island is perhaps not the first place on the map you will think of when the word rum is mentioned. Nor indeed is it when anything else is mentioned either.

Reunion Island or La Reunion is a French Overseas Territory in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. To be honest it isn’t particularly famous for anything in particular.

However, its rum (or rhum) distillery Savanna is gaining a bit of a reputation amongst rum enthusiasts looking to cast their net beyond the usual rum locations. Like Fiji and Madeira – Reunion is growing a name quickly in enthusiast circles for very distinictive and at times very pungent or funky r(h)ums.

Fabio Rossi of Rum Nation has been quick to seize upon the growing popularity and this 10 year old rum from the Savanna Distillery is one of a number of rums to feature in the Rare Rums series.

Released in 2017 to the European market this rum has been tropically aged at Savanna for the full 10 years of its maturation. It has been drawn from cask number 674 which yielded 552 bottles. The cask used to age this rum is second fill cognac. It has been bottled at 54.2% ABV which I presume is Cask Strength. This is a rum produced in a “traditional” style from molasses. As it is produced on a French-speaking and French owned Island I will take a punt that distillation has taken place on a Creole Column Still. A bottle would set you back around 65-70 Euros. None of the Rare Rums Series have been available directly to the UK market. Mainland Europe only.

Presentation wise you get a nice cylinder to store the stubby bottle in. Presentation has been dialled back a little in terms of colour scheme to give a more classic appearance than the usual Rum Nation bottles, which in themselves are quite understated. A synthetic cork stopper completes the look. Top marks go to Rum Nation information wise with these bottlings. It also appears that they have also resisted dosage with these rums.

Should you wish to learn more about the Savanna Distillery then please check out this post from Lance over at The Lone Caner.

So without further ado lets see how I found this particular effort.

In the glass we have a rum which presents itself as dark brown with orange almost red flashes. Nosing reveals a very interesting intense almost sherried spirit. A very sweet nose of fortified wine and rich plump wine soaked raisins. Sherry trifle alongside some orange peel and herbal notes.

Sipped it is less sweet than the nose. Much less sweet. There is a lot of influence from the oak ageing – very citrusy tangy oak ageing with just a top note of cognac/brandy. It is quite an intense, very fruity rum. There is a lot going on it is very rich and clearly benefits from the tropical ageing. It has a good balance as well. Its quite deceptive and easy to sip on. It has commonality with the Foursquare 2013 – rich, sweet but with an underlying menace and undoubted rummy-ness.

Lots of stoned fruits and a good deal of citrus zest to make it very moreish. There is enough oak and spiciness. Slight nods toward medicinal, almost cough mixture like notes. A touch of refreshing “menthol” also flits in and out of the mix.

There is a touch of tobacco in the finish, which has a lot of spice and fruitness. All in all its very tasty and interesting. It’s different, quite tannic with notes of red wine but the bitternesss never quite develops – the sweeter notes keep it at bay.

The finish is long and rewarding with a lot of oak spice and some really nice notes of tobacco and a touch of petrol. This gives a very complex smokey linger which is matched by bursts of plum and a slight tartness of sour peaches. It’s quite a strange rum but one which you should persevere with. Complex and reasonably well-balanced with just an occasional flirtation with bitterness.

All in all a very interesting rum and one I am pleased to have spent time with. Expect to see more from the Reunion Island on this site going forward.

Related

Read More Rum Nation Rare Rums Savanna 2006/2016 10 Year Old
Kill Devil Jamaica Hampden Distillery Aged 9 Years

Kill Devil Jamaica Hampden Distillery Aged 9 Years
Bythefatrumpirate February 8, 2018

Kill Devil Jamaica Hampden Distillery. Hampden Distillery as is the trend in Jamaica is better known as Hampden Estate. This is largely because these distilleries did/do produce their own sugar cane on their vast estates. So they are not just simply a distillery.

Kill Devil have featured quite prominently on the site over the past two years. They began issuing 46% ABV single cask spirits in a similar fashion to bottlers such as Cadenhead’s and Samaroli. Like Cadenheads Kill Devil have now moved into Cask Strength bottlings.

Like Cadenhead’s their Cask Strength offerings are immediately different to the standard ABV bottlings. Kill Devil use a red/pink colour scheme on their bottle labels rather than grey for the 46% ABV offerings.

I came across this bottling on the Whisky Barrel. The Whisky Barrel is a sit which concentrates largely on single cask Independently bottled whiskes. They do also carry a number of rums from bottlers such as Berrys’, Bristol, Duncan Taylor and of course Kill Devil.

Released late in 2017 this 9 year old Hampden Estate 100% Pot Still rum is one of just 55 bottled by KIll Devil. I do not know if they bottled the remainder and the more regular 46% ABV. I doubt this was all that came out of the cask. It was distilled in November 2007 and bottled sometime in 2017. The ABV for this is 62.7% ABV. It has been aged entirely in a European climate. It retailed at around £60. Presentation wise it is standard Kill Devil you get a sturdy cardboard tube and a good quality cork stopper. The opaque bottle and the labelling is the standard Kill Devil design. Information on the bottle is sufficient if not hugely detailed.

I’ve really been enjoying the funky Pot Still rums of Jamaica but I was slightly concerned by this bottle. The odd number of bottles and its fairly inexpensive price tag were concerns.

So should I have been concerned? Let’s find out….

In the glass the rum is a very little straw to white wine colour. I’ve no doubt there is no added colouring with this one.

Pungent is the best word. This rum is right up there in terms of fruity, medicinal, boozy, funky nonsense. It’s huge.

Even if you leave this for half an hour in the glass it will still leave you reeling when you swirl the glass or take a sip. Give this to a novice rum drinker and they will never touch a drop of rum again! If you’d given me this five years I would have run a mile.

Which is probably why I found the nose on this so absolutely tremendous today. Black bananas, huge notes of cough medicine, pineapple, mango, nail varnish, paint stripper . This is Hampden dialled up to 11. You can sip this for hours and still be picking out more and more nuances and flavours.

Sipped at the full ABV it is a real tongue stinger and will numb it. Fortunately because there is so much flavour in this rum the rest of your mouth will be having a party with it – even with the tiniest sip on the tongue. This is like some kind of mad rum concentrate.

Sipping it at the full ABV would take you hours. I tried a mouthful at full ABV (even with my mouth wide open to dull the flames) – it was just too much to realistically sip and enjoy for me. Water? Absolutely bring it down to around 50-55% ABV and you’ll get a much more pleasureable experience.

Whatever you do don’t worry about losing any flavour. There is little chance of that.

This is a really big, powerful, funky and medicinal rum from Hampden. Straying more into what I would term as Long Pond territory. It has that minty and almost clinical fruitiness to it. In terms of the nine year of ageing the barrel has for what I can been quite passive with this distillate. This is very much a distillate driven rum. The ex-bourbon may have given it a bit of depth but in terms of flavour this is very much a refined but pretty much unaged type of profile.

It starts with a huge sweet hit of sugar and banana’s, toffee and that strong fresh menthol/minty note. It’s got an earthy note as well – soil and a bit of hay. The ageing in the barrels does come through in the mid palate which is bright and fresh and very spicy. The finish is the only real downside and that is perhaps where it does fall down a touch. It’s quite short and whilst its nice and warming it is a bit of a let down. The aftertaste is slightly odd and very boozy. You really need to brush your teeth to get the smell of this one of your breath.

Sadly you’ll struggle to find a bottle now. Even had I reviewed this ASAP it did sell out within a couple of weeks. Still it does encourage me to try some single digit Hampden rums.

I got a bit of a bargain with this one and I’m pleased I’ve still got (most) of one bottle of this left.

Related

Read More Kill Devil Jamaica Hampden Distillery Aged 9 Years
Admiral Rodney Officer's Releases No.1 - Port Cask Finish

Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish
Bythefatrumpirate November 23, 2020

Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish. Admiral Rodney is a rum brand, which is produced by Saint Lucia Distillers. It started off as a single name for one of their rums. Since then the rum has expanded into a range of 3 core rums, and a (dosed) Denmark only release. Now they are beginning a series entitled the Officer’s Releases.

Admiral Rodney or George Brydges Rodney was British Naval Officer who prevented a French invasion of Saint Lucia in 1782 “The Battle of the Saintes”. He has a bay “Rodney Bay” named after him on the island. Which is now recognised as the islands best entertainment and recreation centre.

The Admiral Rodney brand is a bit of an outlier. In terms of the stills available to Saint Lucia Distillers, it often comes as a surprise when people find the brand is a 100% column distillate. Unfortunately, too much macho posturing in Facebook groups and misguided, uninformed rhetoric has led many people to believe Pot Still rum to to be the be all and end all. Let’s make one thing very clear – the type of rum produced on the two column Coffey Still in place at Saint Lucia is far, far different from anything produced at a multi column alcohol plant………

Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish is a blend of rums using the 45 plate Coffey Column still which was installed at Saint Lucia Distillers in 1984. All the Admiral Rodney rums are extracted from the bottom plates of the still.

Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish was released earlier this year. It is currently available at a number of retailers. I picked up my bottle at The Whisky Exchange for £66.95. The rum has been bottled at 45% ABV. Presentation wise it is in keeping with the revamp of the brand which took place around 3 years ago. The oversized cork stopper continues to be a key presentation point and the decanter style bottle is very “premium” looking. a sturdy cardboard sleeve also ensures you can keep your rum out of direct sunlight and other nasties. The oversize cork stopper also notes the phrase “Break the Line” which was a tactic used by Admiral Rodney to defeat the French back in 1782.

In terms of the actual rum in the bottle. As mentioned it is from the Coffey Column and the rums were distilled in March 2006. The rums were originally aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 13 years. The rum was then placed in 13 year old Port Casks made from European oak and aged for a further 9 months. This rum was bottled in early 2020. The rum has been entirely tropically aged.

So I think that pretty much covers everything I know about this rum so we’ll move on to the nosing and tasting.

In the glass Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish is a very vibrant mahogany colour, with a reddish hue.

On the nose you immediately get the Port Cask. Lots of sweet raisins, sultanas and rich dark plum. It is sweet with a real note of honey, vanilla and a good balance of spicy oak.

It’s not a difficult rum to nose – it’s not challenging or intense. It just has a nice balance to it and a clear direction of what it is trying to achieve.

On the sip it is quite reminiscent of the English Harbour Port Cask Finish, which is in no way a problem. I really enjoyed that rum. The Port Cask does have quite an influence on this rum. So if you don’t like a sweeter unsweetened rum (?) – then you might want to look to something else. On the initial sip you get a lot of soft vibrant fruits. Peach, raisin, sultana a touch of overripe juicy pear.

The mid palate is drier with notes of tobacco and with more oak and bourbon esque notes. There is a touch of liquorice there as well which leads you nicely into the finish.

Finish wise the fruitiness returns with an extra layer of sweetness and a nice hit of sweet red liquorice. The 45% ABV gives the rum a decent length of finish and I think it works quite well to give the rum an overall balance. I’m not sure if a higher ABV would necessarily improve this rum.

The finish lingers with notes of toffee, tobacco and some pipe smoke.

Overall the rum shows the quality that can still be obtained from column distilled rum. This is also a good example of a “finished” or “secondary maturation” style of rum. The Port Cask influence is definitely there but there are other facets to this rum other than just sweetness.

All in all an impressive effort and definitely one for the Port Cask lovers to try.

Related

Read More Admiral Rodney Officer’s Releases No.1 – Port Cask Finish
Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum

Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum
Bythefatrumpirate August 29, 2018

Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum. I’ve noticed a few Ginger flavoured rums appear on the market over the past couple of years. We’ve always tried on this site to help with people’s curiosity when usual or different rums appear. Especially when they are priced at the mid and lower end of the market.

I’ve no doubt a number of you may have seen this rum online and thought what a Black Ginger rum might well taste like. I know I was certainly curious to find out.

Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum was released in 2017. It is a blend of Pot and Column distilled rums from Hampden Estate, Clarendon and Worthy Park. The rums are aged between 2 and 3 years. The rum is then infused with Ginger and other botanicals to create Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum. It has already been picked up in quite a lot of retailers and you should find a bottle of this priced at around £26. Refreshingly for a flavoured rum it is bottled at 40% ABV and comes in a 70cl bottle. You often get short-changed with both ABV and bottle size with more “exotic” flavoured rums.

Jamaica Cove refers to the coves used by smugglers to hide their precious booty of Jamaican rum back in the mists of time around the Southern Coast of England. Places like Falmouth on the Cornish coast.

Presentation wise you get a nice stubby bottle and a very nice synthetic plastic topped stopper which alongside the presentation gives the rum a more premium feel. Also available in the Jamaica Cove range is a Black Pineapple rum which I am very interested to try following all the fuss about Plantation’s Stiggins’ Fancy a couple of years back. Might we have a competitor?

We’ll find out another day. Today we will see exactly what a Black Ginger Rum tastes like…….

In the glass Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum is a dark to orange/golden brown. It’s quite vivid with orange and red flashes throughout.

On the nose you are met immediately by a sweet very fruity aroma. Hints of pineapple, mango and fruity boiled sweets.

Despite the initial sweetness further nosing reveals more of the actual rum in the blend. Which is a good thing. You aren’t getting huge amouts of heavy Pot Still Jamaican rum but you are getting enough of the rummyness to still be convinced that this is a flavoured rum. Some of the sweeter notes are definitely the Jamaican rum base.

The nose is all wrapped up with the ginger though. Sweet stem ginger biscuits – it gives a really nice spicy note.

Taking a sip on the rum reveals even more of the ginger. The sweeter notes retreat a little revealing more of the Jamaican rum which nestles nicely alongside the Ginger. I’m now getting McVities Ginger Cake and Ginger Parkin (a cross between a cake and a biscuit). The rum is slightly harsh when sipped – quite a lot of alcohol coming though.

That said I don’t mind that at all because it at least shows this hasn’t been sweetened to silly levels. The hydrometer actually shows only a trace of additives. The rum is botted at 40% ABV and the hydrometer returned 39.5% which would suggest around 4-5 grams per litre of additives.

But really I wasn’t expecting this to be a stellar sipping experience. I was expecting to end up mixing this rum. Which is where you will have few complaints. It makes a really good Dark and Stormy when mixed with Ginger Beer – Ginger Ale works well also. Surprisingly the drink doesn’t become overpoweringly ginger.

Mixed with cola I have really enjoyed the Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum. The rum isn’t overly sweet and the ginger flavour works well alongside the Jamaican rum. It’s a really nice combination.

As a flavoured rum this works really well and gives a really nice twist in mixed drinks. The ginger flavour is pretty authentic and as mentioned it’s not overly sweetened or over the top.

Related

Read More Jamaica Cove Black Ginger Rum
Foursquare Rum Distillery Premise

Foursquare Rum Distillery Premise
Bythefatrumpirate May 1, 2018May 1, 2018

Foursquare Rum Distillery Premise. Another intriguingly named rum from Foursquare. Premise – a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion. Cryptic, very cryptic.

Foursquare Premise the eighth bottling in the exceptional cask series. It is one of three bottlings released in 2018 alongside Dominus and 2005.

It has just made it to the UK and is available via The Whisky Exchange it is priced at £45.25 with an ABV of 46% and your usual 70cl bottle. Foursquare Premise comes housed in the usual Foursquare stubby bottle complete with synthetic cork closure.

In terms of legacy it is perhaps this years “Port” or “Zinfandel” cask (two previous Foursquare exceptional cask bottlings). Though rather than call it “Sherry Cask” Richard Seale has opted to give this rum a more intriguing/interesting name.

Foursquare Premise has been aged for 3 years in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred to ex-sherry casks where it was matured for a further 7 years. 10 years in total. It was bottled in January 2018. It is a blend of Pot and Column distilled rums.

There was a time when a Foursquare rum bottled at 46% ABV would have been a real talking point. It is quite hard to believe just how far the Distillery has come in the past 3 to 4 years. Clearly with the amount of aged stock – and the acquiring of various casks and barrels many years ago, the Exceptional Cask series has been a long term and very deliberate strategy.

It may have been seen as a risk at the time but it is certainly paying off now. Foursquare are leading the way in the rum world make no mistake about that.

With these rums – I will include Port Cask and the Zinfandel Blend I believe Richard is trying to showcase to rum consumers that true unadulterated rum can also be “sweet” – it is not all “dry” and “oaked”. I also believe keeping these rums sub 50% ABV will ensure less experienced drinkers are not “scared off” by excessive burn. I’ve not actually asked Richard about this but I believe that rums such as this one could perhaps be used as “Gateway Rums”. Helping people move onto what many enthusiasts might consider to be the “best” rums. Rather than having them waste money on fancy XO decanters of adulterated multi column crap.

Anyway, I digress. You are here for a rum review after all.

In the glass Foursquare Premise is an orangey to dark brown colour. It certainly looks the part.

The nose on Foursquare Premise is wonderful. It is light and fruity with notes of fortified wine. There is enough vanilla, oak and light slightly zesty spice to counteract the sherry notes and stop them becoming overbearing. Bringing great balance to the rum and a nice “weight” to the nose. Red and White grapes, green apples a touch of peach and some red berries. Very approachable yet complex. Hugely inviting.

Sipped it is a little more spicy than I was expecting. There is a touch more “oomph” to this than I perhaps expected. There has been real interaction with the cask to deliver a intense and rich spiciness and a real warm “red wine” like note. Thick lemon peel and just a squeeze or two of lemon juice, hints of Shiraz – stoned fruits.

Further sips reveal more of the lighter sweeter notes – a return of the Sherry and some lighter white fruit – apples and grapes. Hints of marmalade and just a drop of Angostura bitters.

Much like its predecessors the Port and Zinfandel rums it can seem a little to “light” at times. It’s very easy to drink and ridiculously sippable. In most cases such rums fall rather flat on the finish as they are to light in body.

Not Foursquare Premise. This is very complex but deceptive in how easy it is to drink! Trust me you will want more than one bottle of this. The finish, whilst not huge is long lasting and very pleasant. Gently, well balanced spice and oak mingle along nicely with just enough of the sweet fruits and sherry notes. It all remains in the mix till the end.

This is a very moreish and very easy to drink rum. You will buy a bottle but don’t expect it to last long. Such is the glut of Foursquare releases and the increase in ABV may mean that a few people see this as “weak” or think Cask Strength etc will be better. Honestly, don’t buy into that. This is another example of just how good “real” rum can be.

I’ve already mentioned the difficulty in scoring these rums. Maybe I should have given Dominus a full 5? Maybe I should be giving this a lower score because it isn’t a full blooded 50% plus rum? Maybe I do like the “sweeter” pure rums? Maybe, maybe……

Maybe picking your favourite Foursquare rum is a bit like picking your favourite child?

All I will say is spend as much time with all of them as you possibly can. This is stellar stuff.

PS Photos will be updated when my bottle arrives.

Related

Read More Foursquare Rum Distillery Premise
House of Rum Mauritius 2014

House of Rum Mauritius 2014
Bythefatrumpirate May 1, 2026

House of Rum Mauritius 2014.

I am reviewing what I think is my first rum from La Rhumerie du Chamarel or Chamarel Distillery if you prefer (or are English speaking). I may have tasted some Chamarel in the past but I’ve never reviewed one.

Mauritius and consequently Chamarel is a rum producing country that in all honesty Is haven’t given a lot of thought to over the years. The island produces both Agricole style Sugar Cane Juice rums and Molasses based rums. Mauritius is perhaps most famous for its New Grove Distillery and Green Island range of rums. Tilambic 151, Lazy Dodo the New Grove range etc.

Chamarel are one of the distilleries in the Sugar Cane Juice camp. Were they producing their r(h)ums on Martinique or Guadeloupe they could legally call at least some of their r(h)ums Rhum Agricole. Their production methods seem to fit the criteria at least some of the time.

Chamarel also adhere towards Cognac/Brandy production and use the VS, VSOP, XO denominations on some of their bottlings.

I probably should investigate Chamarel a bit more and buy some of their official bottlings.

If you wish to learn more about Chamarel Distillery they have a very informative website which outlines their productions methods and ethos. I’d recommend reading it the production methods in particular are very interesting.

Distilled in 2014 from Red and Yellow Sugarcane varieties and aged in both Tropical and Continental climates. Two years of Tropical aging in ex-Bourbon casks in Mauritius. The rum has completed an additional seven years of Continental maturation in the UK. Resting in ex-English Whisky casks that previously held Red wine.

This single cask bottling from 2023 yielded just 273 bottles (you may notice the photos show 307 bottles – don’t ask me!). It has been bottled at 54.2% ABV. A bottle will currently set you back around £130 and is available directly from House of Rum here.

In the glass House of Rum Mauritius 2014 is a lovely vibrant deep Gold. The kind of colour that makes you think of honey. It looks inviting. It looks like it might behave itself. I hope it doesn’t.

The nose is where things start to get fun. Straight away you get this big wave of tropical fruit Pineapple, Mango, a bit of Guava but not the artificial “tropical flavouring” nonsense you get in cheap Spiced rum. This is the real stuff.

Then there’s a warm, slightly sticky note like caramelised Banana fritters, followed by a little Vanilla, a little oak and a faint Herbal edge. This stops it from becoming overly sweet I feel. There’s even a touch of that slightly glue‑ish estery thing, but toned down.

It’s not massively grassy or Agricole like on the nose. The maturation has given this more of a molasses like feel. Think something like Rhum JM XO. Agricole with a Molasses nod due to the cask influence?

On the palate it’s warm and unsurprisingly punchy. That 54.2% isn’t messing around. You get a burst of sweet tropical fruit again Pineapple Upside‑Down cake, Mango syrup, maybe even a bit of Lychee. This is followed by a wave of Spice and Oak that brings everything back in to some kind of order.

There’s a nice balance between sweetness and heat, and the mouthfeel is oily, the kind that coats your tongue and refuses to leave quietly. Add a splash of water and it opens up beautifully, letting more of the fruit and pastry notes come through without losing the backbone.

The finish on House of Rum Mauritius 2014 is long, warm, and slightly drying. The fruit fades into soft oak, a bit of spice, and a lingering sweetness that feels like someone left a bowl of tropical fruit salad in the sun for just a bit too long in a good way. It’s not a heavy, brooding finish, but it sticks around long enough to make you nod approvingly at the glass like you’ve just discovered something clever.

House of Rum Mauritius 2014 is one of those rums that sits in a nice middle ground. Not a wild funk monster and not an overly delicate Agricole.

It’s a well‑chosen cask from a distillery that knows what it’s doing, bottled at a strength that lets the flavours actually show up to work. It’s interesting without being weird, fruity without being childish, and strong without being aggressive.

Complex and very interesting. Really enjoyed this one.

Related

Read More House of Rum Mauritius 2014