Our Rum and Spirits W.I.R.D. 2000. Our Rum and Spirits are an Independent bottler from Germany. They were set up by restauranter Christian Nagel who upon discovering how popular rum was becoming with his guests, decided to start importing and distributing rums which would be uniquely his.

W.I.R.D is the abbreviation of the West Indies Rum Distillery. This has recently been taken over by Alexandre Gabriel of Plantation Rum. Prior to this W.I.R.D only produced the Cockspur brand and survived mostly by selling bulk rum.

A lot of rum output from the W.I.R.D is column distilled – this rum is believed to be from the Rockley Still. Or at least it is believed to be the Rockley Still style. The Rockley Still is a pot still which is still housed somewhere on the W.I.R.D site. Photos purporting to be the Rockley Still show a still which looks severely neglected and whilst Gabriel hopes to be able to re-activate the still – it doesn’t appear to be very likely from what I’ve seen.

So how is the Rockley still style re-created? I haven’t got the foggiest to be honest. I assume a Pot Still is used and perhaps someone who may have been around when the Still was active may have lent a hand or at least someone who knows what the rums taste like it produced.

Rockley Still Style is best described as medicinal. It has more characteristics in common with Caroni Trinidad rum than the more traditional laidback Bajan style. They are unique in many ways and are best described as full blooded.

There are certain years – 1986 and 2000 where the Rockley Still style of rum has  been produced and vintages of it have been made available to Independent bottlers. Again quite why this is the case – I just don’t know. It may be the 1986 rum is the last to be produced on the actual still. It is believed that the 2000 rums are just in the style of the Rockley Still.

This was one of the earliest bottlings by Our Rum and Spirits released back in 2015. Only 100 bottles were available. It was bottled at a reasonable 43% ABV and cost around 50 euros from what I understand. Presentation wise it is a little basic but it has relevant information on the bottle and the card sleeve. It was distilled in June 2000 and bottled in December 2014. So its just over 14 years old.

I only got a sample of this rum and with it being so rare I’ve struggled to find any standard photos online. The bottle pictured isn’t the same rum but the bottle shape etc was the same.

In the glass Our Rum and Spirits W.I.R.D is a very light amber to straw colour. Even at 43% ABV the nose is quite pungent. It’s pretty medicinal – menthol and eucalyptus. That is offset against a touch of sawdust and some very savoury burnt puff pastry. It has some of the more smoky and tobacco notes you find in Caroni – a touch of motor oil and some really malty notes and some wheaty cereal like notes.

For all the more aggressive notes and almost whisky like character it does have some lighter sweeter notes. Touches of vanilla and just a hint of brown sugar and Brazil Nuts.

If I has to guess where this rum is from I wouldn’t say Barbados. Nor would I actually mistake it for a Caroni. It reminds me most of the Fijian rums I have tried. It has those notes of salty brine and olives.

Sipped Our Rum and Spirits W.I.R.D. is gentler than you might expect from the nose. A nice weight of oak and spiciness and there is a nice honeyed sweetness – a touch of toffee.

It’s a touch on the bitter side as you move into the mid palate. It’s quite clean and oaky but it doesn’t have a great deal of complexity. The ABV has clipped its wings a little. The finish is pretty short and you get a little shot of Bourbon like spice and a touch of citrus but not for long.

The nose is more interesting and complex than this rum when sipped. Its much less aggressive when sipped and its quite well balanced. What it does do, it does reasonably well. It just doesn’t really do a great lot.

I’d have either preferred a stronger ABV as it tastes a little bit watery or a little more sweetness. Overall its a bit too woody for my tastes.