The Real McCoy Aged 14 Years Limited Edition. It has been pretty difficult, make that nigh on impossible to keep track of every bottling that has hailed from Foursquare over the past few years. There are a huge variety of Official Bottlings (OB’s), Independent Bottlings (IB’s), collaborations between OB’s and IB’s and finally Rum Brands such as The Real McCoy working with Foursquare.
Rum Fire Velvet Jamaican White Overproof Rum. There are a lot of words and phrases I have used over they years when reviewing White Overproof rum from Jamaica. Velvet is certainly not one I have ever thought to use before, if I am being honest.
Rum Fire Velvet is produced at Hampden Estate. There has been a bit of confusion over this bottling for the European market and the Rum Fire (minus the Velvet) bottling which is widely available in the US. This European edition of Rum Fire is presented in a stubby stylish bottle, with a modern stylised look. The US Rum Fire appears in a normal “bar bottle” and looks a lot less premium.
Gunroom Navy Rum. The date of this review is quite significant. If you are reading this review “hot off the press” then you will be, depending on your global location, hopefully still enjoying the 31st July 2020. This signifies 50 years since the British Royal Navy ceased the practice of the Daily Rum Ration or Tot, as it was more popularly known on board its ships.
Captain Morgan Black Label Jamaica Rum 73%. A high proof offering of Captain Morgan’s “iconic” Black Label rum which was bottled for the German market. Crikey that sounds like a bit of auction spiel doesn’t it?
Mount Gay Black Barrel Double Cask Blend. Until pretty recent times Mount Gay were a bit of a one trick pony. They have and likely always will make their money selling truckloads of their “entry level” Eclipse rums. In particular the “Gold” variant of Eclipse as the “White” or “Silver” can be quite tricky to find here in the UK. By tricky I mean pretty much impossible. I have only ever seen it for sale once in the EU and I bought (a rather overpriced) bottle as soon as I saw it.
Clarendon 2007 Aged 12 Years Selected by Thompson Bros. These rather nicely presented bottlings of Independently bottled Caribbean rum, first came to my attention with another Jamaican rum. That rum was bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange and came from Worthy Park it was also 12 Years Old.
An Interview with Karen Hoskin – Montanya Distilers. The World Wide Web throws up all kinds of opportunities for a blogger. So here I am compiling an interview with none other than Karen Hoskin of Montanya Distillers, Colorado in the US of A.
I have actually met Karen (at last years London Rumfest) and Karen was also present at the first European Online Rum Festival earlier this year. I decided to revive the interviews during lockdown to try and help out less “established” brands and those who are just getting their feet here in the UK.