Revolver Rum
Revolver Rum is a new rum brand from the Rathlee Distilling Co. based in Cornwall on the South Coast of England.
It is a product of two rum lovers – one from Colombia and one from Cornwall. The world Revolver in this instance, is not linked to pistols or guns. It actually means in Spanish to “stir” which may give you an idea as to what direction this rum is heading in. They also mention evolving on the label which is probably another nod to using the word revolver.
Bottled at 40% ABV in a very distinctive stubby 70cl bottle, it ticks a lot of boxes for me presentation wise. It has a striking appearance and the package is topped off with a very substantial wooden topped synthetic cork stopper. A few UK online retailers have already picked this up – Drink Finder for instance. It is retailing at just under the £30 mark.
The rum has only been out a few months but already it has a very impressive website. I’ve seen how “home grown” rums such as the Duppy Share and Elements 8 can succeed as a result of a mixture of slick marketing and solid presentation. However, it is worth noting that both these brands had something else behind them – very well chosen rums.
With little information on the label other than “Cask Aged Golden Rum” I had to do a bit of digging to find out the exact origin of this rum. It is column distilled and aged in used ex-Bourbon barrels for 18 months. It is forwarded at Cask Strength to the UK where it is diluted to 40% with Cornish Mineral Water. Unusually it is not a blend of rums. The rum is currently being aged in the UK for an additional 6 months as the people behind Revolver see how this matures come the summer. The rum itself comes from a very respected producer, unfortunately the team behind Revolver are unable to reveal whom as part of their agreement with them. I do know but I won’t tell.
Revolver rum have teamed up with The Cocktail Trading Company to create a few signature cocktails.
Anyway enough of all this jibber jabber lets move onto analysing the actual rum in the bottle.
The rum is a light gold/straw colour. It displays no signs of added caramel and the nose shows no signs of added sugar. This is another rum which is without additives.
The nose is unsurprisingly a little fiery with strong notes of sweet young alcohol. It has some familiar notes for me. It has a nice buttery quality to it. Despite the youth of the rum it does seem to have quite a smooth profile. It has some decent oak notes in the mix, some spices and a good rummy feel to it. It’s a lighter bodied Spanish style “ron” and I certainly feel that it could easily pass as a couple of years older than its actual age.
Sipping this rum is mpsa quite spicy experience. It’s not so much young alcohol that overwhelms the first few sips but more the spicier notes in the nose – its quite peppery and the oakiness is a little bitter. It has a short yet fiery finish. A top rate sipper it isn’t – its too young. However, it fairs a lot better after a couple of glasses (when perhaps some of the senses are a little numbed) than many other older rums. As you persist with it you get a little more of the fruitier notes and some honey, the oak is very evident on the finish. I do like the oakiness of this spirit as I feel good rum should have evidence of cask ageing – there should be oak in any aged spirit.
Although I have commented on the sippability of this spirit (because I was pleasantly surprised and quite enjoyed the experience) it’s really as a mixer that Revolver is being marketed. Which I find quite refreshing as many other “rums” think that chucking a load of additives at young rums and adding droplets of older rum constitute calling the rum XO or Solera 81 or other such nonsense.
When it comes to mixing I’ve yet to experiment that much with cocktails at home (the site does have a Rum Ginger Beer and Red Wine Cocktail which even I can create and works very nicely), so its been put to the usual Rum and Cola test mostly.
There are a couple of things that appeal to me in a rum and cola – I like a spirit which can slightly dull the fizz in cola and smooth out the drink and I very much enjoy tasting the presence of an actual rum. For me that is some oaky notes and some slightly sweeter fruitier notes. Which is exactly what this rum delivers.
For regular readers this reminds me of one of my perennial favourites – Chairman’s Reserve. I like the nice oaky profile and the little hints of vanilla and honey. Slightly dry and all round for such a young rum which isn’t even a blend – very nicely balanced.
All in all this is a good solid tasty mixer. It’s certainly much better than you would expect for a rum less than two years old!
Pirates Grog rum is from (wait for it…) Roatan. Yes, me neither. Roatan located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands. The company have been trading since 2012 and are currently trying to extend their distribution into the UK market. The Pirates Grog has its own website http://www.piratesgrogrum.com. The website builds around the Pirate theme and adds some mystique to the rum.
I don’t often stray far from sipping rum straight and adding cola when conducting my reviews. However, there is something about this rum that is making me think that a Dark and Stormy is in order. A liberal mix of ice, Ginger Beer, rum and a generous squeeze of lime.
WM Cadenhead or Cadenhead’s are an independent Whisky, Rum and Gin bottler from Scotland. The bottling up for review today is a Cask Strength release from 2015. It is pretty much sold out now and hard to find.
Sipping the rum reveals something different to the nose. It’s quite spicy – the herbal pine I detected on the nose comes through. It is quite refreshing and clean tasting. There are woody notes but they aren’t of the more familiar oak and smoky variety. They are slighty more minty.
Avua Cachaca Prata. Avua are a brand/bottler rather than the name of a producer. They have the Cachaca distilled and bottled for them. They have began importing Cachaca into the US and Europe recently.
d the wrap around sleeve will certainly appeal on the shelf and the colour scheme used is classy and appropriate to the product inside. A cork stopper seals the deal. This is certainly a Cachaca which will not look out of place in style bars. Though its length can make it a little tricky to store. This is quite a tall bottle.
Hattiers Premium Reserve Rum. Blended rum (particularly from multi islands) has been on the decline recently, in terms of new products. I can’t think of all that many multi island blends that have popped up recently. Unfortunately this has been mainly due to the sheer volume of Spiced Rum which is constantly entering the low and mid range of the market. You don’t need any multi island blend for much of that rubbish. Just cheap base spirit from Trinidad.
serve rum has won a few awards the most notable being a IWSC Silver. So this shouldn’t be too shabby at all….
It’s a bit pricy for a mixer but it makes a really smooth and tasty rum and cola. Hattiers Premium Reserve Rum is also pretty decent in most cocktails that call for a Latin Style rum or even some Barbados rum. It’s pretty versatile and will add a little finesse rather than a full on assault of punchy flavour.
Dose Classica Serie Ouro. This is a relatively new cachaça brand which was formed in 2002 by Ralphe Ferreira Jr, who was inspired by his grandfather’s love of Cachaca.
Foursquare Rum Distillery Hereditas TWE Exclusive. This rum is exclusive to The Whisky Exchange, London. Rum is increasingly being taken more and more seriously by whisky enthusiasts. At the forefront of this is Sukhinder Singh owner of The Whisky Exchange.
The Whisky Exchange have released this rum as part of their 20th Anniversary celebrations. I know, because I got a very big sticker all about it on my bottle. I’ve noticed others don’t seem to have the sticker. So I was “lucky”. A few weeks after release you can still pick it up, though I have been told its sold very,very well!
terms of a Cask Strength spirit. The nose has a slightly charred note to it. Almost a bit like a camp fire. However, rather than chestnuts roasting on an open fire, here we have rich plump raisins and currants, orange peel and lime zest. In short we have Christmas cake.
