Silver Seal Dennery Superior St Lucian Rum. The use of the “Dennery Distillery” on this bottling (and others) by Silver Seal has caused quite a lot of consternation from those currently involved at St Lucia Distillers. Dennery is a completely different site to where the only St Lucian rum producer – St Lucia Distillers are now housed.
The distillery hasn’t operated since around 1972 so that is why the current owners of St Lucia Distillers are a bit perplexed by the use of the name. Maybe this rum is from around that period?
At around £60 for a 70cl bottle with an ABV of 43% I very much doubt that. There isn’t a great deal of information on this bottling. It is believed to be from 1988/89. Presentation wise – the label looks like something a small child has drawn. It’s absolutely hideous. I don’t know what it is with some indie bottlers but their presentation is stuck way back in the seventies for some reason. To be fair Silver Seal have improved their presentation recently but some of it still looks dated.
Unfortunately I’ve no information on the actual rum – whether it is Pot, Column or a blend etc. So a lot of this I will try and guess at as we go through the tasting of this bottling. As its bottled by Silver Seal I would guess most of the ageing has taken place in Scotland – not much Tropical Ageing. It is estimated that this rum was bottled around 2012 so the rum is around 22 to 23 years old.
I’m a big fan of St Lucia Distillers so I’ve been curious to try this rum for a long time. So lets see how it went….
Very dark in the glass almost mahogany. Caramel? I would reckon. If I’m right about the tropical ageing then this wouldn’t be so dark. Maybe a charred barrel? Possibly
Nose is pretty uninviting. Almost sterile. Little really to pick out just a bite of alcohol and a very woody bitterness. It doesn’t really say or do much. Column distillation? I’d have to say so, yes. It offers little of what I expected. There may be a few very faint notes but they are more odours than anything else. Something old and a bit musty.
No salt, brine, herb or touch of Jagermeister. It’s almost neutral beyond woody bitterness. Lacks any real vanilla or cocoa to balance it like Admiral Rodney. It’s just a bit boring. A million miles away from the 1931 series.
Sipped its got a bit of cocoa and a touch of caramel but it just tastes a bit old. Any real flavour quickly disappears into woodiness and muskyness. Muted, aged in barrels that have had their best days. Maybe re-charred and just knackered. Slightly murky and just a bit tired. Initially its quite fiery and peppered but it goes nowhere. Just runs into a very boring fade of tired oak, faint caramel and a bitter almost sour note. The finish is virtually non-existent bar the sour/bitter hit.
One thing I never thought would that I would actually be bored by something coming out of St Lucia Distillers. I’ve seen them on Social Media question whether this is their product at all! Which is a bit worrying. Mind you, even the way Silver Seal presented this would make me want to distance myself from it. That’s not counting the very average contents inside.
A real disappointment for me.
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Chairman's Reserve Master's Selection 2006 13 Year Old The Whisky Exchange Exclusive - thefatrumpirate.com
February 4, 2020 at 3:57 pm
[…] 11 and 14 Year Old expressions were excellent. The Compagnie des Indes 13 Year old less so and the Silver Seal “Dennery” (Dennery Distillery was long when the distillate in that bottle was produced) was frankly […]
Welsh Toro
December 8, 2017 at 9:33 pm
Really interesting review. I’m very partial to St Lucia and Silver Seal have great pedigree. The label is alarming but there may be hope. From your description we are looking at poor casks and a suspicious approach to St Lucia rum. Some of Silver Seals’s recent whiskys have looked a tad underwhelming also. It appears that their energy is directed to Caroni or Highland Park, etc. A luxury label so it’s disappointing to hear. Good review. Cheers.
Rob
December 5, 2017 at 8:10 pm
Sounds very un-St.Lucian! Will remember to stay away from this.