Skotlander Handcrafted Rum V 1,400 SØMIL is perhaps the most bizarrely named rum I have reviewed so far.  The strange name owes mostly to the way it has been aged.  When translated into English and the story is told it does make a lot more sense.  Even if the way the rum has been aged is a little baffling…….

Skotlander Spirits hail from Denmark.  Not Scotland as some have commented on Social Media.  Believe it or not but some people have suggested the name is confusing. A simple Google search would easily dismiss any misconceptions.  This seems beyond some.

Skotlander’s website asks you immediately on visiting if you wish to translate it into English.  It is currently available in English and Danish.  It’s really well done and has a great deal of information on the rums.  You can also buy their range online via the site.

The rum up for review is their most recent release.  Translated into English the 1,400 refers to Nautical Miles.  As I mentioned the rum has been aged in a rather unique way.  The rear label of the bottle gives us the backstory.

As you can see the rum has been aged in PX Sherry Casks and aged onboard Anders Skotlander’s Schooner Mira.  The rum was bottled at Cask Strength after being aged for 1400 Nautical miles around the Danish coast.

Skotlander Handcrafted Rum V is packaged in a modern stubby style bottle with a wooden topped synthetic cork stopper.  The presentation is very sleek and clean.  It’ a very modern looking package.  Included with my two rums came a booklet on Skotlander’s rums and a Cocktail booklet with a number of cocktail and syrup recipes.  The rum also came with a white cloth bag with the Skotlander hog/pig logo.  All in all a very classy package.

The 50cl bottle has been released at Cask Strength of 61.6% ABV.  It is a limited edition of 704 bottles.  My bottle is number 415.  The rum retails at around the 200 Euro mark. The rum is small batch, pot distilled it has no additives, no chill filtration and is a natural colour.  It is not cheap but Skotlander ensure their customers that the rum is made using the finest grade sugarcane molasses in the world.

In the glass the rum is very vibrant reddish brown.  I don’t know how long aged 1400 Nautical Miles is but it seems there has been quite a lot of interaction with the PX Sherry Cask to get this colour.

The nose is sweet – there are some quite strong scents of sweet “booze”.  Beneath these quite strong fumes you also get a nice toffee aroma.  There are notes of what I would recognise as port or sherry – rich deep wine like scents.

Further nosing reveals a slightly vegetal note – reminiscent of young Jamaican Overproofs.  It also reminds me of a small batch Pot Still rum from England called Old Salt Rum.  However these notes are only slightly detectable.  There is on occasion a little flash of varnish.

All in all at full ABV it is a very complex smelling rum.  It is quite menacing and certainly a rum which you should approach with respect.

Sipped at full strength it is initially sweet as the nose promises.  You get a really nice fruity burst – redcurrants and blackberries.  Then the toffee notes arrive, they quickly fade into quite a sharp bittersweet melding of spices and smokiness.  Despite its sweetness it is quite a heavy and very rich rum.  Kind of like a mix of
Pussers and Caroni in many ways.  The nearest I have tasted in terms of intensity of flavour has been the Foursquare 2013 Habitation Velier release.  They are very similar in a lot of ways.

Taken down a notch or two with a drop of water the rum is a little lighter to sip.  You don’t lose any of the intense flavours but I can certainly taste a lot more oak which for me gives it a little bit more balance.  Initially I felt this was a better option but over time I have developed quite a taste for the rum at the higher ABV.  Albeit in much smaller sips.

It’s expensive.  Both to the consumer and for the producer.  It is not something being done on the cheap, by a company looking to make a quick buck.  They want this rum to be the best it can be and they have also produced something, which is very distinctive.