Black Ven Distillery Dark Rum. There has been quite an explosion of rum production in the UK over the past 5 or so years. Many of these rum “producers” are doing little other than “spicing” an existing imported Caribbean rum base and then proclaiming it as British, English or Scottish or even Welsh “rum”.
Tag Archives: rum review
Ron Bengalo Rum from Barbados. In todays climate most people out there will be hunting for the odd rum bargain. Especially, when it comes to something to use as a casual weekend mixer.
Most supermarket own label Dark and White rum tends to be unaged rum from Trinidad. It’s cheap and nearly every supermarket stocks, it along with a Spiced Rum or a “Spirit Drink”. At a pinch its a go to for a cheap mixer to get a little merry with. You just have to know you’re not getting a great deal for your £10-£15
Ron de El Salvador Cihuatan Alux Limited Edition Aged 15 Years. I first reviewed a rum from Licorera Chihuatan back in 2019. It was a rather underwhelming experience with a 12 year old aged rum.
In all honesty the brand delivered pretty much what I was expecting. So whilst my experience was underwhelming, it was far from surprising.
Havana Club 11 Year Old Small Batch Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange. This is a world first. Havana Club, the iconic Cuban distillers have never previously released a bespoke expression for a single retailer.
Whilst Havana Club might not be everyone’s cup of tea (or glass of rum) and a lot of their “mystery” is due to not being easily available to one of the worlds biggest spirit markets – the US of A. They are without doubt one of the better producers of light Cuban style rum. Not that really says a great deal if we are being entirely honest.
Bacardi Spiced. Or more accurately Bacardi Spiced Spirit Drink. As the ABV on this offering is only 35% it does not hit the minimum 37.5% EU requirement to be labelled as a rum. The UK are no longer in the EU. We are still pretty much following all their rules and regulations though………
Foursquare Touchstone. Touchstone represents the 22nd release in the Exceptional Cask Series from Foursquare Rum Distillery, Barbados. This release is a bit of a collaboration in terms of the maturation.
In January 2019 Foursquare acquired ten casks from the cognac producer Camus. Ten Casks from their Caribbean Expedition Cognac program. After a year the casks were emptied and and the cognac was shipped back to France. The casks were then filled with 2008 vintage and 12 year old ex-bourbon cask rum. The rum was then matured for a further two years. More information can be found here.
Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific 20 Year Bourbon Cask. Finally the team over at Dead Reckoning Rum have released a rum outside of Australia. Rum fans in mainland Europe and the UK (if you can negotiate the horrors of Brex-shit) will now be able to source a Dead Reckoning release.
There are actually two Dead Reckoning Rum’s available in the European market – this one and a 10 Year Old also from South Pacific Distillery.