That Boutique-y Rum Company Greensand Ridge Batch 1. Regular readers of the site should be familiar with The Boutique-y Rum Company by now. I have reviewed a number of their offerings over the past couple of years since the company was formed.

This offering from Greensand Ridge is part of the recently released “Home Nations Series”. Which celebrated the growing number of rums now being produced in the UK. It also focused on some whisky as well but we’re not interested in that. Not today anyway.

Greensand Ridge Distillery is a micro-distillery which focuses on gins, fruit brandies and rum. It is named after the hills which surround The Weald, commonly known as Greensand Ridge or Wealden Greensand.

Sounds like something out of LOTR or something. The Weald is a wooded area based in the South East of England, it crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex.

So there you go if you wish to learn more about Greensand Ridge Distillery then they have a very informative website with plenty of information. They are a carbon neutral operation and have other environmental projects ongoing as part of their operation.

So lets learn a little more about the juice in the bottle. That Boutique-y Rum Company Greensand Ridge Batch 1 is a 100% Pot Still rum. It has been aged for 18 months in an ex-apple brandy cask (produced at the distillery). It has been bottled at 52.5% ABV. Upon releases there were 444 bottles available. Bottle size for the That Boutique-y Rum Company are 50cl rather than the more common 70cl. It retails at around the £50 mark it is available from Master of Malt and other retailers.

As with all That Boutique-y Rum Company bottlings the artwork has once again been provided by Jim(‘ll Paint it). He’s now dropped the ‘ll Paint It – I would imagine for pretty obvious reasons. He’s still using Microsoft Paint though!

So I think I have exhausted the information I have on this particular bottling so why don’t I get my laughing gear around a glass or two?

Why not indeed. In the glass That Boutique-y Rum Company Greensand Ridge Batch 1 is a very light coloured spirit a kind off white/very light straw. It could almost pass as a “white” rum with just a sl ight yellow tinge.

The nose is full of molasses and caramel. It’s quite sweet but at the same time has a savoury kind of pastry note to it. The type of pastry you would use for a savoury pie. Shortcrust with a pinch of two of salt.

There’s also a slightly sharper note – it’s quite fruity. Logically it should be a kind of apple like note but its a bit sharper more citrus heavy than even a baking apple. Quite tart.

I’ve got to say its not my most favourite nose. There’s a fair bit going on but there is a bit of a rub between the molasses notes and the rest of the nose. Something just doesn’t quite sit that well for me.

Sipped it is certainly a lot fruitier and more vibrant than the nose. It’s not as heavy on the molasses and I’m definitely getting the apple brandy alongside those citrus notes from the nose.

The initial fruity burst is off set by a nice hit of peppery heat and some softer woody notes. The mid palate is slightly menthol like with some hints of apple and apple blossom. It fades quickly into the finish.

Finish wise as to be expected of a younger rum it’s a little rough around the edges. It’s quite boozy but the overall lighter nature of this rum means it doesn’t get too much.

The fade out is gentle with some whisky like barley/malty notes.

Overall That Boutique-y Rum Company Greensand Ridge Batch 1 shows some promise. Overall for a 100% Pot Still Rum I found the profile a little light and not quite as robust as I might have expected. That is not really a criticism just an observation on the overall style.

I think this rum has started to take on some of the characteristics of the barrel it has been aged in. It would be very interesting to try it again with more time in the barrel. I’m sure as young disitillery Greensand Ridge will be working towards this.

This is okay – its nothing special and nothing that is going to make me rush out and buy more Greensand Ridge rum. However, I will be keeping an eye on any future releases and will ensure I try any samples of new stuff as it evolves. There is definite potential in terms of the distillate and the options available to Greensand Ridge in terms of barrel selection from their exisiting portfolio is exciting.

One for the future.