That Boutique-y Rum Company Secret Distillery #11 Jamaica Aged 15 Years Batch 1. Another release from TBRC’s “Cinema Series”. This time we are heading off to a Secret Distillery in Jamaica.

Fortunately for us we are given a clue as to which Jamaican Distillery we are visiting today. This clue can be found in the bottom right hand corner of the front label.

C<>H Marque denotes the “Rum Marque” which fits this particular rum. By using this marque we can identify which distillery the rum hails from. As each Jamaican distillery use different marques.

The C<>H Marque is “Continental Hampden” and unsurprisingly denotes the rum is from Hampden Estate.

The following information/explanation taken directly from TBRC website will explain the marque used and also inform why Frankenstein is centre stage on this Jamaican rum bottling

“Inspiration: Frankenstein (1931). Starring Boris Karloff

“You’re crazy!” – Victor Moritz
“Crazy, am I? We’ll see whether I’m crazy or not.” – Henry Frankenstein

We’ve a visit to our latest ‘Secret Distillery’ from Jamaica and batch ones means an initial release. Oh, and it’s a monster of a Rum!

This is all about the genius of Jamaican Rum to service a need – to try and find a way around certain export conditions – primarily to Germany – and perhaps the folly in such experiments. Mirrors with Dr Frankenstein’s quest to create life and ultimately how that worked out for him and the monster he created.

How’s this for lab work? C<>H – a high ester marque – 1300-1400 gr/HLPA. A rare marque due to its extreme intensity. Medium molasses content, high cane juice vinegar, high dunder addition, medium water content, and high muck addition. 10 days of alcoholic fermentation, 10 days of dead wash, for a total of twenty days, with the wash being around 2-4%ABV. Double retort pot distilled. Aged continentally for 15 years and bottled at cask strength.”

This rum is the high ester rum marque available from Hampden Estate after the (in)famous DOK (Dermot Owen Kelly) marque. As a result we are getting a very funky (for some too funky) rum even by Jamaican standards.

That Boutique-y Rum Company Secret Distillery #11 Jamaica Aged 15 Years Batch 1 comes in the standard (for TBRC) 50 cl bottle this batch on release had 385 bottles. It is priced at £99.95 and is available direct from Master of Malt. The rum has been bottled at a fiery 63.5% ABV and has been continentally aged in an ex-bourbon barrel.

In the glass the rum is a light/golden brown with a slightly dull complexion overall. It’s little hazy (no chill filtration has taken place).

On the nose That Boutique-y Rum Company Secret Distillery #11 Jamaica Aged 15 Years Batch 1 is very intense. Lashings of fermented Pineapple, Nail Varnish and Pear Drops (boiled sweets).

Further nosing reveals some lighter notes – some butter biscuits/shortbread and some stoned fruits – acidic plums and stewed bananas but in appearance. Enveloping all this intensity is a warming oak and spice aroma alongside some chocolate raisins.

You can smell this rum from the other side of the room. It is rich, intense and extremely fruity. It has a lot of complexity and reminds me somewhat of the aged output from Long Pond Distillery. Which can never be a bad thing.

Sipped at full strength you are in for one of the most intense but ultimately rewarding rum experiences. It is however one which you must perservere a little with. Especially if this high ester rum is new to you. If you don’t like it first time around – don’t dismiss it. Come back to it later and you might find you get more of a taste for it.

It might even be useful for some to reduce this down to around 50 or even 45% ABV. It will make it more approachable.

For those familiar with this type of rum and have bought this based on the marque you won’t be disappointed. Much of what we discovered on the nose comes in as you sip. Pineapple Cubes (boiled sweets again!), those Pear Drops again, varnish and some blackcurrants are all on the palate initially.

As the sip progresses we get more tartness again and a real hit of citrus – lemon and lime juice comes in alongside the Pineapple and varnish like notes giving a real sweet/sour taste sensation.

This is coupled by a savoury warming oak and spice note which appears on the mid palate and begins to “dry out” the sweeter notes as we progress towards the finish.

At this stage the rum becomes very dry. The sweeter notes recede quite a lot and we are left with plenty oak spice and some tea leaves – black tea and a touch of ginger. Due to the drier nature of this rum the finish is perhaps the only disappointment. Its not short as such but a lot of flavour leaves the party a little early for me.

Another solid entry from That Boutique-y Rum Company. Not for the faint hearted but really anyone spending this kind of money, should know what they are getting themselves in for…..