Tomahawk Maple Cream
Tomahawk Maple Cream is a rum cream. Many cheaper “Irish Cream” type drinks are mixtures of cream, sugar neutral spirits or even wine in some instances.
Tomahawk Maple Cream hails from Quebec, Canada and is a blend of cream, sugar, spices, the very best (of course) Maple Syrup and rum.
Legend has it that ancient Native American warriors would participate in games of skill before battle. One of these games consisted of throwing Tomahawks with precision and might against surrounding trees. The winner would relinquish his Tomahawk within the tree as a sign of respect. Maple sap was later discovered dripping from the Tomahawk blade. That moment began the great tradition of Maple Syrup and helped shape Canada’s identity as a nation.
Which is a nice little marketing story and explains the identity of this particular drink which is just starting to make some waves in the UK. It is available at both The Whisky Exchange and Gerry’s. Priced at around £20 it comes in a sleek black slightly wide bottomed almost champagne like bottle. The presentation is uncluttered and unfussy. It is bottled at 15% ABV putting it very much in liqueur territory. For those who enjoy Maple Syrup there is also a more potent 32% Maple Whisky available from the same brand.
I personally don’t have a lot of experience of Canada’s breakfast favourite, Maple Syrup – the idea of eating (or is it drinking?) such sickly sweet fayre at such an early hour makes me feel slightly queasy! I went into this review with memories from a time I cannot quite recollect which meant my brain was telling me I don’t like Maple Syrup.
So I approached this particular offering with trepidation.
Which in all fairness and as this review will show – was unfair. I have reviewed a couple of rum creams lately. I feel that they are “different” enough to give a little variety to my “straight” rum reviews but still maintain the whole “rum” ethos. I certainly won’t be venturing into other spirits as some have. I could do an occasional whiskey or even vodka but I see little point.
In theory making a basic rum cream should be very fairly easy – rum, cream, sugar and some spices. I’ve enjoyed a glass or twenty two of Bailey’s over the years but in all honesty I have took just as much pleasure from much cheaper “Irish Creams”. Sweet, sickly and viscous they all hit the spot when that’s what you fancy. However, with rum creams and liqueurs I have found greater disparity. Efforts such as Rum Chata have been given a very big thumbs down. Cinnamon – no thanks.
So here goes – first up is the appearance. Light greyish, brown typical of a rum or Irish
cream. Viscous a quick swirl saw it really stick to the glass and run back down very slowly. All pretty much in order and what I was expecting.
The nose on Tomahwak also didn’t offer any great surprises – I expected it to be sicklier like Maple Syrup, it was sweet but not quite as sweet as I had envisaged. It reminds me very much of the Worthy Park Rum Cream. Despite all the sweet sugary notes and nice balanced spices you can still taste a nice, almost Demerara rum note. Big brown sugar notes and some nice sweet spices.
Unsurprisingly at 15% it is very easy to drink and slips down far too easily. It’s very sweet, viscous and it is what it is. If its a fine rum you are after – this is not for you. If like me you enjoy an occasional sweet treat with a bit of rummy hit – this is the drink for you. The Maple Syrup element seems to give the rum cream a lot of its sweetness but it works with the rum rather than overpowering, it with sickly, cloying sugary notes. It adds a nice depth of flavour giving you lots of Demerara sugar, a little honey, nice vanilla and caramel notes.
I haven’t had a lot of rum cream but this is up there with those sampled so far. It turns out that at the base of this rum cream is a 3 year old white rum. The Maple Syrup used is also decent quality – Grade A ranking (the highest available). As a result it is much better than I was expecting. If you are concerned about the Maple Syrup – don’t be it really doesn’t make the drink too sickly sweet at all.
A tasty sweet treat and a nice change of pace.
Kill Devil Guatemala Darsa Distillery Aged 8 Years. Kill Devil is an old fashioned term for rum but this is a very new rum brand. Coming from independent whisky bottler 
cask. The presentation I really like. The slightly macabre “spirit” on the bottle is good instantly giving you the feel of a kind of “Kill Devil” and the labelling is uncluttered and gives you some information on the rum. Though to be honest not a great deal unfortunately – no information on still used etc. The back label has a nice story about “Kill Devil”. I like the opaque squat bottle and it has a very nice synthetic stopper. You also get a very sturdy cylinder to store your rum in and keep the Kill Devil trapped perhaps!
It’s not a great sipping rum but its not without its merits. It’s certainly nice to try a Guatemalan rum sans sugar or other additives. I presume this has been aged solely in ex Bourbon casks maybe a Port or Sherry Finish may add and extra layer of complexity to this. It’s pretty one dimensional and doesn’t have a great deal of flavours beyond oak and peppery spice.
For those in the UK please don’t let the title confuse you. This is NOT the “Original” Sailor Jerry rum which was so radically altered back in 2010. This is a recent bottling of the “newer” recipe. For those outside the UK, Sailor Jerry has always been more in keeping with this formula. In the US the rum is bottled at 92 proof (46% ABV). In the UK it is bottled at 80 proof (40% ABV). It is also marketed as a Navy rum in the US. To be honest a lot of the information relating to Sailor Jerry is a bit confusing and contradictory. If you can clarify any of the information please feel free to comment below this review. The title of my review, as always is based on how the rum is described on its/my bottle.
Jamaican Rum JMM Thompson Bros and Bar Tre. Here we have another bottling from a Scottish Independent Bottler in the form of the Thompson Bros. For this release they have collaborated with Japanese bar “Bar Tre” in Hiroshima.
dangerously drinkable. That said there is no need to be “knocking this back like a pirate” the finish is slightly smoky and musty but has a nice hit of dark chocolate, tobacco and banana. It fades out gently but is a more than reasonable length.
Holmes Cay Barbados 2005 Single Cask Rum. Holmes Cay are a new Independent bottler based in New York City. So for once US rum fans you have one over us Europeans! Add further insult to injury, this their first release is currently only distributed in New York. In part due to the US’s insane liquor laws.
Distilled in 2000 from the last Trinidad molasses and bottled in 2012. This rum from the famous Caroni Distillery has been bottled by Italian company Velier.
With the introduction of ice we now have quite a smooth and tasty spirit. I can see why these rums are called “heavy” in many ways they border on Whisky in terms of profile. However, they do not taste like whisky. The earthy peaty notes are not present they are replaced with a profile which represents the long tropical ageing in used oak. There is a little vanilla in the mix and the spiciness in the mix is white pepper with a little ginger and nutmeg.
Sugar House White Rum. I wrote a couple of years back now on the “Rise of the Micro Distiller” in the UK. A number of companies were setting up small, often one pot still operations and producing rum, with varying degrees of success. Some have long since left the game, meanwhile others are doing quite well for themselves. The English Spirit and Dark Matter are two of the success stories.
start, so you might not always be able to pick up a bottle. Keep an eye out for it though on The Whisky Exchange, Master of Malt and on their own Spirit of Glasgow website. It retails at around the £30-35 mark. It is bottled at 43% ABV. Sugar House White Rums comes in a modern angular bottle with a very clean and equally modern presentation. It is sealed with a synthetic cork stopper. It certainly stands out alongside other white rums with a more generic styling.
Mixed it can more than cope with any mixer. Ginger Beer is perhaps its best companion. This allows the spicy and fruity notes in the rum to really shine. The Jamaican like Pot influence gives you a very chunky and vibrant Rum and Ginger Beer. Likewise with coke it stands up to the coke and gives you a very substantial and full flavoured longball.
Preach on, sister! No, but really, it’s astounding how backwards so many people are in their thinking. Let’s hope our next president (whether it be the one we’ve still got or another) and other elected officials are on the same page about this issue. Had a rude “friend” comment to me recently about how I shouldn’t be anti-Ron Paul because there were more important things than “what goes on in my vagina.” Obviously, this “friend” has no vagina of his own to begin with and I would caution all ladies to stay away from any man who seems to feel this same way.
Pain is pain, however it is manifested. It’s when we surpass our threshold that life gets interesting. I remember a saying of McKee’s – that to find out the value of your characters, what they are like as people, put them under unimaginable pressure… and see how they respond.I’m going to turn the little lemon into lemonade. xo
Real maple syrup is one of life’s great delights. Breakfast tradition on pancakes or waffles. I have used as sweetner in cooking too.