RumFest 2016: Day 1, Part 2

 

St. Nicholas Abbey white rum [2016] Ob. 40% SNA

Made from sugar cane syrup/juice, this rum is [pot/column] distilled & aged in Barbados, close to the Foursquare distillery.

• N: Clean nose. A rum equivalent of a ‘GlenSpey-whatever-malt’.
• T: Textural cereals – so Weetabix & Shreddies sprinkled with white granulated sugar.
• F: The sweet cereal notes are maintained, joined by sour touches.
• C: Expensive neutrality [£40  June ’17].

Scores 77 points

 

St. Nicholas Abbey 5yo [2016] Ob. 40% SNA WF78

• N: Same base cereal notes as the St Nicholas white rum, also with breads, rice, fruits limes & papaya and a paper-waxiness – wax paper.
• T: So very similar to the white rum so i assume its spent its time in very inactive casks, given its tropical location.
• F: Stays big in the mouth. After a minute there i detect a grassy-waxy-sour.
• C: A very similar neutral profile as the white rum. Priced as premium, but for me this is far more suitable as a decent mixer, not a connoisseurs sipper – again I’m thinking Daiquiri.

Scores 79 points

 

Plantation ‘20th’ XO Barbados rum 40% WF50

• N: Another ambiguously ‘numbered’ rum that isn’t 20 years old, but of course there will be those that will fall for it much like customers & retails have done with Ron Zacapa ’23’. Surely if we all make a noise, this practise will disappear soon enough – in the main.
• T: Sweet with some lime.
• F: ….more sweet,… and sweet vanilla
• C: This is close to pure sugar cane. Great for sugar addicts.

No score

 

Plantation O.F.T.D. Blended rum Chateau de Bonbonnet 69% [1ltr]

This was at the time of trying, due for release in March 2017 [which happened already] – so much for a scoop! O.F.T.D. stands for ‘Old Fashioned Dark Rum’ apparently, but there is an alternative, less corporate version if you ask nicely.

• N: The rum equivalent of a rich, complex sherry bomb whisky. Comes with big molasses & Demerara fruits, tomato & tamari with a pot still>agricole vibe.
• T: A touch of compost/dunder in the beginning before an avalanche of molasses notes. With the inclusion of wood spice, this is definitely one for the spiced rum brigade.
• F: Earth/soil, black molasses and Oxo chocolate [if they were to make it – maybe they did?]
• C: Big & flashy rum with true substance behind the bells & whistles. Recommended.

Scores 86 points

 

Time to get back to the Velier stand [a festival in its own right]

 

Caroni 15yo 1998/2013 ‘Extra Strong’ Velier 52%/104 proof WF85

Caroni – the Karuizawa of rum?

• N: Such lovely ageing with a desirable wood fustiness.
• T: Rough & ready, dusty-dry liquid – full of flavour, colour and vibrancy.
• F: I’m already heading to the shop to buy a bottle.
• C: Nuff said. A full bottle review will appear,.. one day.

Scores 87 points

 

Caroni 17yo 1998/2015 ‘Extra Strong’ Velier 55%/110 proof WF90

• N: Far more balanced than the 15yo & far more elegant. Heathery notes – my malt radar is beginning to twitch.
• T: Same as the nose. The rough & ready nature of the 15yo has been ironed out with two more years of maturation. It’s now concentrated and intense.
• F: Long and lingering with a faint chlorine note at the death.
• C: The 15yo is great but this feels like the complete article, near perfect rum in relation to my tiny rum experience so far.

Scores 90 points

 

Caroni 1975/1996 20yo Velier [btl# 711/3800] 57.18%/100 proof

• N: Firm fruity & vanilla notes with a Strathisla, maybe more Glendronach-esque [sherried] style.
• T: Amazing arrival of old sherry, moving then onto old/vintage armagnac.
• F: Then wood, molasses,… and finally vanilla – pretty much the constituent parts laying themselves bare.
• C: I love the heavy wood tannins mixed with that rich [sherry-like] molasses.

Scores 88 points

 

 

Much more rum to come, and yet even more from Velier.