Habitation Velier Worthy Park Range

Well OK, if we’re being honest it should be the Habitation Velier Forsyths Range as though the distillery name is there, it’s not there where it matters….which is in the large letters adorning the top of the label……yet.

I picked up the first releases in the range early doors when the Habitation Velier concept was introduced and immediately picked up the Forsyths WP 502 and Forsyths WP 151 Proof. This was then quickly followed by the Forsyths WP 2005 when released and the latest addition arrived over UK Rumfest weekend….Forsyths 2006.

I recently published an article about the Worthy Park Estate Signature Range which you can read here……I’d say that its worth a read.

That’s kind of all that there is to say before moving onto actually appraising the Rums…..which is of course why you’re here.

Forsyths WP 502 – Pure Single Jamaican Rum – 57% abv – Un-aged

Firstly the 502 in the name directly relates to the congener level of 502 gr/laa….or in layman’s terms….pungent. This also (as far as marques go) puts it firmly in the WPE category (WPE – Up to 800 gr/laa). This Rum is distilled from a wash that undergoes a 3 month fermentation period to create all of those flavours and aromas that will be extracted in the Forsyths Double Retort Pot Still.

Tasting Notes

Glass: Crystal clear. Very oily. Waxy. Viscous. Initial aromas are all varnish and incredibly powerful acetone. Pear drops. Deep molasses. Creamy, overripe bananas. Natural yoghurt??? There is also an underlying sweetness to the whole affair with Banana Jam. It’s very aromatic with almost floral notes popping up until the brine, olives and coastal notes hit home. It’s incredibly ‘funky’ and unbelievably lovely stuff.

Mouth: Remarkably approachable. Sweet entry initially before the peppery bite and heat build to a crescendo. A creamy, almost milky coffee. Overripe banana which is the Worthy Park trademark. Fresh sugarcane. It’s very agricole like, but in its sweetness…its not really a vegetal Rum. Fresh coconut shavings. Salty. coastal. The finish is relatively short in length but it crams a lot in…..Brine. Olives. Pineapple. Overall it is not as ‘giving’ as the nose suggests but man its massively impressive. Imagine this with 5 years tropical age…Take. My. Money.

4 / 5

Forsyths WP 151 Proof – Pure Single Jamaican Rum – 75.5% abv – Un-aged

This is very much a more intense, higher abv version of the WP 502….best used in mixed drinks…..does go unbelievably well with Ting and makes a killer Daiquiri.

Tasting Notes

I’ll focus this brief set of tasting notes on the additions to the notes found in the WP 502. In the glass there is a very obvious apple turnover and marshmallow along with a real herbal quality (think marjoram). It has hints of Bajan Blackened Spice Mix. In the mouth the molasses is thicker, heavier and almost chewy….though there are lighter moments with vanilla and citrus oil. Cloves and apple juice round things out. I’d love to taste this Rum fresh from the still. That’s the dream.

4 / 5

Forsyths WP 2005 – Pure Single Jamaican Rum – 57.8% abv – 10 years old

This Rum was from the first distillation at Worthy Park Estate in 50 years. It is the WPL marque which is the most commonly aged marque produced by the estate (WPL – 60-119 gr/laa). Distilled in 2005 it sees just over 10 years of tropical age. There was a loss of in excess of 64% due to evaporation during that 10 year period which averages at 6.4% loss per year. Crazy.

Tasting Notes

Glass: Oily. Beeswax. Overripe Bananas. Bourbon Oak. Dulce de leche. Chocolate. Dried tropical fruit. Light acetone. An almost Rye Whiskey spice to it. The ex-bourbon barrels have had a huge impact. Sweet. Lightly medicinal with smoke and leather. Quite floral.

Mouth: Quite astringent from the off. Oily. Warming. Almond milk. Heavy drying bourbon oak influence. Powdery cocoa. Kinder Bueno. Growing sweetness. Fruit and nut chocolate. Dried banana chips. Rye spice. It skirts very close to whisky territory with its spiced oak but stops just short thankfully. A medium length finish that is heavily bourbon oak led….slight cocoa and nut sweetness gives way to dryness. Cigar smoke. This could genuinely be a good Jamaican Rum for a newcomer. Forget the sugary gateway tripe…this is Jamaican enough to give a really solid grounding yet approachable enough to be enjoyable as the pot still is dialed down a touch by the oak. It all plays really well. Nose translates to palate. It gives easily.

4.5 / 5

Forsyths 2006 – WPM – Pure Single Jamaican Rum – 57.5% abv – 11 years old

Distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2017, this Rum carries the WPM marque (WPM- 120-239 gr/laa) so we’re kicking things up a notch here. Aged for a full 11 years in a tropical climate, losses were in excess of 63%.

Tasting Notes

Glass: The closest thing that I’ve had to the sheer punch of LROK without being from that distillery. Oily. Wow. You get that stinging bright acidic fruit note upon first pour reminiscent of so many classic Jamaican Rums. This is a brute. No dunder remember. Time, and it needs time, gives acetone. Heavy stinging acetone. Sharp tropical fruits. Mango. Starfruit. Fruit Salad chewy sweets. A solid medicinal note binds the aromas together. It leads with sweetness, that trademark Worthy Park overripe banana is here in abundance. Banana bread. Sticky ginger cake. Peppery oak brings iodine. Smoked cheese. Brine. Olives. Citrus. Acetone is ever-present with the medicinal, coastal notes. Very deep. Very revealing. Rewarding.

Mouth: It takes over your mouth from the off. Tangy, lip smacking sweetness. Candied tropical fruit peels. Pear drops. Acetone. Spice bun. Dark fruit and spices. An almost sugared almond note. Overripe banana bursts through. Vanilla fudge. Salty liquorice. Growing heat and oak influence. A dry and salty mid palate. Solid, all-encompassing and chewy. It demands your attention. The long finish starts with sharp tropical fruit and creamy mashed banana moving through biting, peppery dryness, earthy turmeric and heat onto brine, acetone pear drops and powdered liquorice root. Molasses right at the back with an almost sherried oak. Best Worthy Park yet……I mean best Forsyths yet……

5 / 5

Worthy Park Estate really are hitting their stride in terms of the Rums that they’re producing. A real quality output from some really great people. Buy all of the above now alongside their flagship Signature Range and you’ll be rewarded with hours of enjoyment and maybe a new favourite Rum producer.

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, both written and photographic without the express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Duncan Taylor Single Cask Rum – St Lucia 2002 – Cask 5

Duncan Taylor are an independent bottler of (mainly) whisky, and in their own words:

“Duncan Taylor & Company has ownership of one of the largest privately-held collections of rare scotch whisky casks. The company has been “laying down” casks from premium Scottish distilleries for decades and has, in recent years, made its branded products available to whisky connoisseurs throughout the World.

Duncan Taylor has its origins in Glasgow where the company was initially a merchant and broker of Scotch Whisky casks within the Industry. Devotion to the principle of providing only the finest casks to be filled at Scotland’s leading distilleries has been a key feature of the company’s history and this tradition of building an outstanding portfolio of only the finest scotch whiskies is being maintained to this day by the current owners.

When the company moved its headquarters to the North East of Scotland, close to Speyside – Scotland’s largest whisky producing region – it also took the decision to focus on the production and marketing of its own brands and to cease the “brokering” of whisky in cask form to Distillery companies and Independent bottlers.”

They are also celebrating 80 years of business, being founded in 1938.

Duncan Taylor bottle many Rums, mainly at cask strength or close to cask strength. Having whisky as their origin they do not chill filter and they bottle with natural colour. Now I have numerous bottlings from Duncan Taylor spanning Jamaica, St Lucia, Guyana and Fiji. I also have one of their own Caribbean Blends. Up for review today though is one of their St Lucia offerings.

Duncan Taylor Single Cask Rum – St Lucia 2002 – Cask 5 – 52.6% abv

You can have a read of my previous writings on products from St Lucia Distillers here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Phew. Now you’ll be fully versed with St Lucia Distillers, we can continue. As the label states, this Rum was distilled in September 2002 and bottled in September 2013 giving it 11 years of (assumed) Continental age. Bottled entirely from Cask No 5 which yielded 242 bottles, this has been bottled at 52.6% which I can only assume is cask strength. Though others have questioned bottle yield with assumed angel share and assumed barrel size to potentially arrive at a different number insinuating that it may not be cask strength. I personally can’t say I’m too bothered to dig into that. Of note is the fact that this Rum is Pot distilled. Now St Lucia Distillers have 3 Pot Stills, the John Dore I, John Dore II and Vendome. Given the date of distillation of 2002, that would point towards the John Dore I still as it is the only one that was commissioned at that point. It is also the smallest of their batch stills with a capacity of 1500 litres.

John Dore I on the left

Vendome Pot Still centre, John Dore II behind, John Dore I left

Tasting Notes

Glass: The Rum displays as a dark straw gold  in the glass. Heavy. Medicinal pot still. A little diesel and a dose of creosote. All the good stuff. Sticking plasters and antiseptic cream. A hint of menthol and mint. Quite grassy too. Rubber and acetone back up the medicinal quality of the nose and time in the glass allows the merest hint of savoury vanilla and sticky grilled pineapple. Citrus oil. Whiffs of sweet smoke. It has quite a fresh and nuanced nose that gives more and more over time like the merest hint of barrel influence. A brine and salty quality is ever-present and is rounded out with a hint of powdery icing sugar. A few drops of water and half an hour in the glass adds enamel paint and sugarcane.

Mouth: Very heated entry with the smallest and short-lived hint of sweetness in the form of floral wildflower honey before the dryness shoulder barges its way in. Mint. Creosote. Petrol. Oily but not viscous. A thinner mouthfeel than expected but it does cling on, mainly in the vapours. Almond brittle. No really influential barrel notes can be picked up through the peppery heat. Liquorice. Olives and salty feta cheese. If its possible for Rum to morph into a molasses based offering from Guadeloupe mid-palate, this one does. Bringing with it pickle vinegar and ginger puree. A few drops of water push the sweeter elements to the fore with chocolate, dialed down brine. Less mint. More menthol.

Quite a long finish starts out relatively sweetly with the sugary minty residue from the bottom of a poorly made mojito and wildflower honey but again this dries to leave a grassy sugarcane and mild vanilla. Maybe some almonds. The medicinal pot still note announces itself again bringing to mind any number of Rockley ‘style’ Rums…..but for me never hitting the flavourful heights of them.

It is St Lucian Pot Still Rum at its most identifiable from first nosing. It is everything that I like about St Lucian Pot Still Rum. I would love to see more barrel influence that would come with tropical age and although it’s probably completely off the table given the new owners, a release of cask strength tropically aged individual still offerings from St Lucia Distillers would be welcomed with open arms and wallets by the geeky Rum crowd. Its good, almost very good, but it just lacks that light and shade that I think tropical age would offer.

3.5 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, both written and photographic without the express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content

Habitation Velier Foursquare 2013 – Pure Single Rum

Whats that you say? Another Foursquare Rum review…..another piece of the jigsaw. This time its a follow-up to its rarer and younger relative the Habitation Velier Foursquare 2015 Pure Single Rum.

You can read about that Rum here…..and just do a search for Foursquare in the search box to find out plenty more about the distillery and its Rums.

Forsyths Twin Retort Pot Still

This Rum was distilled at Foursquare on their twin retort Forsyths (with added Green Engineering whistles and bells) pot still and then matured for 2 years in ex-cognac barrels. As is usual with the Habitation Velier bottles, the information on there is amazingly comprehensive as we’ve been informed that the loss to evaporation in that 2 year period has been >15%, that the rum has not been chill filtered, is natural colour and is released at barrel proof with no dilution. Obviously, it is sugar-free.

Habitation Velier Foursquare 2013 – Pure Single Rum – 64% abv

Habitation Velier Foursquare 2013

Tasting Notes

Glass: The Rum is a pale gold apple juice in colour. Initially there is quite a bit of white pepper. It’s very punchy and up front….its definitely not shy. Immediately I get Rhubarb and Ginger crumble. Oaty and nutty aromas. Mild olives and salty brine. Preserved lemons and a hint of acetone. There is surprisingly not a huge alcohol attack, just a heavy delivery of aromas. Lotus biscuits, vanilla. The Rum is full and very oily….maybe even waxy. A hint of raisins and dried guava pieces. Doing my usual blowing into the glass reveals a beautiful marzipan quality to the vapour. This has only been matured for two years remember…..crazy stuff.

Mouth: A powerful, oily entry wrapped in warmth and sweetness. It is initially quite biting and that brings black pepper and salted liquorice…..maybe even a hint of liquorice root. A little bitterness but some real grip on the tongue, quite a fruity and grassy mid-palate. That oily citrus returns to tease your saliva glands before the anticipated brine and olives bathe your entire mouth. It takes on a savoury quality that sits at the back of your throat with a vegetal note before the vapours give way to peach and dried tropical fruit. The shortish finish is salty sweet caramel, liquorice and even has a mild amount of smoke. Very enjoyable.

After the initial punch you have to keep reminding yourself that this Rum is so young (though with tropical age probably hitting 5 years if it were a whisky) and at such a high abv as once acclimatised it’s even more approachable. It brings the sweetness of a young well crafted Rum, the weight that you expect from batch distillation and the level of flavour that a Rum of this maturity just shouldn’t have…..a nod perhaps to the choice of ex-cognac barrels. Quality french oak used not to gain anything from that famous cognac heritage, but to gain all from the quality of wood. Punchy? Yes. Powerful? Of Course. Approachable? Surprisingly so. Flavourful? Like you wouldn’t believe. Just the remaining taste in my mouth is taking me back to the aromas around the still and that tap that was turned to allow us to experience freshly distilled Rum at Foursquare. I would love to experience this Rum with a few more years on it as it has world domination stamped all over it. Another hit……like we expected anything else.

4.5 / 5

An example of Pure Single Rum that can trade punches with some tasty Jamaicans. Buy this while you can as there is still availability…even in the UK. £85 for a two-year old Rum? It’s so much more than the sum of its years….it offers development, aroma and flavour that some can spend a lifetime failing to achieve. Judge it on its merits and pick it up. It warrants your attention.

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, both written and photographic without the express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

West Indies Rum & Cane Merchants – Asia Pacific XO

A relatively new one to me, I happened upon a series of releases from West Indies Rum & Cane Merchants on one of my usual online Rum haunts. Intrigued first by the unusual bottle shape, I spotted their French Overseas XO which blends distillates from both Martinique and Réunion….unfortunately this was sold out. I then happened upon the Asia-Pacific XO which blends Rums from Indonesia and Fiji. When I heard Indonesia I immediately thought Arrack! Intrigued. Then with Fiji I’m immediately drawn to the pot still out put of South Pacific Distillery which can be pungent as hell….and all the more enjoyable for it. I immediately added it to my collection. Only upon tasting the Rum did I request information, and the website seems to be the best location although that is severely lacking.

The website says:

“Asia-Pacific XO Rum is a blend of rum produced in Indonesia & Fiji, crafted from molasses and distilled using column stills then aged in ex-bourbon casks. A very limited release of 2,000 bottles worldwide”

There is mention of Indonesian Rum which I have assumed to be Arrack which is a sugarcane (molasses) distillate that is fermented with red rice cake but of course I could be wrong. I’ve found information online about the Indonesian component being only from molasses and distilled on a direct fired tin still prior to maturation / resting in large vats made of Jati (Teak) wood. There is also mention of column stills…..South Pacific Distillery (owned by Coca-Cola) operates two pot stills and a 3 column continuous still for Rum production along with a 4 column continuous still for the production of neutral spirits. I’d assume that this has been blended to order from E&A Scheer so hopefully there may be other information available out there.

Not much else exists information wise so we’ll go straight into it….the information that I do have tells me that it is all natural colour and does not have additions….I’ve tasted nothing here that would tell me otherwise.

West Indies Rum & Cane Merchants – Asia-Pacific XO – 43% abv

Tasting Notes

Glass: Reluctant is the key word here. You need a lot of patience to uncover anything. The Rum is quite sharp and noses like a young whisky. Powdered sugar sweetness. It becomes quite earthy. Wet cardboard. A light rosemary herbal note. Light olive and salty brine. White pepper. A very fresh alcohol nose. I’d be surprised if there is anything older than 3 to 5 years in here and with continental age. Not a bad thing, just lacking that something. Freshly cut green peppers and firelighters round things out.

Mouth: This is much better than the nose. Quite a ‘full’ mouth-feel. Sweetness leads with a very mild fruity guava and banana, though this is very much a savoury rum. It dries (or should that be dies) relatively quickly and is very sulphury. Soft liquorice. Brine. Black olives. A freshly opened bag of charcoal. If this were a whisky it’d be deemed not ready. The finish is short and confused. All of the palate disappears and leaves alcohol, freshly struck matches and pepper. No obvious oak influence of note. The empty glass aroma is tutti-frutti sweets.

I really wanted to enjoy this Rum….and for brief moments I do. On paper this should be an exciting proposition but it’s so unfocused, haphazard and pulling in entirely opposite directions that it just falls apart. I feel as though the components are of good quality but they have been used before they’re ready. Given more maturation this could be a real winner. It’s just very reluctant to shine. Not bad, just a little boring at the moment.

2 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, both written and photographic without the express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content