Dead Reckoning Mhoba – South Africa

Around 12 months ago….that was the last time that I felt compelled to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) in any serious way. Whilst I was never prolific, I was relatively regular….and whilst this won’t necessarily see a full time return, the fact that this is happening is for me, personally, a good sign.

Anyhow, what are we looking at today. It’s a Mhoba! But this one is South Africa via Australia.

Mhoba are a producer that I have written about previously, in particular I wrote a long form piece that I view as one of the first and most detailed on the history and production methods of Robert and the distillery. You can find that by clicking here…..and just a little search on the page will reveal some other reviews of the range in general.

This bottling however is from a “relative” newcomer to the independent bottling scene, Dead Reckoning. This is the brainchild and life force behind Justin Boseley….Sailor turned Independent Rum bottler. There was an interesting insight into Justin over at 88bamboo and you’ll find that here.

Dead Reckoning Mhoba – South Africa – 56% abv – 0 g/l additives

What we have here is a young Mhoba offering matured in South Africa for a couple of years in an ex South African Red Wine barrel (Vrede En Lust). This was then shipped over to Adelaide in an IBC where Justin put it into an first fill, level three char ex Makers Mark barrel for an additional 5 months of “dry ageing”. That 5 months in the hot and dry Australian sun where in summer the humidity is around 5% and the temperatures can rise to 47 degrees Celsius saw the abv increase by approximately 4 to 5%….that is it would seem, dry ageing and it saw an Angels share of 21%.

Now lets get into it

Tasting Notes

Nose: A real freshness to the liquid in the glass accompanied by a hint of that Mhoba plastic note. A beautiful sharp and sour note of tart red berries accompanies white chocolate shavings and dried cranberries. There is some of that familiar Mhoba grassy sugarcane and ester driven profile. Fruity acidity, hints of ripe tropical fruits. Development in the glass moves from the fresher, cane and fruit driven notes and grows in depth with the barrels coming to the fore. Mild tannic notes and barrel spice. Musky wet wood mixes with drier, more pencil shaving driven notes. It’s all so well integrated and the level of depth and development certainly belies its age. Creamy white chocolate and cranberry cookies. That sourness is certainly a welcome facet to the experience. It sits astride that line between a well aged agricole and a quality high ester Jamaican.

Mouth: Wow. Initial sips definitely do not bring the nose to the palate straight away. A little difficult to sift through to start with. Balance isn’t there immediately. Tingling the tip of your tongue are those tart dried cranberries, crisp apple and acidic tropical fruits. This becomes almost creamy with such an oily mouthfeel. Banoffee pie. Caramel. Chewy meringue. Sweet grain whisky. Yes there are those tart red fruit notes in there, but it becomes wonderfully drying on the mid palate. It is far more barrel driven than the nose would have you believe…..almost old Enmore like. Musky, wood and old library books. Pepper. Still allowing those tart notes to hit the side of your tongue though. Sticks of celery and peanut butter. A relatively short finish to this one but I’m not annoyed by that. Creeping dryness and hints of powdery cocoa.

In conclusion: The differing barrels have definitely had their influence on the distillate whilst also allowing the Mhoba character to shine through, that said…..I’d struggle to think on something that would be able to stunt that Mhoba character. All in all, really lovely stuff and a great bottling for Dead Reckoning to have in their arsenal.

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2023. 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.

Rummieclub Overproof Rum

A newcomer to the crowded marketplace has been the recently opened Rummieclub, which is Amsterdam’s newly opened rum distillery. The Rummieclub distillery is the brainchild of two people, Judith de Bie and Martijn Gerrits.

I first met Judith at the UK Rumfest in 2019 and I have been waiting eagerly for their first bottling…..but it wasn’t that easy to get to that point.

Their decision to start a rum distillery around four years ago led to one major event……it meant that they had to sell their home and move to the Bijlmer. Judith gave up her job at the City of Amsterdam and started working part-time to research all things Rum to make the dream a reality. After a few locations didn’t work out, they found a building in the east side of Amsterdam in Diemen. They decided to start a crowdfunding campaign, selling their first rum bottles to close the small financial gap that enabled them to buy their equipment. As the rental agreement had already been signed, they were obviously elated that the crowdfunding was successful. Then the wait started, the build process had a lot of delays and took far longer than anticipated. Almost a year later , and with their living room full of equipment and barrels they finally got the keys in December 2019.

Since then they have been distilling non-stop, filling barrels, honing their skills, experimenting with differing yeast strains, including some that have been homegrown.

Their website has a wealth of information and can be found here.

It includes crazy levels of detail for the processes behind their products….some of which I will utilise below.

As small and honest rum producers, Rummieclub want to be open about their production process. The rum category is one where the rules and processes differ by region and brand. Because of this, rum can be very diverse. This diversity has a downside, as a customer you don’t always know what you are buying. Rummieclub would like to be known as one of the producers that gives all the pieces of the puzzle about their rum production so that you are fully aware of what you are buying. All of this brings us onto one of their inaugural releases…..Rummieclub Overproof.

Rummieclub Overproof – 58% abv – 0g/l additives

Just look at that label! It has no bearing on the bottle contents but I am very impressed by its vibrancy.

Rummieclub Overproof undergoes an non temperature controlled 10 day fermentation in an open topped vessel. The organic molasses sourced from Paraguay was slowly added to the ferment over several days. Commercial yeast (Saccharomyces Cervisiae) was used for this initial batch. The resultant +/-8% abv wash is then distilled to 85% abv in their 500 litre Istill. An Istill affords Rummieclub a lot of control to make all of the choices that they want to make, and it can produce an array of differing distillates. It has a stainless steel boiler with a direct heater in the boiler. Rummieclub use copper waffles to extract some undesired compounds. On top of the boiler there is a packed column with a robot that opens and closes thecolumn as thay desire. It has numerous temperature probes and different valves for the heads, hearts and tails cuts, which they make based on temperature and taste. They chose this apparatus because it’s energy efficient and gives them the control and options that they were looking for.

Following distillation, the Rum is reduced using water that has been through a reverse osmosis filter to 58%. From here it has a resting period of around two months. 130 bottles of the Overproof were produced for Batch #1 and I am bottle #69 (Dudes!). Each release will see a different local street artist design the label utilising the Rummieclub colours. The label for this release was designed by Munir de Vries and it represents his vision of animals getting drunk on overripe fruits.

Just ahead of my notes, I wanted to give a little information on the level of experimentation going on at Rummieclub…..As mentioned earlier, they are experimenting with homegrown yeast and the next batch of Overproof will utilise their own yeast taken from raspberries. I asked if this would bring differing fruity notes or whether it was all about how the yeast does its job. Apparently the raspberry yeast gives an almost rotten fruit or papaya flavour. The homegrown yeast works differently to commercial dry yeast and gives different results, they are also a lot less consistent with occasionally way lower yields. Experimentation is also taking place with yeast from blueberries and mint from the garden, but the raspberry yeast is giving the best results so far. There is also a desire to experiment with dunder in the next Overproof.

With all of that said, what is it like?

Tasting Notes

Nose: Initially a light fruity vapour driven nose which warps into warm, buttered malt loaf and malted milk biscuits. Its also leaning on the creamy, almost yoghurt-y side. As it develops it becomes fruity with the sharpness of cranberries and there merest hint of caramelised pineapple. Spice, pepper and ginger grows as does the aroma of warm, almost melting plastic.

Mouth: The palate is spice led during the early exchanges with lots of black pepper and ginger juice which seem to morph into raisins, which brings some sweetness. It has one hell of a mouthfeel, very oily and chewy due to the lack of chill filtration. Molasses shows up and brings a beautiful sweet and bitter interplay that just sings. Burning car tires and warming molasses round things out with a hint of salty liquorice at the back end and maybe the merest hint of Horlicks and Maltesers.

In conclusion: Amazing to think that this is their first release such is the quality of the Rum. Its not just towing the line of the glut of unaged output from new distilleries of late. They’re not messing around. It has a unique profile that shows how they want to pursue their own direction….and their level of experimentation has me really excited to see what they can do moving forwards. I for one cannot wait to see what comes next from their unaged output, let alone their aged stuff. Makes a tasty daiquiri too. Outstanding effort!

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

Berry’s St Lucia Rum Aged 14 Years

I’ve previously looked at a couple of Berry Bros. bottlings that have been for other people, a couple of Hampdens and a Caroni….and they all hit the mark, but this will be the first of their own releases that I have looked at.

Berry Bros & Rudd are a Wine and Spirits Merchant based in London, Britain’s oldest, and they have traded from the same premises at 3 St. James Street, London since 1698. They have also branched out with offices in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. They have a Wine School and an exclusive fine wine and dining venue in London’s St James’s.

St Lucia you will be familiar with having seen plenty of reviews and articles on this site. They have numerous marques from four stills available and they are not afraid to use them.

The traditional Coffey two column (continuous) still at St Lucia Distillers was commissioned in 1985

John Dore 1 batch still has a 1500 litre capacity and was commissioned in 1998

John Dore 2 batch still has a 6000 litre capacity and was commissioned in 2004

Vendome  batch still has a 2000 litre capacity and was commissioned in 2003

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

Berry’s St Lucia Aged 14 Years – 46% abv – 0 g/l additives

There have been a couple of bottlings of this Rum released, I know of an 11 year and this 14 year. From the information that I have been able to uncover, the contents of this bottle were from a 2000 distillation with bottling and release in 2014. The high likelihood is that this has seen little to no tropical maturation with most if not all of its time being spent in a cooler climate. Bottled at 46%, with unknown quantities, I do know that until the past 18-24 months this bottle was available relatively easily. This is in fact my second open bottle of this Rum. Taking a guess at the stills, with a 2000 distillation it would put only two stills in play, the Coffey traditional column and John Dore I….but without further information, we’ll have to use our nose and palate to decide if its single still or a blend.

Tasting Notes

Nose: As has become the norm now, St Lucia distillers output definitely has some key indicators coming from their stills. The aroma from the glass is confirming my assumption of the stills used. A little sweetness, vanilla and acidity initially and a lightness to the nose that brings quite prominent, almost cooling menthol notes. A whiff of wet mint to accompany a growing medicinal quality, not quite Vendome-esque……more subdued but still light sticking plasters notes, a hint of oil and the aroma of a new air filter being installed on my old diesel Peugeot 306. A little fruit fights through with overripe and fermenting pineapple,  but still carrying a cool feel to it, like the aroma of the pineapple mint growing in our garden. It becomes a bit brine led too with some light salty green olive notes, lemon oils and a little savoury edge before the lightest hint of cedar and warming peppercorn ease in. Not a huge amount of wood on the nose but it is there playing second fiddle to the rest of the olfactory display. On the nose, for me this is a blend of both aforementioned stills.

Mouth: A solid yet not oily mouthfeel……lighter than expected though, maybe the pot to column ratio is dialed down. The initial sweetness of vanilla, toffee and light icing sugar coated fermenting tropical fruit soon gives way to a growing savoury character. Quite creosote like with plenty of black olives, preserved lemons and a large dose of liquorice. The mid palate becomes a little spicier with a hint of fresh fragrant green chili, cloves and ginger. There’s an almost herbal quality too easing its way past the light woody notes. The finish, which is of a decent length is quite spicy bringing back the ginger, chili and wet wood with the merest hint of plasters and liquorice. Sweetness pops back for a fleeting moment before the return of the cooling menthol and eucalyptus leaves you with a touch of cigar box and right at the death, pineapple cube sweets.

In conclusion: I thought it good to get this review out given the large quantity of 50/50 John Dore I and Traditional column blends that seem to be hitting the market at the same abv, tropically matured but coming with less time in the barrel. This is bottle number two of this Rum that has just disappeared, with one remaining in the rum store…that one was picked up for me by Wes at Rumfest a few years ago, incidentally he reviews this rum over in his website thefatrumpirate. The two bottles, both the 14 yr, have given me plenty of easy drinking with moderate levels of complexity and high levels of enjoyment. The rum displays almost as well as some of its entirely tropically matured cousins but lacks the intensity of a little more time in the sun. That said however, if you do see a bottle, be sure to pick it up as a lot of enjoyment sits within its sleek, tall silhouette.

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

AuRhum “Purity” Jamaican Rum

Today I have a familiar Rum but from an unfamiliar independent bottler. The familiar Rum was distilled in St. Catherine (so we know where its origins lie) and the unfamiliar bottler is AuRhum….who hail from Denmark. Before we dig into the bottle information it may be prudent to set the scene of who AuRhum actually are and why they choose to do what they do.

AuRhum is a company comprising three Rum enthusiasts, Alexander Vincit, Lindy Andersen and Tommy Andersen. These three enthusiasts have known each other for a good many years and they share a passion for their Rum ‘hobby’. But why decide to become independent bottlers in a market that is becoming saturated? Varying degrees of quality and varying degrees of honesty within the existing marketplace are two reasons. The raison d’etre for these three enthusiasts is that they believe that the consumer deserves an honest approach and a good experience when they purchase a bottle. As a result their key rules are based around zero additives and zero sugar. They want the experience to be authentic, honest and more importantly, affordable without having to spend upwards of £100 on a bottle. With all of this in mind, AuRhum aim to create a range of bottlings that are either unique or that enable rarely seen distillates to be enjoyed. As if their lofty, but sensible goals weren’t enough, as both Alexander and Lindy work in the armed forces they want to assist and support both current and former colleagues who perhaps have not shared their luck. They insist that 5% of the company profits must be donated to a Veteran Charity in Denmark.

Pretty admirable stuff. But we need to shift focus to the bottle that is being assessed today….AuRhum “Purity” Jamaican Rum

AuRhum “Purity” Jamaican Rum – 57% abv – 0g/l additives

As mentioned at the beginning, we gain most of the information that we need from the bottle, with the remaining questions being asked directly. Distilled in St. Catherine, Jamaica can only mean one thing, and that is distillation at the mighty Worthy Park on their Forsyths double retort pot still. You can gain a wealth of information about the distillery and its products by clicking here. The marque information is unavailable but generally the most commonly available aged marque is WPL (Worthy Park Light – 60-119 gr/laa) although that is not confirmed. Distilled in late 2013 / early 2014, the Rum was matured for 4 years at the distillery in ex-bourbon barrels prior to being shipped to Denmark in early 2018 for a further 1 year ‘finish’ in ex-Port casks. It was bottled for AuRhum in early 2019 and is a release of 360 bottles, mine being hand numbered as 148 and it is presented at 57% abv with No Sugar, No Additives and No Chill Filtration. It is available for the equivalent of around £82 plus postage. If awards are your thing, it picked up a Gold at the 2019 Nordic Rum Fest.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Nice and punchy. Its apparent youth and associated alcohol are quite forceful initially. Fortunately they don’t stick around and dissipate rather quickly after a few minutes in the glass. Immediately it reveals the now trademark signatures of a Worthy Park offering….Big solid notes of strong, stewed black tea. This is elevated and carried on a mushy overripe banana sweetness that throws mashed up mango into the mix, with spice bun and sweet coconut milk rice. Warm blackcurrant jelly that has been recently poured over trifle sponges and is waiting to set. Heavy berry and fortified wine notes themselves bring dark chocolate, raisins, prune juice and a developing spiced characteristic. This spice driven facet to the nose is initially quite peppery with cinnamon, fiery fresh ginger and a hint of cumin. As the Rum develops in the glass, and it really does develop over time, more of that sweet rice and coconut milk begins to usher in a creamy characteristic and the once stewed black tea morphs into a more mellow and milky spiced chai offering. The merest hint of window putty makes itself known.

Mouth: Plenty of heat on the first couple of visits. The relative youth of the rum coupled with its 57% abv means that it’s one that needs a little acclimatisation. As your palate becomes accustomed to the heat, a sharply sweet and hot spiced note are the order of the day with fiery crystallised ginger and pepper balancing well with a bag of dried cranberries. Almost immediately it feels like the rum is starting to dry out but rather confusingly as soon as this feeling has washed over the tip of your tongue, a real saliva inducing sweetness bathes the sides of your mouth with tart and sweet red and black currants and a hint of gooseberry which, given the vast quantity of other Worthy Park bottlings that I’ve consumed, must be as a result of the port cask. Continuity is there from nose to mid palate with the familiar overripe banana and black tea mixing with the creamier coconut rice, vanilla rice pudding and milky chai. There’s a slice of sour cherry pie leading into the finish that does possess some real length and is heavily spiced with ginger, black pepper and a touch of ginger cake. A little dark chocolate bitterness wrapped up with tart berries and sweeter prunes ushers in a return of a spicy red wine characteristic. Maybe some raisins and a touch of soft liquorice. It becomes a little bit ‘cigar ash’ at the back end as the fruit dissipates and you do begin to feel more cask influence growing.

In Conclusion: It’s quite young, and it shows in both the heated nature of the distillate and its delivery which can feel a little like an excited puppy dog clamouring for your attention. It’s also a fiery proposition, and one where the alcohol carries some real influence throughout and as a result the transitions can feel a little jumpy, but the overarching factor remains that the base spirit is a very solid one. The finishing period in port casks has definitely added something worthwhile to the Rum rather than detracting from it. For me it certainly is an enjoyable Rum, and like that excited puppy, I’ve grown quite fond of it. More than worth a purchase.

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

Rum Exchange Barbados (Foursquare) 2009

We see ourselves with another Rum Exchange bottling. I recently looked at their Belize offering which you can find here……but again, a little about Rum Exchange. Rum Exchange is Facebook Group that was created by Andreas Isopp to provide a platform for bottle and samples trading, but much more than that, it is also a company that was set up to facilitate the introduction and selling of Rums that not considered ‘mass market’. They take complete control of the import, trade and distribution of these brands and products. They provide a link between producers, retailers and consumers. I first covered their Rum Exchange Jamaica Trelawny back in August, which was release #001 for them. This Rum Exchange Barbados 2009 from Foursquare Distillery is release #005 for them. I’d delve into a little information about Foursquare but a quick search in the box at the head of the page will uncover all that you need to know. So we’ll go straight into it.

Rum Exchange Barbados (Foursquare) 2009 – 59% abv – Single Blended Rum – 0 g/l additives

Distilled in February 2009 at Foursquare Rum Distillery in Barbados this Rum Exchange Barbados (Foursquare) 2009 Single Blended Rum, a blend of batch and continuous distillates matured together in ex bourbon saw a full 9 years maturation at the distillery in a tropical climate prior to shipping over to Europe where it saw a further 2 years continental maturation. It has been bottled at 59% and there is no sweetening added and no colouring either. But what is it like and does it offer anything different to what we’ve seen before?

Tasting Notes

Nose: Needs a decent amount of time in the glass as it displays in quite a muted way initially with alcohol vapours being quite forward, heavy oak and not much else to start with. Time and a little warmth bring a more rounded approach to what is still quite heavy oak with a touch of wood shavings, burnt paper edges and something new to me in a Foursquare offering…..a touch of sandalwood. It also brings a little cedar wood cigar tube insert too. It then falls back in line and slips straight into the usual suspects that we’d expect with milky, freshly cut and also desiccated coconut sitting alongside milk chocolate and vanilla. Mixed dried tropical fruit and raisins. There’s also a lightly oaked white wine note sitting on top of the aromas. Mildly nutty and spicy at the back end, it still harbours quite a bit of alcohol on the nose. With water and time (probably taking it down to around 55% abv) the initial blast of alcohol is calmed somewhat and this lays the blanketing oak down a little and this in turn opens up the sweetness with some marshmallow and Madeira cake. The oak remains but it is far more pleasurable, almost floral and enveloping rather than heated as the approach displayed initially.

Mouth: Quite heated initially but that soon gives way. Wood wood wood. Not as big on the palate as I was expecting from a mouthfeel point of view. Heavily drying and carrying some banana milkshake….surprisingly and a first for me in a Foursquare. Grain whisky candyfloss sweetness brings a touch of honeycomb and milk chocolate…..Crunchie Bars. Coconut is present and accounted for as are raisins and a hint of dried peach. Vanilla buttercream on a homemade sponge cake. A strong bite of pepper on the mid palate brings more barrel influence and allows the spice to dominate with jeera, ginger and pepper sitting on top of a warming wet wood. The finish, which is of a decent length ushers in the banana and coconut which leads into very drying and spicy oak and all of the heat that it brings. Pencil shavings and cocoa powder lead into those raisin notes and peach vapours on the back end. With water its very much a more relaxed version of the full abv glass of Rum but with a more profound peach influence running through the mouthful from start to finish.

In conclusion: It offers something very familiar and akin to a lot of other releases…..but then the banana and sandalwood usher in new experiences to the familiar. They lift it into slightly new territory for a Foursquare bottling and this is to be welcomed. I find that the abv, or at least how the distillate is dealing with the abv doesn’t help it initially but time (and maybe a drop or two of water) is your friend. It can become a little bitter on the finish with water added but there’s a simple solution to that…..keep drinking. All in all, its good juice and to be honest its a bit of a steal at less than 80 Euros. It almost feels like a higher abv Foursquare 1998….just saying.

Again, not quite a 4.5 for me but its pretty darn close. 

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

Rum Exchange Belize 2009

This wont be the first time that you’ve encountered a Rum Exchange release on these pages. Rum Exchange is Facebook Group that was created by Andreas Isopp to provide a platform for bottle and samples trading, but much more than that, it is also a company that was set up to facilitate the introduction and selling of Rums that not considered ‘mass market’. They take complete control of the import, trade and distribution of these brands and products. They provide a link between producers, retailers and consumers. I first covered their Rum Exchange Jamaica Trelawny back in August, which was release #001 for them. This Rum Exchange Belize 2009 from Travellers Distillery is release #003 for them. But a little about the distillery first.

In 1950’s Belize, sugar was a popular and plentiful commodity and seemingly on the surface everyone that owned a Plantation was bathed in wealth and producing their own Rum. Enter Jaime Omario Perdomo Sr. (Don Omario), a man with very humble roots who in 1953 opened a bar in Belize City. Given that his bar gained most of its custom from people travelling in or out of the city, Travellers seemed to be the most appropriate name. Travellers sold imported spirits and beers alongside locally produced Rums. At the time in Belize, the custom was for bars to create their own Rum blends and offer them for sale exclusively through their establishments and Don Omario was no different. He created his unique blends combining varying flavours and essences. As the exclusive Rum blend for Travellers proved popular, Don Omario sought a more consistent base for the blends. This proved to be more and more difficult as growing competition in the Rum manufacturing business meant that it was becoming harder to obtain spirits of a consistent enough quality. To overcome this, Don Omario entered into partnership with Luis Alberto Espat who agreed to build a distillery for him in Belmopan. Joined by his sons, Romel and Mayito in the 1970’s, the company began to grow in size. In 1983, Travellers was registered as a limited company and in 1989, when Luis Alberto Espat decided that he wanted out of the business, Travellers purchased his share of the company gaining full control over all aspects of the business for the first time. In 1992, Travellers upgraded its facility moving away from utilising acids to expedite its fermentation process and now, for their Rum (other spirits / alcohols are produced on site) they employ natural fermentation using locally sourced molasses and a double distillation in their triple column continuous still. Maturation is carried out in ex bourbon barrels at their facility.

Now most of us will have at some point had a run in with their most famous export, One Barrel…..a truly horrific concoction. Five Barrel doesn’t fare much better…..but apparently their Don Omario range breaks the cycle for their distillery bottlings. We have also seen other releases from Tiburon, Fair, That Boutique-y Rum Company, Cadenhead’s, Duncan Taylor, Whisky Broker, SBS, Kintra and The Duchess…..and now we have the Rum in question today, Rum Exchange Belize 2009.

Rum Exchange Belize 2009 – 60.8% abv – Modern Rum – 0 g/l additives

Distilled using local molasses, natural fermentation and a double distillation on their triple column continuous still in 2009, this Rum was matured in a tropical climate at the distillery in an ex-bourbon barrel until 2019 when it was bottled. A release of 288 bottles at an abv of 60.8%, this has no colouring, no additions and has not been chill filtered. With that said, lets have a look at how this fares.

Tasting Notes

Nose: A touch of solvent…and weirdly liquid paper, soon dissipates to usher in quite an apparent barrel led nose with plenty of splintery wet wood. Toasted coconut, a hint of vanilla. Charred wooden splints. A possible very light sulphur, but it doesn’t stick around. The alcohol definitely doesn’t interfere with the experience and it all remains quite calm and balanced providing you don’t shove your nose into the glass. Milk chocolate over sweetened coconut chunks. Something bitter but nutty, maybe a touch of walnut and maple syrup with the corresponding levels of bitterness. There’s also a caramel aroma, not burnt sugar caramel initially….more Caramac bar. A little perfumed and floral. Portuguese Custard Tarts too with their sweet custard and buttery crispy pastry.

Mouth: The entry is a little heated and initially carries none of the sweetness from the nose. As you acclimatise the heat builds with spicy, peppery barrel notes. This is quite cutting and dry straight away. What strikes you is just how big a mouthfeel this Rum has…not viscose, but more of a palate weight feeling. It’s a little in the ball park of a well aged Barbados Rum initially. Mid palate the spice and moisture sapping oak gives way a little to reveal mixed nut brittle, white and milk chocolate florentines. Cold Custard and warm Madeira cake. The Caramac from the nose makes an appearance. The oak remains a prominent characteristic of the experience through to the finish which carries a decent length and hangs vanilla, peppery barrel spice and a touch of walnut bitterness on the woody spine.

In conclusion: Beautiful development from nose to palate. Very well balanced and approachable even at its 60.8%. The nose is warming and carries enough interest to hold your attention with equal measures of wood influence and sweeter notes. The palate doesn’t succumb to the sweetness of the nose and it retains a pleasant woody character throughout with the light bitterness, mildly sweet / spicy interplay and pleasing weight lifting this Rum way above my expectations. Forget One Barrel……this is good stuff.

Not quite a 4.5 but more than a 4. Lets call it a 4.25.

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

By the Dutch White Batavia Arrack – Indonesian Rum

A recent release from By the Dutch and complimenting their aged Batavia Arrack, this is their “White Batavia Arrack”. But what is it and what the hell has it got to do with the Dutch?

Batavia was the name of the capital city of the Dutch East Indies, known in the present day as Jakarta. Established in 1619 at the site of the razed city of Jayakarta, Batavia became the epicentre of the Dutch East India Company’s Asia trading network. The trade of Batavia Arrack was handled exclusively by the Dutch. All Arrack exported to Europe arrived in either Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

In its most basic form, Batavia Arrack is similar to Rum. It is a sugar cane molasses distillate produced exclusively on the island of Java in Indonesia. It can trace its roots back to the 17th Century. Fermentation is very similar to that of Rum with the main difference being the addition of local wild yeast cultivated on top of red rice cakes. The fermentation is open and takes place in wooden vats taking the wash up to around 8% abv. This wash is then pot distilled to an abv of around 30%. A second pot distillation takes the distillate up to between 60-65% abv. It is at that point that the distillate is placed in large teak wood vats for between 8 to 12 months.

Specifically relating to the By the Dutch White Batavia Arrack, the 8 to 12 month rested distillate is shipped to Amsterdam in large steel containers. This is then blended and bottled at 48% abv. The product carries no age statement. Weirdly, due ‘religious legislation’ in Indonesia the arrack is marked as ‘Medicine’ when shipped.

By the Dutch White Batavia Arrack – 48%abv – Indonesian Rum

Tasting Notes

Nose: It’s tough to pin down straight away……the aromas seem to span a wide range of the familiar yet don’t seem to completely correlate with any. With time, there is definitely the initial fresh sugarcane familiarity of Cachaça, the grassy notes of Agricole, the brine notes of pot distilled Rum and the earthy notes of a Clairin. But it doesn’t comfortably adhere to any of these fully. There is a freshness to the nose accompanying an underlying vegetal note. Earthy fresh turmeric root sets a basis for light, fresh unripe tropical fruit….reminiscent of walking through the fruit aisle of a mini-mart somewhere in the Caribbean…Freshly picked bananas, green mango skin and the aroma of almost ripe papaya still on the tree. Familiar notes of black pepper, vanilla and light pimento punch through and I can’t quite shake the cinnamon notes of Amburana wood which I know isn’t there…..but the light cinnamon definitely is. Both familiar and unfamiliar in equal measures.

Mouth: Far brighter and fruitier on the palate. A real sweetness to the initial entry and a medium body to the experience. Mango. Papaya. Maybe a hint of banana. It’s also lightly floral. Definite agricole like sugarcane notes. It turns down the sweetness and brings forward a hint of coastal brine, cracked black pepper spice, cinnamon and a light herbal note. Something mildly spicy and ‘green’…..warm freshly charred and salted padron peppers. Sweetness lingers on your lips and a return of banana, papaya and vanilla accompany further visits to the glass. The finish is longer than expected and is all sweet fruit initially leading into the brine and spice notes that made the mid palate so pleasant with a hint of wood and molasses at the fade.

In Conclusion: It’s a bit of a strange one that doesn’t sit in any one camp. Shades of Cachaça, Rum, Agricole and Clairin but not fully giving the individual experience of any of them. Sweet. Vegetal. Spice. Brine. Cane. It could’ve been a bit of a non-committal mess but it really isn’t…..its actually quite a pleasant thing to drink neat even though that’s not the intended use…..it just makes me want to get my hands on the two aged releases to fully explore this spirit further. Its not Rum, its not Rhum, its not Clairin and its not Cachaca, but it is a good distillate presented at the right abv.

4 / 5

As cocktails seem to be the aim of this release, there are plenty of suggestions on the bottle. I went with a drink that has been a favourite recently…..a twist on the Saturn with the Gin replaced with By The Dutch White Batavia Arrack and with the passion fruit syrup dialed up by 5ml. Beautiful.

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2020. 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.

Foursquare Hunte’s 10 Year Old Reserve Rum

This is not a rum that you’ll find readily available….I’ll get that out of the way immediately. It is only available for sale at Hunte’s Gardens in Barbados. So, if you’re fortunate enough to find yourself in Barbados…..and you really would be fortunate as the island is beautiful….you should definitely take a visit…not only for the Rum but for the gardens themselves. As for Foursquare, you absolutely should visit the distillery too. I have, about 4 times over two visits to the island and if you’d like to read more then a quick entry into the search box would turn up plenty of results.

Located in Saint Joseph Parish which is on the east side of the island and about halfway up, Hunte’s Gardens is like heaven on earth. Based on the working side of the old Castle Grant Plantation which used to process sugarcane, as you walk through the gate you’ll cross over the old sugarcane weighbridge before hearing the classical music which permeates the gardens and sets the tone perfectly. Formed in the remains of a sinkhole created by a cave collapse in the limestone the gardens stretch into the distance below you and the trees stretch far up above your head.

You’ll walk down steps into numerous small private gardens each with a ridiculous amount of plants, flowers, water features and stone statues of varying sizes. Tropical fern and flower lined brick pathways welcoming you with small stone pineapples meander up and down, sometimes to dead end secluded areas and sometimes linking to more open spaces where the palm trees stretch up towards the sun.

At the end of your walk around the gardens you’ll walk up towards Anthony Hunte’s house, passing a few surreal rooms that appear to be frozen in time.

An engaging character, Anthony will tell you about the gardens and you’ll be amazed at just how few people were responsible for its creation. It is here that you’ll find the Rum to purchase by the bottle or the glass……and purchase it you should.

Foursquare Hunte’s 10 Year Old Reserve Rum – 43% abv – Single Blended Rum

So here we have it, a blend of both batch and continuous distillation on Foursquare Distillery’s Pot and Coffey Column stills  matured for a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels prior to bottling at 43%. We’d assume that it’s been chill filtered and it has caramel for colour uniformity. This on the surface of things looks to be a very similar proposition to R.L Seale’s 10….but how similar will be revealed as I’ll be sitting with a glass of the 46% export proof for comparison.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Immediately that familiar Foursquare Barbadian nose hits you. Vanilla. Caramel. Warm buttery shortcrust pastry. Plenty of nuttiness and light peppery barrel spice. Coconut is definitely present as is quite an obvious cocoa powder. The oak brings a warming woody backbone to the nose and this encourages the coconut and chocolate to become more influential casting aside the nutty quality in favour of a slightly sweeter approach with Marshmallow and a little orange-y citrus note. Mild coffee notes round things out.

Mouth: The initial entry is quite dry and spice led. This is backed up with short lived heat. Coconut water and coconut milk are the first impressions with just a hint of freshly cut peach. Big on the cocoa with just a hint of almond. Buttery pastry and vanilla custard. The coconut milk and chocolate lead into the warming spicy mid palate with its drying quality and heightened oak bringing vanilla, pepper and ginger. Very warming, very comforting. A hint of raisin and molasses leads into the medium length warm silky woody finish that brings back coconut chips coated in chocolate. Sugared almonds. Classic freshly cut peach is joined by peach vapours at the back end. The coconut water rises up and washes over your tongue right at the death. Well balanced and clear in its delivery.

In conclusion: Priced very well at $70BDS ($35 USD) which at the time was about £25, this Foursquare Hunte’s 10 Year Reserve Rum offers a classic experience of Barbadian rum, and in particular Foursquare Rum with its real poise and balance. Rum’s to compare would be the 43% and 46% R.L Seale’s 10. Both of these are 10 years old with full tropical maturation. Both are single blended rums. Both are priced around £35-£40 and I have no doubt that is where this rum would be positioned were it to make it here. In fact I had a glass of the 46% with me for comparison. Where the R.L Seale’s sits on a little more heat and is more nutty in its profile with dialed down cocoa, this Hunte’s 10 Year Reserve is all about the chocolate and coconut. My preference probably sits with the export strength R.L Seale’s 10 at this point due to the nutty quality and its slightly higher abv but lets be honest…. what’s not to like? Quality Rum at a steal of a price that you can only obtain by visiting the beautiful island of Barbados and walking around a tropical garden. Sounds like heaven. I think that we’ve more than established at this point that Foursquare Rum Distillery just don’t make bad rum….and if you obtain distillery matured and bottled products you absolutely cannot go wrong.

4 / 5

As a side note, I’ve also seen a photograph of an amended label design….but the Rum hasn’t changed….You know that the completest in me will be visiting in November to grab the updated label.

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2019. 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.

Rum Exchange Jamaica Trelawny Rum

Rum Exchange is Facebook Group that was created by Andreas Isopp to, you guessed it, provide a platform for bottle and samples trading…..but much more than that, it is also a company that was set up to facilitate the introduction and selling of Rums that not considered ‘mass market’. They take complete control of the import, trade and distribution of these brands and products. They provide a link between producers, retailers and consumers.

Two bottlings have formed their inaugural release under their own Rum Exchange brand name. Release #001 is the one being reviewed here today, the Rum Exchange Jamaica Trelawny Rum and release #002 is the Rum Exchange Jamaica St Catherine Rum. Now you don’t need to be a genius to read between the lines on the distilleries for these two releases but we’ll play the game.

Both Rums have been sourced from and bottled by 1423 in Denmark who are behind the SBS series amongst other things. They both have a percentage of distillery based tropical climate maturation and non-distillery maturation in the climate of continental Europe. Tropical maturation has been in ex-bourbon barrels whereas the continental maturation has been in ex fortified wine barrels. But lets get down to business.

Rum Exchange Jamaica Trelawny Rum – 61.5% abv – Pure Single Rum

This Rum, a release of 355 bottles (mine is number 85) is a Pure Single Rum from Hampden Distillery in Jamaica. Distilled in 2013 it saw 3 years of distillery maturation in ex-bourbon prior to being shipped to Denmark and spending a further 2 years in an ex-oloroso barrel. It was bottled in May 2019 at a bruising 61.5% abv. Presentation wise I like the squat square bottle. Sits well on the shelf and pours well. The artwork is definitely of note with the image depicted being Banana Plantation by John Dunkley who was a Jamaican sculptor and artist (the labels were the work of Jordan Harper who is an all round nice chap who I first met on the British Bourbon Society Facebook page). The label is also keen to state that the rum is free from sugar and colouring which hints that those oloroso barrels were VERY influential!

Tasting Notes

Nose: Heavily sherried. It’s all raisins and fruitcake in the early exchanges with added Quality Street toffee pennies and a dollop of Cartmel toffee sauce. The brightness and depth of the Jamaican Rum does fight through after a while though. Its funky….but not balls our high ester funky. A little astringency follows, not unexpected given its relative youth. Candied Pineapple. Caramelised Pineapple sugars. Banana bread. Quite sweet with a hint of bitter burnt sugar. As the Rum warms in the glass there is a little spicy oak influence bringing barrel notes of pepper, an earthy turmeric and maybe a hint of fenugreek seeds. It also becomes slightly nutty. It draws you in as this is complexity that some may think was unexpected….but lets not mix up maturity with age. It continues to gain momentum and its complexity starts to win you over.

Mouth: Youth and abv definitely show themselves initially. Its hot and a little prickly. This gives way to an initial savoury assault of roasted root vegetables. Smoked cheese. A little wood influence brings spicy ginger root before the sherried notes kick in. Pineapple juice fights through. The mid-palate has stone fruit. Quite a bit of bitterness. Molasses. Treacle toffee. Pickled balsamic onions. The spice begins to grow. The finish is mildly sweet with pineapple upside down cake but the savoury muscles in. Smoked cheese. Pickled onion Monster Munch. Reds Kansas BBQ sauce with a little sweet smoke.

I tried this a few weeks ago in an online tasting with Johnny Michaelsen of Spirits People. We tried a little water in the glass. Maybe enough to take it down to around 55% abv. We both found that this dulled the experience and it lacked a little robustness maybe due to a relatively short time in the barrel or the mixed maturation locations but it all kind of unraveled and became too dull an experience so we both added more Rum to the glass to bring the abv up again.

All in all an interesting take on a Hampden and it is definitely different enough, in a good way, to make this a worthwhile purchase. All too easy is it to allow the fortified wine barrels to suffocate the distillate and although the sherry is robust, it doesn’t ruin the experience. Not a classic representation of Hampden, but its tasty stuff.

4 / 5

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2019. 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.

That Boutique-y Rum Company Secret Distillery #1 – Jamaica – Batch 2

We’re back with another ‘secret’ but not so ‘secret’ Jamaican bottling from That Boutique-y Rum Company. I reviewed the initial Batch 1 release here and found it to be a pretty pleasant release, a little different to many of the usual independent ‘secret Jamaican distillery’ releases. So essentially, That Boutique-y Rum Company aim to bring interesting expressions, not categorised by colour or ‘style’ to Rum Geeks, Adventurous Rookies and the Rum Curious. As the consultant at the helm is Peter Holland of The Floating Rumshack fame, expect some belters.

As a quick aside, there may or may not be some information on said ‘Secret Jamaican Distillery’ if you were to click here or here.

But without further ado or fanfare, lets get into this one.

That Boutique-y Rum Company Secret Distillery #1 – Jamaica – Batch 2 – 51.5% abv – Pure Single Rum – 1821 Bottles

If you recall from the previous review of Batch 1, that release was 9 years old and it was matured in both Tropical and Continental climates. You will also recall that it was from the ‘secret’ Worthy Park Distillery. This release is 6 years old and dependent upon bottling was distilled in either 2013 or 2012. The information available tells us that this Rum has entirely Continental maturation…..but for a change, all of those 6 years were spent inside an ex-Sauternes cask. Sauternes being a sweet French desert wine from Bordeaux made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes. The grapes used are chosen as they have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as “noble rot“. This has the effect of making the grapes slightly ‘raisined’ which results in a concentrated and quite distinct flavour to the wine. A release of 1821 bottles, mine is number 1468, the Rum will be naturally coloured and will not have been chill filtered. Now Worthy Park is quite unique and recognisable, but what exactly has that 6 years in an ex-Sauternes barrel done to it….

Tasting Notes

Nose: Nice and astringent to start out. Wearing it’s youth on its sleeve. Definitely Jamaican, definitely Worthy Park. Overripe banana, but dialled down. Black tea. A little savoury too…maybe a touch of cured meat. A spicy nose with ginger and a hint of sweet fragrant spice. Ripe Victoria plums. Fresh apple juice. A date like toffee asserts itself alongside sweet maple and pecan pastries. Brazil nuts and raisins. Light molasses providing that sweet / bitter interplay. A hint of oak appears at the back end and brings with it warm spicy fruit loaf. Very appealing.

Mouth: Nice and lightly sweet entry. Nothing too hot. Nothing too distracting. A very prominent sweet white wine note (well obviously…..Sauternes) but carrying something darker and sweeter… maybe prunes in a sticky toffee pudding. Vanilla ice cream topped with a thick, sticky PX. Raisins raisins raisins. Plump and juicy. Growing oak on the mid palate brings a pleasing dryness that doesn’t dominate in any way, the spike of peppery barrel spice and a hint of molasses bitterness. The dark fruit theme develops with slice of my Auntie Hazel’s fruit loaf straight from the oven with butter on it. Light warmed banana and a spoonful of molasses. Garibaldi biscuits. The medium length finish is the sum of its parts, completing the experience with the return of youthful alcohol vapours at the back end and sweet candied pecans.

4 / 5

Plenty to like, and at times I think that I prefer this to Batch #1……at times I don’t though. Either way, at just shy of £37 its definitely worth picking up.

© Steven James and Rum Diaries Blog 2019. 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.