In my Reviewer's Review of the Artic Wonder, I was driven to give this stubborn but egoistic gentleman a "2" for a number of good reasons. Over six months we'd participated in a 6 month dialogue wherein I made every attempt to educate the new kid on rum, hoping he'd become a voice for honesty in rum labeling.
To say this endeavor was frustrating is an understatement.
Wolfie took what I considered simplistic and naive positions, which he maintained despite being presented with credible, copious, contraditory and well-cited facts about such issues as barrel aging, the legal definitions of rum, the widespread use of unlabeled flavoring and additives, and the like. Like the Preacher he'd suffered the dilemma of having painting himself into the "expert's corner". But - unlike the Preacher - the Frozen One proceeded with much less experience, and an unusual palate. But I digress.
He's done it again, this time in his recent review of Ron Abuelo Anejo:
Let me summarize:Artic Wolf: "According to the website Ron Abuelo Anejo is produced from sugar cane juice rather than molasses and it is aged in white oak bourbon casks...
The fruity tastes are reminiscent of a Port wine influence, and they have me somewhat baffled by their appearance in such a young rum which has been aged in a bourbon cask...
My research indicates that at least a portion of this rum may have been distilled from molasses as the production of rum year round from only cane juice is unlikely. The juice must be squeezed from fresh cane, and during the winter months this may not be available. This makes me wonder if it is a mixture of distillate from two sources (cane juice and molasses) which is the foundation for the very different flavours I am encountering...
The Ron Abuelo Anejo rum has a unique flavour profile, and I cannot escape the feeling that somewhere in the mix, a port enhancement was used to deliver the flavour profile I am tasting."
1. He states Abuelo is a cane juice rum, citing the Abuelo website. Entirely wrong. The site makes clear that cane juice is fermented only to produce neutral spirits (for use in their triple distilled Seco Herrerano - a sort of cane juice vodka). In contrast, all their rums - every single one - are distilled solely from molasses.
2. He believes that the fruity tastes must be due to a Port wine (barrel influence). Wrong again. Abuelo is aged in small white oak barrels. Fruity esters are common to rum, and result primarily from the fermentation and from its distillation.
Dazed and confused.
3. He then speculates that a "portion" of the rum just must be from molasses as cane juice is not available in the winter months. He then attributes his unusual findings to this combination of cane juice and molasses rums. What a heap, piling error upon error. Again, all of Varela Hermanos' rums are made solely from molasses.
Lost in the forest.
4. Despite the fact that he cites Abuelo's use of white oak barrels, he remains convinced that the Anejo's profile can only be explained by a port wine barrel influence. Abuelo uses oak - and molasses - period.
See what I mean about stubborn?
What you really have here is a novice reviewer who didn't do his homework, who misrepresented this common and well known molasses-based rum as made from cane juice, who apparently can't even taste the difference, and not least - whose puerile Canadian palate then drove him to drown this fine young sipper in coke, and call it a mixer.
In any case, Ron Abuelo Anejo exhibits none of the key characteristics of a cane juice rum, but no matter.
Keep in mind too that The Frozen One seems doubly cursed: by his own admission ("I do know that I have always tasted things others cannot. Take that pre-cut bagged lettuce that is all the rage, To me it tastes vile..."), he may well fall into the population of "supertasters" with "bittermouth" (a sensitivity to certain phenols). And amazingly, he reports "bitterness" in more than half the rums he has "reviewed".
That he then mistakes a molasses profile for cane juice is no surprise. The sad part about all of this is the misinformation being put out with such certainty, and that will surely mislead the gullible and needy.
*******
A final note: Wolfie once joined this forum, and remains a visitor. I have little doubt that he'll find this post and correct his egregious errors and admit the obvious: that Abuelo is an old and well regarded molasses rum, aged in the usual Amercian white oak barrels. This may take time, as our earlier dialogue revealed his stubborn propensity for resisting admissions of error.
Today's date: 3/4/11 (his review was posted on 2/24). Let's see how long it takes...
