Say that ten times fast. Recently the famous "Lance" of the entertaining Liquorature website (see Reviewer's Reviews heading this section), published yet another list. His first list: "Ten Decent Rums for Under $50" apparently got him a few more hits, so natch, this year he published "Ten Decent Rums for Under $100".
The monkeys love lists as they make thinking unnecessary, an inestimable value in today's world of follow-the-leader Tea Party clonistas. Here's his list...
I simply had to respond...Lance of Liquorature:
1. The first and maybe even the best on this list has to be the El Dorado 21 year old ($90)...
2. A.D. Rattray Caroni 13 year old ($70). I called this rum a rum lover’s secret discovery...
3. Ron Zacapa 23 Solera. I honestly don’t know how much this costs... I paid $80 for mine...
4. Zaya Gran Reserva ($70)... no mention is made on the label about any additives, though clearly, in the opinion of many, there must be. I have to take it on its merits and just say I like it...
5. Renegade Trinidad 1991 16 year old (port barrel finish, about $70). Not all will enjoy its overproof nature (46%) and attendant spiciness. Man up there, dude.
6. El Dorado 15 year old ($60)... This rum is the bridge to the 21 and 25 for sure, but forgets none of its heritage of the 12 year old...
7. Flor de Cana Centenario 21 15 year old ($90) A very solid if oddly different rum from a Nicaraguan distiller also responsible for the phenomenal 18 year old...
8. Rum Nation Panama 18 yr old (~$80). I haven’t reviewed this yet... but should sound the trumpets for those North of 49: this thing is brilliant for its price...
9. Juan Santos 21 year old ($90). My discovery for this year... this baby is called Ron Santero in Colombia... and is a liquid bottled symphony...
10. Pusser’s 15 year old (~$60). A solid, powerful man’s rum... It’s not stronger or more flavourful than others, yet manages to leave an impression of being big, brawny and cheerfully uncouth...
Moi at Liquorature: "Making lists is always fun, although truth be told they end up being more "...a bunch of rums I like". The real modern father of rum appreciation, Luis Ayala once published a great article on classification: by raw material (cane juice or molasses-based), distillation method, color, age, flavored, spiced, overproof, premium, esters and so on.
Most of these are pretty useless insofar as to what a rum will taste like, or its quality.
For example take color, say gold. If this was a useful classification, in a blind tasting you could tell the color of the rum by its taste. Of course you can't. The other classifications fail on the same basis. Perhaps the one and only valid comparison of rums is by style - first identified by rum's only true master taster, Dave Broom, author of "Rum" and the "World Atlas of Whisky", among other books. Compare to Robert Parker, Michael Jackson, F. Paul Pacult, Janis Robinson and a handful of other masters.
Put another way, style is the only valid classification obvious and identifiable to the reasonably experienced rum taster.
The Basic Styles of Rums
Broom identified four basic styles: Jamaican, Demeraran, Cuban and Cane Juice. At The Rum Project we added a fifth - Bajan or Barbadian for both historical and taste considerations. A few reasonable sub-categories might include Navy, Trinidadian and Dominican (all of which have identifiable profiles).
As reviewers I think it important that rums be compared to similar styles, otherwise we fall into the trap of personal taste, or worse yet comparing unlabeled artificial flavoring and spicing, rather than the underlying rum. For example to compare a high ester Jamaican style rum (based on a dunder instituted fermentation) to a peppery light Cuban rum is folly. What is far more meaningful is consensus based on style, and at least the attempt to identify reference standards or examples for each style. At The Rum Project we have organized our reviews on exactly that basis, just as for example, whisky lovers will compare Islay style spirits.
On Lance's Lisp, er List...
It is hard to identify an "epitome" of the Guyanese (Demeraran) rums, for the simple reason that the DDR uses the output of nine different historical stills - wood, steel, column, pot to produce very different tasting blends. For example the ED 21 uses rums mostly from a French Savalle 4-column still producing a fairly thin product. The most representative rums are the 8-12-15, made using both wooden and metal Coffey stills for a more robust product. If there is a consensus of which product best represents the Demeraran style in general, it would be the El Dorado 12.
The discontinued Caroni is certainly worth mention - I'd add only that you can still find Scarlet Ibis, a rum that nearly defines a style of its own, phenomenal. The "Zee" rums, Zacapa and Zaya are both altered rums that - having been so identified - have deservedly lost their reputation as examples of anything short of what they are: rums containing unlabeled additives and flavoring. You are correct that the Columbian Juan Santos is known as Ron Santero, there and here in south Florida, and in general are Cuban style rums.
Panama 18 is not a well known or available rum, and the very few qualified experts who have reviewed it have found this rum to be average at best. It is well to note that the bottler - Rum Nation is not a distiller, and simply buys and/or blends bulk rum purchased from unnamed sources. The company was formed not much more than 10 years ago and has yet to earn a reliable reputation for their rebottlings.
Flor de Cana is nothing if not a reliable producer of quality rums known for their easy drinking, smooth but rather bland offerings. Last I'm entertained by the notion that Pusser's 15 is "...a man's rum" - I guess this means the rest are for women, lol. Truth be told it is indeed stronger and more flavorful than most other rums, as it contains high congener pot stilled and and also high ester Jamaican dunder-based elements. Most rums display perhaps 40 or 50 esters - without knowing the exact number, I'd have to guess Pusser's contains double or triple that number. The 15 is usually sold at proofs higher than the typical 40 proof rum.
The "Take Away" (how I hate that term)
But please don't consider any of this a criticism - lists are fun and do tell us more about the lister than the rums.
We can all learn from them, but in the end it is consensus, especially from the short list of reviewers you will learn to trust. As for The Rum Project, we have found that true world class rums - equal or superior to all those listed - can be had for well under $30 US, even less than $20. Examples include Barbancourt Five Star (cane juice style), Mount Gay Extra Old or Seales Ten Year (Bajan), Appleton Extra (Jamaican style), Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva 15 (Cuban style), Wray & Nephews Overproof and Pusser's Blue Label.
The finest rums are not necessarily the most expensive.
All are truly world class, five star rums who have earned broad based consensus as being real and unaltered rums which tend to define the styles they represent. Other incredible values include Doorly's XO ($17) or 5yo ($14, Bajan style), Rum San Pablo ($11, Cuban style), Santa Teresa Anejo ($14, Demeraran), Ron Viejo de Caldas 3 Year ($10, cane juice style), and Jack Tar Dark Rum ($14, Jamaican).
Even these are amazing, fine rums equal to rums three times their cost.
Unfortunately, the marketing boyz have managed to convince us that high price and old age are the equivalent of quality and high ratings and regard. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is: the sweet spot for rum is from 7 to 10 years of age, not to mention a few rums in the 4 or 5 year range that are equally desirable.
This is largely due to the fact that a year in the tropics has been compared to two or three years in a northern clime, thus a 7 year old rum may be fairly compared to a 21 year old whisky. Another factor is cooperage. For example, Phil Prichard's Fine Rum is but 4 years old, but those four are spent in expensive, brand new small barrels, which means a much greater wood to rum ratio - the equivalent of ten or more years in say used bourbon barrels. I'd put Prichard's amazing rums up against almost any other Jamaican or Demeraran rum of any age.
Statements of old age are not reliable, many of these are actually overaged and over oaked, or have spent years in worn out old barrels that add little more than unjustifiable cost. It's really no different than any other overpriced spirits. Think Grey Goose or Patron.
The Bottom, Bottom Line:
Price is surely a way to sell rums, and to buy them - but is hardly the best way to learn or appreciate rums. The best way: selecting rums that best represent each style, and learning them well. In time each of us will develop our own reference standards, but choosing rums that have long earned the acclaimation of consensus of reliable sources is a good start. Better yet, you can do this for prices averaging $20 to $25. Price does not equal quality. But if you are so lucky as to have a nifty trust fund...
Try single malt whisky..."
*******
Note: Despite the fact that my post was of the kind-and-gentle type, wherein I simply offer contrasting viewpoints in a completely non-personal way, the Lancester apparently doesn't like alternative viewpoint, regardless of how reasonable or well-intended. He'd prefer his Top Ten List be left alone, dammit.
The lesson: leave Lance's pink balloon alone. He likes it.
