"Navy" Rum: a lost spirit?

Now's here's the real stuff - traditional, cleans your socks on the way down. Unlike the Royal Navy, the pirates drank while eating, sailing and fighting - the first multitaskers. Here's to Port Royal, the Port of Orgies! Say it loud and say it plowed!
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Capn Jimbo
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"Navy" Rum: a lost spirit?

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Lost Spirits: There's good news...

This post inspired by a months old, dark mahogany "Navy" rum....


Lost Spirits is a relatively new micro-distiller whose story in many ways is quite admirable, for example the fact that he built his distillery in rather typical alternative lifestyle fashion. Featuring stills built with oak boilers, dragon inspired gewgaws, he has experimented with a long list of new and as yet unproven and unique techniques.

He uses no additives and isn't afraid to experiment with these untested techniques with interesting but sometimes unexpected results. For example based on the theory that an oak still would contribute additional flavor components to the distillate he built two stills from oak: a large wash still and a properly smaller spirits still. He produced a number of what he called whiskys from these stills - some receiving notable reviews for their unusual profiles - until his expensive experiment failed spectacularly.

Likewise he has experimented with a number of other techniques like “fast dunder” - which conjures up images of 20 year old Jamaican dunder pits, but is actually an overripe banana described as infected with "special bacteria" or alternatively "wild bacteria" (yeast) tossed into the ferment for a couple of days. He also "fast seasons" new oak with sherry apparently using air pressure to literally force the sherry into the wood in about 40 hours. He conceived of a scheme to "fast age" his spirits to amazingly dark colors in mere months, by exposing staves of wood to a special light. I suspect that pulsating air pressure may also play a role.

If true, he has revolutionized and replaced three hundred years of distilling experience and expertise. Has he really?

To his credit he claims to use no colorings, additives or flavorings (although his "fast seasoned" sherry barrels may well release the sherry just as fast as it was injected into the wood). Good raw materials.

All of these are interesting but really untested. His products are reported to be quite unique, but as Serge of Whiskyfun noted of his "Leviathan Peated Whisky", it "Nothing to do with peated Scotch here... sure this is single malt whisky but I’d say rum, cognac or tequila are much closer to Scotch whisky than this very odd spirit". I'm not surprised. Still, I have to give this deep pocketed young man kudo's for his dedication and willingness to continue experimenting in the face of failure. Try and try again. Think Edison.


But it's not "all good"...


So far so good. I applaud the effort. What I don't like is the attitude. Reading the distiller's public interviews and statements reveals a rather condescending, authoritarian and self-congratulatory attitude. He basically rejects all traditional techniques of rum and whisky as we know them, to be replaced by his supersonic methods.

Jamaica's 20 year old dunder pits? Doesn't have the time, he says. He claims to know how to do it with an overripe banana in 2 days. Aging in well-seasoned, and expensive years old ex-sherry barrels? Why bother, he brags. He can do it - quickly and cheaply - in 40 hours with new oak. How about 10 years of aging in good wood? A waste of time, as he expresses complete confidence that his combination of his "fast dunder", "fast seasoned oak" and "fast aging" special staves of wood exposed to a magic light can reduce aging to mere months. He believes traditional aging is a waste of time and money, and is simply overrated. He sees barrels as little more than a brief ending encounter for the spirit. How about the long established copper standard for stills? Nope, his whole theory revolves around producing flavor without the need for years of expensive aging beginning with the only new wooden stills I know of, made of oak, based on the theory that an oak boiler would release additional flavor components, and again minimizing the need for real aging.

Here's the problem with new and unproven theories: like Edison and the lightbulb success comes at the end of many failures. This was true for Lost Spirits in absolutely spectacular fashion. Let me explain: the only other active wooden stills I know of are those of the DDL in Guyana which are made of a special species of wood called "Greenheart". Why greenheart?

Surely DDL is aware of good oak, but they chose greenheart instead for its special qualities when used for a boiler. It is extremely dense, waterproof and does not breathe (as does oak). Most importantly, greenheart is also rot and fungus proof. Greenheart is thus widely used - worldwide - for use in water environments, eg docks, pilings and seaside structures.

And thus a perfect choice for DDL's stills.

But in Lost Spirit's case, by using permeable oak, the distillate did in fact gain some flavor - but not for long. Almost predictably the hot and steamy environment of these steam heated oak stills led to - yup - a bad case of fungus. The hot and steamy environment quickly caused a fungal infection . Think hot, sweaty old sneakers. The fungus was the same found in cork that has likewise gone bad ("cork taint"). Some reviews actually picked up on this unintended aroma in his whiskys made in these stills. The sad outcome...

A spectacular fail, so complete that the stills couldn't be saved and were destroyed, accordingly damaging his reputation, finances and credibility. One can only wonder how much of the fungal taint made it into the whisky he sold before he finally discovered it. Ouch! And he was forced to abandon one of his theories and return to the traditional and effective copper he'd previously criticised.

To him, all the hard won skill and artistry of the traditional making and aging of spirits is all misinformed. He claims to know how to do everything - raw materials, preparation, fermentation, distilling, and aging - better, cheaper and faster with his radical ideas. I'm serious. Underlying all his claims are the themes of high speed, and very low cost - a literal wet dream for micro-distillers everywhere.

Now I don't mind that he's using experimental techniques. What I do mind is the outrageous claim that these techniques replace traditional spirits making and aging. They don't and the speedy results are not even close. If his Leviathan Peated Whisky is any example, the product is like no peated single malt whisky you've ever had. In fact if the bottle wasn't labeled "Whisky" you might never know what it was. Those of you who really know and love whisky know the tremendous variety of styles and profiles available. But when a product falls so far outside the genre that it cannot even be identified as a whisky, then...

It's not. But if not, then what is it? An interesting, very young and experimental grain-based spirit that is a whisky by legal definition alone. If you like its weird, young additive-free and unexpected profile, great! But don't expect a whisky as you know it. And as far as the very young and overproof "Navy" rum, the best that can be said about these is that they may have something to offer as mixers, but at $45 to $50? No way. If I want a powerful, rich and complex dunder-based, pot-stilled young mixer the market is already well served by Wray & Nephews, and Myers's at one-third to one-half the cost.


Flat Ass Bottom Line

I applaud this distiller's effort and his chutzpah, but I can neither accept or respect his extravagant claims, particularly based on his track record. These are nothing more than highly tweaked, extremely young, overpriced and experimental spirits whose profiles lie well outside their genres, and which are dominated by such forced extractives as color, tannins et al. Without legitimate aging they will lack real balance, harmony and complexities that accrue only from time dependent interactive processes.

To so flippantly reject hundreds of years of distilling experience and artistry with a wave of the hand is akin to making whisky from water. Unfortunately many micro distillers so desperate to save money and time that they resort to wasting what precious little time and resources they do have in search of magic “fast everything” solutions - rather than simply paying their dues, learning the craft and producing solid, recognizable, top quality young products. Worst of all - by far - are the claims that their "fast aged" spirit are the equivalent of the real thing. In truth, this is not necessary...

Consider instead the significant number of small distillers who like Phil Prichard or Charbay. have succeeded using traditional methods to produce fine young spirits. They don't engage in “fast anything” - what they do and promote is their meticulous and handcrafted approach using multiple batch distillations, quality raw materials, purity and attention to detail based on long experience and personal artistry.

That's the way it should be.

No gimmicks.
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