Rum Review: Chairman's Reserve Rum

The second standard reference style: aromatic, robust and full flavored - it's absolutely dunderful. To our ships at sea! May they sink very slowly!
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How do you rate Chairman's Reserve Rum (five is best)?

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3
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100%
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Total votes: 1

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Capn Jimbo
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Rum Review: Chairman's Reserve Rum

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Chairman's Reserve Finest St. Lucia Rum: Not ready for prime time...


I don't mean to tip our hand but our headlines have to both summarize and beguile. That this one leaks is just too damn bad. Chairman's Reserve Rum is one of those very hard to find rums that has somehow managed to develop an aura of:

1. Hard-to-find
2. Really good, if you can find it
3. Desirable if you can indeed find one.

RnD both get woodies over this rum. The Shillery's faux competition gave it a "silver". The Burr Brothers "XP" (short for ex-spurt) followed suit with another silver. And don't get me started on the San Francisco competition, which gives out awards to practically anybody who shows up. Chairman's Reserve Rum got a "double-gold" but, uh, also a silver. I'm serious, go figure.

Truth is, even in the "...it's all good" world of bullshit, paid "competitions" silver really isn't all that impressive. Call it average at best. Do I see the corner of a red flag waving?

Maybe.

When I went to my trusted resources, beginning with the BTI I found, well, nothing. This is not a good sign. BTI has reviewed well over 200 rums, more than anybody and any rum that does not appear there is very, very suspect. Neither El Machete, Bilgemunky or Scotte had it. In sum...

Lots of hype for a mostly non-reviewed rum.

Still, we are quite human and despite my huge resistance to marketing, the combination (a) hard-to-find and (b) might be really good prevailed when I actually spotted a lone bottle after years of haunting liquor stores. The straw - that Chairman's Reserve is blended with pot-stilled rums (a must buy for me).

Basta! The review:
Sue Sea: In a deviation from our usual routine, Jim took the time to review the background of Chairman's Reserve Rum. Molasses based, it is a blend of pot-stilled and column stilled rums (as are some of the great rums we have tasted). This rum comes in a squat, broad shouldered bottle with a faux modern version of a traditional, torn parchment style label, featuring the outline of two mountains highlighted in gold leaf. It is topped with a black neckband, repeating the two-mountan theme.

Very nice, and sets the stage.

Chairman's Reserve Rum's aroma was not disappointing, a stunning rich orange citrus clove over a background of vanilla, deep leather, ginger. Nor was the initial palate, nicely consistent with the lovely aroma and adding a touch of licorice or anisetter. It was all downhill, and rapidly so, after that.

The rum quickly turned to a dry and drier cinnamon heat - hot really - and growing into a mouth numbing, dry and very astringent cinnamon/clove heat. It set my aglow and in no way encouraged another sip. The finish was a short white pepper, and left a lingering astringent leather aftertaste.

To be fair, we never judge a rum until it has reached the shoulders, as the first few drams out of a bottle can be misleading until the rum has a chance to air and vent negative bottling elements. I literally wasted a cup of rum down the drain to achieve this - no change; and to be fair we even gave it a few days at label height and retasted it.

Slight less intense at the initial palate but no real differences. I call this rum flat and choppy. The aroma (wonderful) and palate (hot, dry and astringent) might as well have been from two different rums. No balance or harmony, no development, no memorable finish.

Flat and shockingly disappointing. This is NOT a rum to offer to a new drinker you hope to convert. In fact, it is not a rum for those looking for a good sipper (not that any rum can't become an acquired taste). It simply isn't there.
Me: Sue Sea and I gave every chance to this well rumoured rum. I especially have a weakness for any rum that dares to take the time and expense of pot stilling. I am rarely disappointed, but this time? Chairman's Reserve Rum presents as a lovely clear amber, with modest legs and opened with a slight alcohol nose (trivial) but featured a very rich spicy clove over a deep orange, and a rich deep sweet tarry leather that borders on Jamaican dunder.

A great open.

The palate is another matter. Although the very first touch is momentarily sweet, the rum immediately turns to a spicy, rapidly growing heat, a rapidly growing leather dryness and to a lasting deep leather astringency and to a short, hot, white pepper finish.

To be blunt, neither Sue Sea or I could rate this rum highly in its current state and age, which I estimated at 4 or 5 years (their website confirmed this). This is not much more than Flor de Cana's fine 4 Year gold mixing rum, which although sippable remains a great mixer. In this sense, both Sue Sea and I agree this rum has plenty to offer as a rather expensive mixer, with much more boldness to offer than the understated FdC.

Despite the ratings, I won't discount the Chairman's Reserve entirely. The pot-stilled and column-stilled components are aged separately for perhaps 4-1/2 years, then are married by aging for another six to nine months, all in used bourbon barrels.

What I believe has happened here is that this rum has failed to achieve its potential (which I think is considerable) via aging in larger, used up barrels. We immediately reflected on Phil Prichard's stupendous rums which are aged no longer, but age in smaller fresher barrels that allow the oak to do its job.

Give this rum another five years in oak and they might really have something. As it is it's too young, too soon. Potential unrealized...


Rating (10 is best): 6.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue May 31, 2011 7:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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I had hopes...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Dreams are meant to be dashed...



In our review, it was my firm opinion that Chairman's Reserve had real aging potential. In another say five years of good wood aging, ala Marlon Brando this rum "...really coulda been a contender! I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am!". I'd heard that there actually was such an aged version called Admiral Rodney's Extra Old St. Lucia Rum, averaging 12 years.

Well, there was and there wasn't.

Rodney's does exist and and it does indeed average 12 years (with a 15 in the works). Now I'm interested. But... it is also 100% continuous-stilled. Now I'm not...

Such is life.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue May 31, 2011 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
RT
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Post by RT »

I had a very different experience recently with the Chairman's Reserve, almost to the point where I would think we are talking about two different rums. Let me tell you my story, and then I would suggest we both need to revisit this rum sometime, me without ice and food, and you from a different bottle.

I had not heard of Chairman's Reserve, or any other rum from St. Lucia for that matter. I had not taken note of any relevant discussion at Eddie's World, nor had I seen any advertising. I was in New Orleans for a convention, discovered the Rum House bar, and went there for lunch. I ordered the caribbean ribs, told the bartender I had a pretty extensive rum collection, and asked him to come up with something I might not have tried. He proposed the Chairman's Reserve, and I accepted happily.

My serving was in a snifter with a single ice cube, my preferred drinking method yielding a temperature around 60 degrees and an alcohol level of approx 70 proof, which I believe releases the most flavor. And after about the third sip, I was also eating BBQ ribs.

I found most of the same aromas and flavors as you, plus some exotic fruit notes, but very little of the astringent burn and finish you describe. I thought the rum was excellent, about a 9 out of ten, and I made a mental note to buy a bottle as soon as I find one.

So now, upon reading your well thought out review, I am left wondering. Was my tasting overly improved by the ice cube or masked by the spicy food? Or did you somehoe get a bad bottle? I have been told that excessive heat during warehousing or shipping could lead to the type of problem you found. Also, there can be a lack of consistency among the used bourbon barrels they use for the second aging after blending, leading to a inferior lot. All just speculation, though.

Anyway, I hope you will find an opportunity to sample from a different bottle, and I will try to find an opportunity to do a straight tasting. Then maybe we can figure out what's up with this rum.
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
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jankdc
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Post by jankdc »

I'm going through Dave Broom's book and he actually rated it ****(*). Which I assume is between a four and five star. Not too many rums scored that high.
Rum Reviews Rankings and Cheat Sheet
References: MGXO, R Mat. GR, Scar Ibis, Apple 12, Barb 5, Pusser's, Wray and Neph, ED 15, 10Cn, West Plant, R Barc Imp.
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Capn Jimbo
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When God talks...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

When God talks...


You might just listen. And no, I don't mean RT, he's just another disciple - but rather the inestimable Dave Broom. A 4-1/2 by Dave is very, very meaningful. I have never before disagreed to any real extent with any of his reviews - indeed, they are a Master Class. And RT"s experience is worth noting, and we do agree - at least insofar as adding ice and eating hot spicy BBQ. Both would surely defuse the finish we found. This reminds me of the Wolfboy's "methodology" for tasting vodka - directly out of the freezer - and in between bites of sausage, hopefully not his own, lol.

There is at least one other very important factor, namely the fact that Dave's wonderful book is copyright 2003, well before the massive subsidies to the USV/PR began. Long after, Johannes van den Heuval and JaRiMi have both lamented the changes in the rums and their blends, particularly in the last couple years. Astute reviewers have also noted changes in a number of well regarded rums. Further, while Dave makes clear that Chairman's has several stills and multiple blends, he doesn't identify the age of the one he reviewed. As far as our bottle, we felt it had great potential but just wasn't there yet. Did Dave have the 12 year old version?

Too many questions, too few answers.

Accordingly it's fair to ask whether our 2012 version was the same as Dave's 2003 Chairman's Reserve. Although bad bottles are possible, they are really quite rare. Still I'm with RT on giving the Chairman another go.

RT, are ya with me? Let's do it...
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jankdc
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Post by jankdc »

You bring up some good points. I only mentioned it because usually, you are very similar in your assessments.

When I look at their site, it seems that they only had two products when Dave Broom wrote about them, the Chairman's Reserve and Admiral Rodney. Since then they have two versions of 1931 (a premium rum) another (lost cask) version of Chairman's Reserve, and a spiced version. They also had a fire in 2007. With all of these new products and fire they could have changed the profile of Chairman's Reserve.
Rum Reviews Rankings and Cheat Sheet
References: MGXO, R Mat. GR, Scar Ibis, Apple 12, Barb 5, Pusser's, Wray and Neph, ED 15, 10Cn, West Plant, R Barc Imp.
RT
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Post by RT »

OK, I'll bite.

Let me start with another story, call it Chairman's Reserve, Chapter 2.

After my favorable tasting at the Rum House in New Orleans, I set about finding a bottle. Checked my usual haunts in Erie, Buffalo, and Cleveland. Nada. NYC. Zip. Boston. Goose eggs. Was visiting a friend in Richmond VA who shares our rum affliction, she took me to a large (ABC?) store there in search of some interesting rums. No Chairman's Reserve, but a row of St. Lucia Spiced.

Got talking to the manager, asked him if he had ever carried the C.R., he said wait a minute. Went into the back and came out with two bottles. He said they had appeared in a case of the Spiced, he didn't know what to do with them, since there was no SKU for them in the system. They had just been sitting in the warehouse for a month now. He asked me if I would be interested in buying them under the Spiced SKU.

The first bottle is finished now, and the second is waiting for a suitable occasion to open.

I still quite like this rum. I do recognize that my initial experience was under uniquely favorable circumstances. Yes, the rum is slightly rough around the edges. And I've checked the bottle more than once to make sure it was 80 proof and not 92 or something. The flavor profile is still pretty much as I first found it. I have confirmed that the one ice cube technique definitely improves the rum, as does a twist of lime.

Another observation is this rum works better with food than without.

Old rating 9, new rating 8.5
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
thefatrumpirate

Post by thefatrumpirate »

A little late to the discussion but I'll add my two pence.

My view of Chairmans is somewhat romanticised as it was the first non supermarket rum I ever bought. At the time Cockspur 5 star was my fave.

This trumped that. I personally think that this is a very good rum when drank in liberal amounts with cola. It's a little rough around the edges for sipping.

However with ice and cola it is great. It makes the best rum and cola for me. The spiced is also pretty wicked.

The only disappointment has been the Forgotten Casks version. It was better than the standard Chairmans no doubt but the price made it an awkward purchase. It wasn't so much better that it was worth the extra £10 plus.

St Lucia distillers have the ACR mark and to my palate I do not think they adulterate their rums much. I understand that Admiral Rodney is particularly hard to find in the US (ie impossible) due to a dispute involving another similarly named rum. I also understand that all the St Lucia rums are pretty hard to find in the US.

Which probably goes someway to explaining the lack of reviews of Chairmans (only European sites seem to have it).
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Post by Hassouni »

Just tried it for the first time last night. I'd give it an easy 7, verging on 8. It remind me a LOT of, say, a MG Eclipse with a small splash of Appleton Reserve. Clearly on the lighter English style akin to Bajan rums: very elegant and light but with murmurings of fruity pot still funkiness.

Good to know there's another easy to find, tasty, reasonably priced unadulterated rum out there.
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