Capn Jimbo's Rum Project Forum

Capn Jimbo · Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Tue Jul 20, 2010 1:41 pm; edited 1 time in total

R. L. Seale's 10 Year Rum: "A Modern Classic"

One of our most memorable experiences was meeting Richard Seale at Robert Burr's Barbadian rum tasting. Seale is the number one producer in Barbados and has committed his distillery to two objectives: (1) modernization and (2) integrity. He has achieved both. Richard led off the tasting with a bit of history and the process of rum making; he then announced that the rum tasting would begin with a "special rum" he'd brought just for the tasting. He advised that he would then ask three questions - anybody who could answer all three correctly would get a bottle of his Seales 10.

Nobody won.

The first question was "Is it cane or molasses based?". Most guessed molasses. Good so far. Second was "Is it pot or continuous stilled?". Most said it was pot stilled. Last question "What is it's age?". Guesses were from 4 to 7 years old. Seale then revealed the answer "It is a brand new, molasses based, continuous stilled rum that I phonied up with molasses, vanilla and some other things"!

His point: a lot of rum, more than you'd ever guess, has been altered with all manner of additives, flavorings, sugar, molasses, et al. Often age statements are based on a minor quantity of rum blended in with marketing more in mind. As Richard put it "They toss a teaspoon of 20 year into a barrel and call it aged".

His presentation was powerful and effective. Last he made clear two facts: (1) any rum he sells must be produced AND bottled at Seale's distillery and (2) every single drop of rum in the bottle must be the age stated. Accordingly, R. L. Seale's 10 Year is at least 10 years old. Every single drop. And now for the review:

Sue Sea:

Capn Jimbo · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:06 am Post subject: Keep it up Richard!

Keep it up Richard!

Richard Seale is a force to be reckoned with. If you've gotten this far you'll have appreciated his dedication, commitment to quality and honesty in bottling and advertising.

Turns out he knows a thing or two about marketing.

While Mount Gay Extra Old was dumping over 300 years of tradition and their wonderful, classic bottle design - and almost doubling the price of an already pricey offering, however good, to a mindboggling $50(!)...

Richard decided to lower the price on Seale's 10 Year Rum.

Now keep in mind that Seales 10 is his flagship rum, worthy of carrying the family name. And the only - I repeat only rum that I would pay $39 to own and enjoy. A very special treat, particularly as we are of the notion that world class rums are (and should) be available for $20 to $30, at the most.

His new price? $25! A tour de force. Again, unlike MGXO, who has now priced themselves out of the marketplace, Richard has positioned himself right in the thick of it insofar as most rum afficianados are concerned.

I predict he will sell a schooner full of this top-rated, pure rum. As well he should! Bravo!
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Capn Jimbo · Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 1:26 am Post subject:

Boy, do we feel stupid...

We recently finished a bottle of Seales - on of our long term favorites - and like many of you, found it difficult to throw away one of the more attractive bottles in the market. So while I agonized and looked over the bottle before deciding my eye caught the small lettering that established Seales 10 as...

43%.

What! All these years and we hadn't realized that. Seales is so well done, so well integrated, so smooth that I suppose we just assumed it was 40%. How foolish we were. Any rum that is bottled at higher proofs deserves accolades and attention and we blew it.

Seales 10 is 86 proof. Sorry, friends...
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Capn Jimbo · Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:43 am Post subject:

Boy, do we feel stupid...

We recently finished a bottle of Seales - on of our long term favorites - and like many of you, found it difficult to throw away one of the more attractive bottles in the market. So while I agonized and looked over the bottle before deciding my eye caught the small lettering that established Seales 10 as...

43%.

What! All these years and we hadn't realized that. Seales is so well done, so well integrated, so smooth that I suppose we just assumed it was 40%. How foolish we were. Any rum that is bottled at higher proofs deserves accolades and attention and we blew it.

Seales 10 is 86 proof. Sorry, friends...
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Go to Save Caribbean Rum Petition!

da'rum · Admiral Joined: 29 Aug 2012 Posts: 312

2x stupid?
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in goes your eye out