Hello from Italy

Yes, the obligatory introductions section, but serves a good purpose - like a good, soft toilet paper - used only once but truly wonderful! "Here's to you and here's to me, may we never disagree - if perchance we ever do, here's to me and to hell with you!"
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Cane Man
Oscar
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:36 am
Location: Milan, Italy

Hello from Italy

Post by Cane Man »

Hi all,

To begin I'd like to thank Capn Jimbo for publishing the Masterlist of rum sugar testing - a fine reference that's guiding my rum purchases since discovering it.

For years I had managed just fine with aged spirits available at most supermarkets in Italy, in the likes of Pampero Anniversario Reserva Exclusiva, Havana Club 7y, and Bacardi 8y, due to their smooth and acceptable taste. Besides, they were mostly mixed into frozen berry daiquiris or cocktails.

Meanwhile, recently I've turned away from cocktails in favor of sipping neat, and since then I've been looking to know more about rum, and improving the quality of rums I'm purchasing.

By now I feel I've already built a decent beginner's rum collection (I'd label it v1.0) , but as these bottles will be over with, I'm looking to upgrade to v2.0, possibly within a budget of roughly eur or usd 60.

In my cabinet, all first bottles ever, in order of preference:

MG XO - simple, clean, balanced, fine aromas, nicely priced, will purchase again
MG 1703 - smoother yet aromas, though more complex, not much better than XO (at 2x the price), intrusive whisky barrel aroma
Flor de Cana 12 - agreeable aroma bouquet, yet unconvincing in mouth and alcohol delivery (edit: most recent acquisition-may change, as I'm too early into the bottle)
Barbancourt 5 * - refined, smooth, were it not for its peculiar "wet dog" aroma
Appleton 12 - sincere, bold, but too aromatic for sipping, fantastic with coke
Flor de Cana 7 - nice aromas, alcohol delivery way too spritley for sipping
                                         
Sweeter rums owned, that probably won't be missed:    
Zacapa 23 solera - smooth (great for shots or on empty stomach)
Diplomatico RE - holy cannoli, is this really rum?
Bacardi 8 - let it be

Similarly to the premium whisky market, but apparently even more fragmented, approaching the better rum market has turned out to be overwhelming for me, due to the multitude of distillers based in many different countries, and rums being segmented in variety of styles, vintages and special editions.

For the risk on my own of going mad with all the market has to offer, I decided therefore to join this forum in hope of receiving input from more experienced members, but also to share my experiences with the rest of you, hopefully contributing to other members own v2.0 collection (humbly speaking of course, as yes I do have a long way to go).

Here's to you all - cheers
Marco
Last edited by Cane Man on Sat Feb 06, 2016 4:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Blade Rummer
Quartermaster
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:18 pm
Location: Montreal

Post by Blade Rummer »

Welcome to the project! You already have a pretty good basic collection, including some standards of pure, unadulterated rum.

For the Barbancourt, you mention the off-putting aroma. Has the bottle been opened recently or has it had time to air? I am a big fan of Barbancourt, but they really do profit from some time to aerate before drinking. In fact, for their white rum, I always keep an empty bottle and when I buy a new bottle, I transfer half into the empty to speed up the airing out of the rum. It really makes a difference once the rum has room in the bottle to breath.
Cane Man
Oscar
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:36 am
Location: Milan, Italy

Post by Cane Man »

Hi BladeRummer,

I appreciate your welcoming me, and the tip, I may try that sometime. The bottle indeed has been a recent acquisition, but already about half way down, in itself implying Barbancourt 5 * is not bad at all. :) I'll let you know if it improves from now on.

Actually, it has called out to me more often than the others in my lineup for the following reasons:
Silky smooth, light bodied, and easy-to-drink. Perfect for an aperitif after-work, neat.

For me it has been challenging to define its aroma profile, because of it's unique aroma and flavor.
In my tasting notes I jotted down: cognac barrel and sugar cane being the main aromas, but surrounded by "wet dog" or musty wine cellar odor aroma - this for the lack of better descriptors in my tasting vocabulary.

I hope to find a better adjective to be fair to Barbancourt :wink: .. however, as this my first Agricole style rum, I'd be curious to try another brand for comparison and gain a better idea of the Agricole style.
Cane Man
Oscar
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:36 am
Location: Milan, Italy

Post by Cane Man »

Hello,

having just ended my first bottle of Barbancourt 5*, I'd like to follow up on my initial thoughts above.

For 43% alcohol by volume, the delivery feels clean, sincere and, for it's price range, rather refined.

Defining aromas alongside a pleasantly sweet, floreal, rum flavor are butterscotch, bourbon vanilla, cognac, and yes, yeast (the descriptor I was looking for).

Texture is smooth and oily, not dry. Not withstanding low sugar content I found it sufficiently sweet. Overall this 43% distillate is surprisingly light-bodied and easy to drink, similarly to double distilled liquor.

In conclusion, to me BBC 5* seems a nicely priced rum but that, notwithstanding many good qualities, overall its flavors and aromas don't reach out to me enough to purchase this rum again soon.

In my personal scale of:
8 - Heavenly
7 - Must replace
6 - Yes and no, maybe so
5 - Will not replace
4 - Fuh-getaboutit

BBC 5* is a 5,5.
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