Rum Review: Ron Viejo de Caldas Three (3) Year Rum

The third standard reference style: rum, er rhum, made directly from sugar cane juice or honey, rather than from molasses. To the Haitians and French... toast!
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How do you rate Ron Viejo de Caldas (five is best)?

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Total votes: 1

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Capn Jimbo
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Rum Review: Ron Viejo de Caldas Three (3) Year Rum

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Ron Viejo de Caldas Three (3) Year Rum: A Cuban Cane Juice Rum!

I really hope you're sitting down 'cause this one is gonna raise your neck hairs. But first a little history. Way back when (say a couple years ago, lol), I quickly became aware that the main source of information about rum was seemingly limited to a handful of self-serving "rum fest" promoters.

These included the infamous Preacher, the Badassitor of Rum, the Queen of Rum and most recently the Burr Brothers. These entities engage in internecine warfare, with each one hoping to prevail as "the source" of all things rum. Accordingly they get embedded with the rum producers and distributors to promote what the Preacher hopefully labels "the noble spirit". The relationship of producer and promoter is downright incestuous and can be reduced to a simple phrase:

"It's all good".

None of these entities has anything really negative to say. The producers need the promoters to obtain faux "awards" at the faux "competitions". Keep in mind that the producers pay dearly to "compete". The promoters respond in kind by (a) not publishing the "competitors" in any given category, (b) not publishing individual scores or notes and (c) publishing only the "winners".

It's all bullshit.

Example: I once learned that the "gold medal" winner of one of the "competition" categories was the only entrant. Bullshit. I have seen admitedly flavored rums entered into, and receiving awards in non-flavored categories.

More bullshit.

It's all about selling "it's all good" rum. The Preacher is perhaps the worst offender. Because he also reps rum he uses his website to favor his own lines (cane juice rums from Martinique) over worthy competitors (like Barbancourt) by attempting to redefine cane juice rum (or rhum agricole in French) as only those meeting the local AOC standards. How convenient.

Worse yet he misrepresents cachaca as not qualifying as a cane juice rum. He excludes Barbancourt based on an undocumented claim as a "Brown rum distilled from fermented sugar cane juice, syrup and/or molasses depending on availability". He admits that 10 Cane is made from "fresh cane juice" but refuses to call it an agricole. Only his AOC cane juice rums get that honor. Charbay's cane juice rum is excluded based on the families' use of sugar cane syrup (even though the Preacher's recommended AOC St. James also uses some syrup).

The worst misrepresentations - Montecristo and now Ron Viejo de Caldas - both, he insists, are made "from molasses". Wrong. Montecristo is made from cane juice (but perhaps I can forgive the Prophet due to its sophisticated, Barbancourt-like profile).

Ron Viejo de Caldas is another matter.

This is a lower shelf rum, widely available here for around a measly $10 or so. And the label reads "made from cane molasses". So our dear promoting and pandering Preacher obediently describes Ron Viejo thusly, and even entered it in his competitions, where it "won" not one, but two silver "medals", one of which was for "aged (molasses) rum". Even the Rum Queen joined in and gave a "silver" to Ron Viejo in her 2009 molasses "Rum Aged up to 8 Years" category.

There's only one problem.

Ron Viejo - regardless of the label - is not, I repeat NOT, a molasses rum. And if there is anyone who should be able to distinguish a molasses from a cane juice rum, it's the Preacher and self-appointed spokeman for AOC agricoles.

How do know that? Read the reviews...

Sue Sea:
As time has passed so have I. Like many new rum drinkers I was first attracted to the sweeter, easier to drink rums. In time I began to appreciate more and more the really pure rums, those without additives, like Seales 10 or Doorly's XO. The Cuban style rums were particularly appealing to me for their smoothness and peppery finishes. I found the AOC cane juice rums to be almost medicinal, although I came to love Barbancourt's more sophisticated cane juice rums.

Then Jim brought home what appeared to be a really cheap bottle of rum, the Ron Viejo de Caldas 3 Year. It came in a classic but really ordinary bottle with an equally simple deep gold label. To be honest it looked like a lower shelf rum. So be it, we taste them all, and as always Jim tells me nothing about the rum.

We both had the same first impression. Cane. And with a bit of lemon and a sauerkraut sourness which disappears with airing. The early palate was consistent and opened dry with almond, then developed with a slight molasses taste and a growing white peppery heat. The sock-it-to-me finish was astringent and hot! Ron Viejo left me with a tart, grapefruit aftertaste with an itty bitty note of licorice - bordering on cigar box.

We decided this unique rum was a cane juice rum with a Cuban style (the peppery finish and smoothnes). Like a few other rums I see Ron Viejo de Caldas as a great rum to accompany hordeurves or Asian food, like a Sake. What a pleasant surprise!
Me:

It is important to note that I poured this rum under the impression it was indeed "distilled from cane molasses" as per the Preacher and of course, by the label. And I will tell you that there are indeed a few molasses rums that present a bit - but only a bit - of cane.

Not Ron Viejo de Caldas 3 Year.

My first impression: a vegetal cane! Over spice. And yes, with that bit of sauerkraut, and a touch of black licorice. The taste was entirely consistent and led to a very astringent leathery hot, black pepper finish (bordering on white pepper).

Bottom line: after much self doubt and exploration we finally came to the inescapable conclusion this had to be a cane juice rum, Preacher Ed and the label be damned. The first was easy, the second caused me pause. Have we lost our marbles, we thought? After all our tasting, all our reviews how could we possibly be so wrong?

But we agreed. Ron Viejo simply must either be a cane juice rum, or a molasses rum unlike anything we'd ever tasted.

Accordingly I did the only thing I could which was to email Caldas directly and ask why their "distilled from molasses" rum tasted so much like a cane juice rum. Despite the fact that the officer who responded spoke limited English, he sent me a thorough attachment describing their process. It said:
Made from concentrated cane juice, with the richness of all its nutrients (Unexposed to any previous extraction process customary in the processing of sugar.) Its pure juice enters fermentaiton and retains its delightful aromas throughout the carefully monitored distilation process. Delivering a spirit that is well balanced in aromas and flavors, the optimum qualities that produce a super premium aged rum of outstanding quality.

Aged in new white oak barrels -made in Colombia exclusively for the rum aging process- by expert artisans who follow a strict 80 year old tradition to ensure that the rum matures richly and perfectly. These barrels provide the ideal conditions to bring about an almost creamy taste -with hints of almond, vanilla, and toffee- in addiiton to the traditional delicate fruity flavors that occur as reusult of slow aging.

With a taste that conveys the chracter of its remarkable tradition. Ron Viejo de Calas was created in 1928 by Don Ramon Badia, a Catalonian who made Cuba his home, and went on to become a legendary Master Blender.
What a relief! Our tasting and reviews were redeemed. We'd gone against the Preacher and the label, trusted our senses and experience. And, damn it, we were proved right! Our destructive doubts turned became our new and improved confidence. We really did know our stuff.

A surprise?

Maybe not. If this proves anything, it's these:

1. You simply cannot trust the mutual butt kissing marriage of the distributors and promoters. Lost in their rum drinking/selling, "it's all good" haze these bozos really don't know, don't care if a rum is secretly flavored or not, is or is not cane juice, whether the "awards" were earned or not - as long as the rum sells, gets "awards" and the promoter sells tickets. If there was ever a rum the Prophet should have known was a cane juice rum, Ron Viejo is it. That he actually gave it an "award" in a molasses category is simply...

Unbelievable.

2. Trust yourself and your own tastes. Forget what we, or any other reviewer say. But know this: we are honest and we say what we think. Our reviews are accessible and reasonable accurate. We are not for sale. And we care about you.

Rating (10 is best): 7.

Note: at $10, this lower shelf cane juice rum is a "best buy", especially considering the overpriced AOC versions. Compare to Barbancourt Three Star or St. James Ambre.
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Wed May 26, 2010 12:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Capn Jimbo
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Just fer the fun of it...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Just fer the fun of it...

I remain amazed that the leading rum "experts" actually presented Ron Viejo de Caldas as a molasses rum, even going so far as to award it "silver medals" in their aged molasses rums categories.

Just for the fun of it I decided to wing my way through the Preacher's Ministry, to determine what his small band of sloshed sycophantic insiders thought of it (keep in mind these are fellow promoters, distributors, reps and the like).

Not one caught on to Ron Viejo as the cane juice rum it is. Some of the funniest comments were:

The Badassitor of Rum (comparing it to Bacardi): "...the Columbian Rum (Ron Viejo) is a completely different style of rum, with mostly caramel, vanilla, orange and woody notes".

RumBarPhilly (discussing molasses based Ron Medellin): "It has an interesting nutty flavor that I cant put my finger on. It has a short abrupt finish which reminds me of the Viejo de Caldas, but less sweet. Were doing a tasting of it at the bar tonight as a matter of fact... along with Ron Abuelo 7 anos."

Phil also observed: " I do enjoy owning "revolting" rums for the shear purpose of comparison. Ive got some rough ones like Grand Havana, Forres Park, (hopefully I dont offend anybody here) ROn Viejo de Caldas, Bacardi..."

Bluewave6: "This one I loved...was very good...had a similiar taste to Old Grog...fresh fruit (banana and mango) and buttery toffee."

Hank Koestner: "I have a bottle, and I tasted it once briefly, and thought is was not bad. I need to spend a little time with it though, to form a true opinion."

Ron James: "(it could be) the blend, they could use different sized barrels, they could use more 8yr than 12yr rum.".

One of the more interesting exchanges took place when one astute outsider, comparing Viejo to Barcelo asked "So how come there is such a big difference between the tastes? Probably different fermentation process or sugar cane used?".

Naturally, the Preacher rushed to his lecturn and spouted:
Preacher:

There are several reasons for the difference in those rums. Starting with the molasses and then moving to the fermentation process. Distillation purities are different as well as aging conditions.

I often use the analogy of food. People around the world eat fried chicken but most of us like the way our mother fixed it when we were growing up best. It's the little details that make a difference.
Little details? Like it being made from cane juice instead of molasses?

Look. I'm The Compleat Idiot of Rum and even such as I - and dear Sue Sea - were able to quickly determine the clearcut cane juice origin of Ron Viejo de Caldas. With that in mind what does this tell you about the Preacher, the Queen, the Burr Brothers, the Badassitor and all their butt kissing followers who - all together now - didn't have a clue, or the balls to question it.

Asses all.

I'm truly sorry to have to say that, but please dear friends understand that the worst place to get guidance on the faux noble spirit are these promotors and commercial websites.

It's the way it is...
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