Capn Jimbo's Rum Project Forum

[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:

[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.
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[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.
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Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2

[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.
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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.

[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...
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[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.
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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]

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
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Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2