Rum Review: Scarlet Ibis Rum

Thanks to JaRiMi, one of the very few honest and rum knowledgable experts about - and an advocate of a Trinidadian style. The rum to cause this category: Scarlet Ibis.

How do you rate Scarlet Ibis Rum (five is best)?

5
5
71%
4
2
29%
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 7

da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

Jankdc, I couldn't put this side to side with ED as they are apples and oranges.

Side to side against SC, I would say that the SC is a powerhouse of pot stilled flavours and characteristics and the Scarlet Ibis a subtler softer hitter with fine flavours. Take SC water the hell out of it and those flavours that still remain in the back ground minus the dunder would be SI. It's just that those flavours are in the SI without it being drowned in water.

If I was to choose between SC and SI it would be SC every time. I am very fond of SC.

Si however is , for me, a great rum that I enjoyed a lot.
in goes your eye out
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Hassouni wrote:So, who makes Scarlet Ibis? Is Angostura the only producer left on Trinidad? And if it is Angostura, do they also do the blending and aging?
"Scarlet Ibis" is just a brand, and there was already info on who created it (European company). But the rum in it is from the old Caroni distillery - they sold final rum stocks in bulk to various bottlers all over the world (before that Angostura bought much of the stock, I believe).

Caroni has not made rum since 2001 - 2002. Scarlet Ibis (and other brands that use Caroni rums) are kind of relics - remainders of what was once made. Nothing to do with Angostura - which is indeed the sole surviving rum distillery in Trinidad & Tobago.
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Hassouni wrote:I'm quite fond of it as-is, or in a cocktail. Drinking some neat now, in fact!

Interesting that it comes from a bulk-only distiller. How prevalent is that in the industry?
Caroni was not a bulk-only distillery, they blended & bottled many rums under their own rum labels for Trinidad & Caribbean market. The following are just a few of the brands they sold their rum under:

Superb White Magic
Special Old Cask
Felicite Gold
Stallion Puncheon
Caroni Rum Aged 10 Years
Caroni Puncheon Rum
Genuine Caroni Bay Rum
Creole Rum Punch
Authentic Gold
Authentic White
Navy Rum Extra Strong

Since the closure of the distillery, the remainder of Caroni's rums were sold all over the world. Even before, they did sell rum in bulk - as most distilleries do (Angostura also, for example). Caroni's rum found its way to many rum brands, one being Borgoe.
dawsonh
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Post by dawsonh »

I picked up a bottle of The Scarlet Ibis for $36 at Hi Time Wines, Costa Mesa, CA. She is a beauty... liquid gold.

Here is a pic:

Image
dawsonh
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Spicy elegance!

Post by dawsonh »

OMG I love this rum! The name, the simple bottle and lovely label, the golden color of the spirit, the spicy aromas and flavors, hints of sweetness but overall dryness, 49% abv yet smooth. It is subtle and complex, enticing and satisfying. Wonderful!

This is not a dark, full-flavored rum with tarry or burnt rubber tones (which I also like)... suitable for a quiet reflective night in a deeply padded chair in front of a roaring fire. This is a light but invigorating elixir, perfect for starting an evening with friends and frivolity. I have enjoyed Scarlet Ibis neat and alone, with appetizers and recently with a delicious asian fried chicken and spicy garlic/ginger vinaigrette (a David Chang recipe). Yum!

I hope this bottle will continue to be available. It is a wonderfully unique style of rum that I am enjoying immensely.

Dawson
da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

I enjoyed my somewhat more expensive bottle too.
in goes your eye out
The Fat Rum Pirate
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Post by The Fat Rum Pirate »

I've recently reviewed The Scarlet Ibis.

I won't make a habit of linking my reviews but I know The Scarlet Ibis is well regarded on here and you may also be able to fill a couple of gaps in my knowledge regarding the rum

http://thefatrumpirate.com/the-scarlet- ... inidad-rum
Hassouni
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Post by Hassouni »

I read recently (can't remember where) that Trinidad still has a bulk-only distillery - is it possible that SI is sourced from them and not Angostura?

If it is Angostura, then I see the Scarlet Ibis as more proof that the giant distillers can and do still put out quality products...but not under their own name!
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Hassouni wrote:I read recently (can't remember where) that Trinidad still has a bulk-only distillery - is it possible that SI is sourced from them and not Angostura?

If it is Angostura, then I see the Scarlet Ibis as more proof that the giant distillers can and do still put out quality products...but not under their own name!
Angostura may have acquired Caroni's stills, and do something with them - no idea if it is so. But Angostura's rums, including Old Oak, never had that "fusel oil - motorboat oil" character until they got Caroni's rums in their blends. I noted this to the Angostura folks when visiting them in the year 2000 - how the Royal Oak especially had changed, to resemble Caroni. Big silence...Royal Oka used to be much, much lighter and cleaner in taste. Well, they did get a whole lot of Caroni rum around the last years of Caroni - the government was set to sell all to Angostura, but due to the disagreements of value etc exposure on corruption the deal did not go through, and others secured the remaining stock...Fortunately for us.

Angostura also trades in bulk rums, exchanging their own to others from elsewhere etc. So did Caroni - a lot of it ended up in rums like Borgoe (and Angostura rum ended/ends up in Bacardi for example). But this fusel oil character is *not* common at all - Caroni is very unique. I haven't tasted the Scarlet Ibis, so I cannot say whats in it, or how it tastes. From descriptions, it sounds like it has Caroni in it, even if the rum is "long gone".

(Hmm, Velier and Bristol are still releasing Caroni rums, and they got a drop of the total compared to what Angostura hogged out from there...So I would not say that Caroni stocks are yet depleted from them. Look at the whisky world - Diageo keeps releasing Port Ellen whisky still, and that distillery closed quite in 1983. Caroni rum was also stored in large metal containers, so it can be sold as certain age still.)

Haus Alpenz once ignored my own questions about their rum completely, maybe they did not like my questions or something. I've no idea how much they bottle annually either, so hard to say anything on this product.

Spoke to a few Trini friends & family members, nobody knows of another distillery on the island than Angostura. If there is one, it is well hidden. ?? Possible, but me I dunno..? A lot of websites list Angostura, Trinidad distillers and even Fernandes Distillery, but they all fail to see that all these are one and the same company/distillery actually, located on Eastern Main rd Laventille.

In a footnote, it is incredibly sad that today's main products from Angostura, meaning the 1824 and the 1919, plus their cask number 1, seem so damn (artificially) flavoured. That vanilla essence really eats me to bits...so unnatural in its nature. Been told that Mr. Georges swears they do not flavour their rums, well - if not, they flavour their casks, or add in some Hispanic (already flavoured) rum in the mix. Been tasting rum and whiskies for soon 30 years, and that vanilla does *not* come from 1st fill Bourbon casks. Nope. I've been to 30 or so distilleries, tasting whiskies etc from such casks, and the result is completely different. Fess up or stop the flavourgame, big A - its not a winning game plan any more...
mamajuana
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Post by mamajuana »

Yeah, Jamiri has it correct here. I have two bottles on deck of the Ibis I bought a while ago after reading this website. I got them for 28.99 each in an order I made. One for the collection and one for eventual tasting. All research I made indicates this rum is Caroni. A vast majority of Caroni stocks from my readings was sold in bulk containers as Jamiri hits on here. There were 60K L containers in their stocks to think that this did not end up in the Holland bulk rum exchange would be an error in judgment. Majority of what was sold at its end was in bulk containers and not casks. While operations ceased long ago remediation on the issue prolonged sales of its stocks creating this rum years later.
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Nearing the closure of Caroni, the records state that " One cask, for example, yields 275 cases, which, when bottled, amounts to 3,307 bottles. Caroni has in its bonds 18,146 casks. These will yield 5,001,401 cases of rum, or 60,008,822 bottles of blended products."

18,146 casks containing varying amounts of rum - plus possibly also already blended rum large containers. Thats a lot of rum..
AK9
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Post by AK9 »

Caroni bottles are released still but everybody is moving towards the late 90s now and prices are increasing.
Very sad to see this go when it is so popular.

As for 1919, i have a bottle of it (present). Easy sipper but always stays on the shelf for the last 6 months.
edgarallanpoe
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Post by edgarallanpoe »

Got 3 bottles of this through a special order at my state liquor store here in PA. We can't buy any hard liquor anywhere but a state store here in PA. It was $30 a bottle and because it was a special order I had to order 3 bottles. Worth every penny. A beautiful rum that makes amazing cocktails. Probably the smoothest higher proof rum I have sipped.

Thanks for the heads up on this. It also doesn't hurt that I am married to a Trinidadian, so the minute she heard it was from Trinidad she was ok with me dropping $90 on an order of rum. rofl
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

edgarallanpoe wrote:Got 3 bottles of this through a special order at my state liquor store here in PA. We can't buy any hard liquor anywhere but a state store here in PA. It was $30 a bottle and because it was a special order I had to order 3 bottles. Worth every penny. A beautiful rum that makes amazing cocktails. Probably the smoothest higher proof rum I have sipped.

Thanks for the heads up on this. It also doesn't hurt that I am married to a Trinidadian, so the minute she heard it was from Trinidad she was ok with me dropping $90 on an order of rum. rofl
:-) My wife's also from Trinidad, Diego Martin to be exact. At Christmas time we still make some ponchacreme and pastels, even though its been quite a while since neither of us has been to T&T.
edgarallanpoe
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Post by edgarallanpoe »

Mine is from Point Fortin, and yes, we also make punchacreme. lol

Trini's does be da bess!! :P
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