Rum's Future: The most important post here. I mean it!

This is the main discussion section. Grab yer cups! All hands on deck!
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Thats good to hear. I know web doesn't always carry the message through with the right tone, but my only point was that even if the rum comes from the same origin, most of the times it is made bland, sweet and rubbish at the very end, just before the bottling. And here's where the indy-bottlers shine, cause they don't muck up their rums, or blend them to obscurity.

I wish there was a good way to send samples to the States, I'd be happy to send some to try. We are very lucky in Europe to have these indy-bottlers at least, even if rum does cost more here.

I am pretty sure many would not like the non-treated rums. They take some getting used to, if one is used to the commercial stuff. But the difference is - big. It's a real eye-opener.

Next summer I want to try and arrange a rum festival here, we just finished a whisky event with 2,000 visitors, it was great fun but kept me very busy, thus no posts here...and now as we head towards summer, its time for rum!
da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

Sorry I hope I didn't sound annoyed. I enjoy reading your posts and your knowledge and advice is appreciated. If I am corrected in a false statement or assumption then I am grateful not offended. I find the rum here in Germany not too bad in the way of cost. It is cheaper than Australia anyway.

Cheers
in goes your eye out
sailor22
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Post by sailor22 »

I recently posted this on a Bourbon Forum when someone asked for a list of Rum styles;

So often the "styles" of rum from different regions is a regional preference for what flavors are traditionally added to the juice. Either as additives late in the aging process or infused similar to the way gin is infused with flavors.

My enthusiasm for rum as sold in the US has diminished as my appreciation for Bourbon has increased. The things I have learned about flavors from Bourbon have informed my lack of enthusiasm for the sweet rums that are so common. Over the last year a couple of pours have helped clarify my growing dissatisfaction with rum.

Most of us have had enough years of experience with the flavor set that new (Bourbon) and used (scotch) barrels impart to whiskey to be very very suspicious of bold and unmistakeable flavors of raisin, prune, pineapple, coffee, big super over the top sweet notes, giant vanilla, cinnamon in so many of the rums on the shelf today.

Clement produces an agricole rum that is bottled and sold as a single barrel, at barrel strength, unfiltered, terrior specific and vintage dated.

Cadenhead bottles a 25 yr demerara rum that has this label on the back; "This rum has been bottled under the sole responsibility of William Cadenhead Ltd. With the exception of water added to bring the rum to drinking strength it has been bottled in it's natural state. It has not been treated to change it's color and is free from all additives. It has not been subjected to any chill filtering that might remove natural constituents and spoil it's flavor."

These two examples when sipped together show remarkable similarities for one being an agricole and one being a demerara. The similarities in flavor and mouth feel come from the common aging vehicle, a barrel. When compared to any Zacappa or El Dorado or Matuzalem or Zaya so many others the difference is striking. Nearly all the others have an obvious fruit flavor and sweetner added component in greater and lesser degrees to the point that they really seem more like a cocktail in a bottle rather than a quality molasses or cane based spirit that has been aged honestly.

Personally I found the subtle, lovely, woody, unfooked with flavors in the two examples listed above to be so satisfying (the way a great pour of whiskey is satisfying) that I don't have much time for the super sweet flavors added stuff any more. In comparison they seem like party drinks the way a soda is a party drink. Sweet, tasty and fun but not worth spending much time thinking about. This is the same reason the flavored bourbons and whiskeys don't get a lot of thread time on this forum. Yeah, there is some great rum being made and bottled, but very little of it is for sale in the US as they seem to be produced for the European palate which generally seems to prefer a dryer product with far fewer additives.

Note that the the international association of rum producers can't agree on a definition of what rum is. That might be a small hint that there is some significant flavor fudging going on with most production. No one want's to give up their flavorings in order to conform to a definition.
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I recently saw that a few of the bottom shelf "Rums" available at retail contained up to 70% "Cane Neutral Spirits". That makes it flavored vodka folks. I have friends who love it.

In the Bourbon wold we look for "dusties" - loosely translated that's Bourbon from the 70's to early 90's that was bottled during the whiskey glut. Typically it contained juice that was much older than the age statement because the manufacturers were overstocked. Just the opposite is happening today in whisky, Bourbon and Rum.

My recommendation is-- if you like it, buy plenty and bunker it because it will be cheapened in the future. QUALITY AGED SPIRITS WILL NEVER COST LESS THAN IT DOES TODAY.

A previous poster asked about independent bottlers. A short list would include Wm. Cadenhead, Berry Brothers & Rudd and Silver Seal. To my knowledge none of them are distributed in the USA. Seek them out from international vendors, it's usually worth it.
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bearmark
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Berry Brothers & Rudd in Dallas

Post by bearmark »

sailor22 wrote:A previous poster asked about independent bottlers. A short list would include Wm. Cadenhead, Berry Brothers & Rudd and Silver Seal. To my knowledge none of them are distributed in the USA. Seek them out from international vendors, it's usually worth it.
Total Wine & More in Dallas carries 4 rums from Berry Brothers & Rudd as well as Cognac, Armagnac and some scotch blends. Are you saying that these should be very good? The rums all run about $70-90.




*******
Capn's Log: I have written Berry Bros. specifically to ask whether any of these $70-$90 rums contain unlabeled additives, flavorings or colorings. Stay tuned...
Mark Hébert
Rum References: Flor de Caña 18 (Demeraran), The Scarlet Ibis (Trinidadian), R.L. Seale 10 (Barbadian), Appleton Extra (Jamaican), Ron Abuelo 12 (Cuban), Barbancourt 5-Star (Agricole)
sailor22
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Post by sailor22 »

Duncan Taylor also bottles single cask rums with distillation and bottling dates on the label. Doesn't say cask strength but the proof is high enough it could be.

Here are three options from the Enmore still;
http://www.masterofmalt.com/distillerie ... istillery/

Some others;
http://www.masterofmalt.com/rum/bellevu ... an-taylor/

Rum from some of the stills that contribute to El Dorado blends;
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-18503.aspx
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-18508.aspx
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-17521.aspx

These are interesting also;
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-12467.aspx
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-18451.aspx
JaRiMi
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Post by JaRiMi »

Good posts, Sailor22!

What you said about rum is totally true - and I hope more consumers realize this ongoing BS with sugar, and especially with the other additives.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

-bump
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