Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Old New Orleans Crystal Rum

Matt Robold — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:04:33 GMT

As you and I continue our August Spotlight on Old New Orleans Rum, we come to the first product in their line of offerings, the Old New Orleans Crystal Rum. I say first because I have to start somewhere; and after the distillery tour, why not start with the most basic of any company's rum: their white / blanco / crystal / plantinum / claro / blanc...you get the idea.

The crystal rum is created by distilling blackstrap molasses produced from Louisiana sugar cane. The rum is then briefly aged in a barrel at a very high proof - 157 proof (just under 80% abv) to be exact. The aging and blending of the rum, combined with the addition of a few drops of water per bottle, bring the rum back down to the more standard 80 proof (40% abv). Madagascar vanilla is also added to the batch to provide some smoothness and additional flavor to the product.

The rum is produced in small batches - as are all the Old New Orleans rums. In fact, only 500 gallons are produced at a time. This affords the small cadre of rum fanatics at Celebration Distillation a great deal of control over the final product.

The bottle for the Crystal is the standard Old New Orleans bottle, with a white label on the front, and their trademark artwork on the back-interior. The artwork appears on every bottle of Old New Orleans Rum, regardless of the offering, and is actually created by the owner and founder of Celebration Distillation and Old New Orleans Rum, James Michalopoulos - who is probably better-known for his work as a painter and artist than as the entrepreneur behind a line of New Orleans-produced rums. OK, perhaps not to the frequent readers of this site...but I'm sure there are people out there that follow art more closely than rum. To each their own I guess.

Appearances

The rum, both in the bottle and in the glass, is nearly crystal clear. There is a slight yellow hue to it when you hold the glass up to the light. Giving my glass its ceremonial swirl reveals decent legs that run down the sides of the glass and back in to the bowl.

Nose

I was very excited to get to this review because I was doing so with a brand new tasting glass. I recently received the Flare sipper from Spirit Sippers. I decided to use this review to compare it and my usual non-specialized tasting glass. There will be more on this in a future piece, but I figured I should mention that I've changed part of my review process by using an additional glass type.

The Crystal Rum has a strong vanilla note on the nose - which is to be expected. The vanilla is quickly followed by the scent of toasted sugar, and then the familiar scent of alcohol vapor. The alcohol scent is fairly mild, but expected in a white rum due to the short aging period.

All in all the nose is fairly simple, but very pleasant and rich.

Palate

And now to the best part: the tippilng. The entry is very sweet and sugary. The initial flavor is sweet enough to almost be a syrup, especially in combination with the buttery texture to the body. The rum is very rich, with vanilla and toffee flavors all the way through to the finish. The burn is minimal...almost non-existent. Just like the nose, the rum is very pleasant. I wouldn't consider it to be an "every day" sipper, but it is definitely a spirit that you could drink neat or on the rocks - and that's not something I say very often about white rums.

In fact, the only other white rum I can think of that I've enjoyed this much neat is probably Oronoco from Brazil - although the flavor profiles are stunningly different. Whereas the Oronoco is a light and refreshing spirit, the Old New Orleans Crystal seems to cling tightly to its Louisiana culinary heritage with a rich and buttery texture. It's a completely different experience.

This difference in body is really intriguing. Based on the heaviness of the body, the rum didn't strike me as ideal for a daiquiri. Still, I made one up and tried it out. It's a very different drink with the New Orleans Crystal. Heavier, richer...not terms you generally associate with a daiquiri. At first this difference was a little off-putting, but with some additional lime and slightly less sugar on my second glass, I found a mix that was just terrific. I'd recommend that any cocktail that calls for sugar and white rum should have the sugar portion reduced if using the New Orleans Crystal - you just won't need it.

The Long & The Short Of It

Maybe I'm going soft in my old age...but I really enjoyed this white rum. I did. Not that I don't like white rums at all, but I very rarely find one that really captures me. The Old New Orleans Crystal has a unique flavor profile that I can only call "intriguing". It's sweet - perhaps too sweet for some - but very good and very full-bodied. And at less than $30US per bottle, its combination of quality and affordability make it a bottle that you really should have on your shelf.

Dood's Rating: 4 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Filed Under: rum,rum reviews,new orleans

Rum Review: Clement V.S.O.P.

Matt Robold — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:21:24 GMT

OK, so maybe I'm a little crazy for trying to squeeze in a rum review the day before I start my Tales of the Cocktail adventure. I've been called worse. Sometimes though, there's just a rum that calls to you...that sits there on your shelf, taunting you, flirting with you with it's curvy bottle and long neck and puppy-dog eyes - whispering to you as you walk past of the sweet nectar inside and the wonderful times you two could have together if you would just take her out. For quite some time now I have been resisting the charms of that pretty little bottle of Clement Rhum V.S.O.P, but I finally had to relent.

I had first met Clement on my maiden visit to a friend's bar, Bourbon Street in Fullerton's SoCo District (that sound you hear is my brother disowning me for calling the area anything other than "Downtown Fullerton"). One of the things I've been enjoying with rum's current resurgence as a spirit of choice is the wider variety and better quality of the selection available at various bars. This being a friend's bar, I seated myself at the bar and did my requisite scan of the stock, prepared to have to give a lengthy speech to John for his lack of a good rum selection. Then she caught my eye...the amber-hued minx behind the bar, winking at me with the promise of great things to come.

I had not yet tried Clement's VSOP offering, and this meant that I could do so without being required to shell out the cash for a whole bottle - that was now completely optional. A one-drink stand, a casual relationship, "we're just friends" were all options, but none ruled out something longer-term. After having a glass or 2...or 4...I picked up a bottle the next day.

Clement Rhum Agricole got its start in 1887 when Homere Clement - then mayor of La Francois (Martinique) - purchased a sugar plantation out of bankruptcy with the goal of converting its focus from the production of sugar to the production of rum. Clement drew his inspiration from the industrious Frenchmen turning grapes into Cognac in the South of France, and thus Rhum Agricole was born (according to the Clement website at least).

V.S.O.P. (Very Special Old Pale - which I doubt is a literal translation of the acronym considering its non-English origins, but let's not get tied up in semantics) is a designation usually reserved for Cognacs. The Clement V.S.O.P. begins life as a white rum (rhum) distilled from the pressings of freshly cut sugar cane. This rum is then placed in French oak barrels for over a year before being moved to charred Bourbon casks for another 3 years of aging, during which the spririt develops additional tannins and its characteristic coloring.

Appearances

The rum is a light amber color in the glass, somewhat like a diffuse honey. Swirled about the glass and then set back down, the spirit holds firm, with legs slowly developing and then moving in a very slow manner back to the bowl. These legs, they walk, they do not run.

Nose

First nosing reveals an alcohol smell up front, followed immediately by strong fruity notes. The scent of green apple is particularly prominent. There's the typical vegetal smell one would expect from a rhum agricole, as well as oak from the time in the various barrels. The nose is earthy and light, with a slight vanilla sweetness.

With the Clement, I did notes on the nose twice for each sitting because the time spent out in the air made such a huge difference. After 5 or 6 minutes in the glass, the nose becomes sweeter and richer. Notes of toffee and toasted almonds seem to materialize out of nowhere.

Palate

There's a bit of a spicy burn on the entry, which I'm noticing seems to be a standard characteristic of the rhum agricoles. There is a lot of flavor here. This is a busy rum. There's almost too much going on to nail anything down.

The taste of the oak is very pronounced - easily the strongest flavor. The vegetal notes that were present in the nose are little more pronounced, while the green apple flavor is more subdued and mingles with the flavor of roasted nuts.

The body has a light, oily quality to it, and carries with it a peppery spice.

After leaving the glass to rest for a bit and updating my nosing notes, I found that the flavor had changed in a similar manner, suddenly imbued with a rich, sugary toffee flavor. I don't know how they do that, but I'm not ruling out voodoo or black magic - and I'm OK with that.

The Long & The Short Of It

This is a specatacular rhum (rum). It's both as delicious as it is versatile, allowing you to enjoy it neat, with an ice cube (or two), in a nice ti'punch, or in a more complex cocktail (although there are those who are even now wincing at my suggestion of such a thing). If you've never had a rhum agricole and you see this sitting on a store shelf (or your friend's liquor cabinet and he's not looking), be sure to grab a bottle, take it home and get to know it.

Dood's Rating: 4 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Ron Pampero Aniversario

Matt Robold — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:04:13 GMT

A few years ago, I was a rum neophyte. I was a babe in the rummy wilderness, knowing only that I had tasted good rum, and I wanted to taste more. My collection? What collection? I probably had about 3 or 4 bottles of rum...mostly consisting of 2 or 3 bottles from St. Lucia and probably a bottle of Captain Morgan.

Then one day a new bottle entered the fold. A gift was brought unto my household in the form of a squat little bottle from Venezuela, hidden inside of a leather sack. The rum, of course, was Ron Pampero Aniversario Reserva Exclusiva. Yes, all of that is the name of the rum. I'm not kidding. But, since you know me, I'm sure he'll be cool with you just calling him Ron Pampero.

Come to think of it, that would be a great name for a TV character or something. This summer Brad Pitt is: RON PAMPERO! *cue explosions*

The rum was first introduced in 1963 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Pampero. The rum is aged in oak casks, but the bottle posseses no age statement, and the website for Pampero (which is actually run for them by Diageo) is essentially worthless when it comes to any real information on the rum. I kid you not when I say that I spent a significant amount of time digging through the dark recesses of the internet, braving the dark and dusty tubes that move information about, to figure out that the rum is a blend of rums aged from 2 years to 8 years. Many thanks to Cigar Aficionado for having that info when no one else seemed to.

Appearances

The Pampero is a dark, mahogany color. It's a rich-looking rum...very inviting and it just looks like it will be warm and welcoming. The glass gets its required swirling and a nice sturdy rim appears and quickly gives rise to very strong, nice looking legs.

Nose

Moving right along, I brought the glass up and inhaled deeply of the rumly perfume. The nose is full and rich. Notes of cocoa are dominant at the front, with just a touch of vanilla. More nosing around and you can find hints of toffee and even a very slight hint of leather - and no I didn't just drop the bottle's sack into my glass. At least I don't remember doing so. I generally don't start making Leather & Rums until the bar is at a higher elevation than my head.

Palate

Through the lips and over the gums, watch out palate, here it comes. The spirit is light and warm on the tongue. It is smooth on the entry and finish. There's almost no burn until it reaches your chest and gives it that lovely rummy warmth.

The cocoa that I found in the nose is the first flavor to hit my tongue. It's strong and rich, without being too sweet. There's a little vanilla riding on top of this, as well as a hint of leather and a slight woodiness imparted by the oak barrels used for aging. The finish is buttery - slightly oily - with some smokey notes at the back.

The Long & The Short Of It

All in all, this is a rather simple-tasting rum. I know I've mentioned quite a few flavors...but it really took some searching for those to come through. The rum is predominantly cocoa, vanilla, and oak. There just doesn't seem to be a great deal of complexity to this rum...which seemed a little disappointing. Not disappointing because the rum isn't good. It is. It's very good rum. There's nothing wrong with simplicity. The disappointment stemmed more from this being one of the first truly good rums I had ever had, and now revisiting it with a slightly more evolved (i.e. snobby) palate yielded slightly less effusive results.

Man that sounds like I didn't like it. I DID! It's a great rum. It's incredibly sippable neat, or with an ice cube (I prefer neat), and it plays VERY well with others - allowing you to use it to make fantastic cocktails. If you want a simple cocktail to try with the Aniversario, try 2 oz of the Demon Rum in an Old Fashioned glass with ice and top off with real Jamaican ginger ale/beer and a small squeeze of lime juice. For a little extra pop, add a dash of bitters. It's fantastically refreshing and easy to power through a number of them until you suddenly find yourself surrounded by empty ginger beer bottles and an empty bottle of Pampero.

Dood's Rating: 4 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

* Photo of rum used courtesy of Refined Vices

For another perspective on Ron Pampero Aniversario, be sure to check out Silvio's review at Refined Vices

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole

Matt Robold — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:50:02 GMT

A few weeks ago, your faithful narrator was contacted by representatives of Depaz about his interest in some samples, with the possibility of a review of these alleged samples obviously the goal of such provisions. I received those samples, I sampled the...um...samples, and I even used them in my most recent Mixology Monday entry.

In that entry I promised my readers a review of the rhum within a week - and then promptly failed to deliver that review in a timely fashion. I was going to say that my dog ate my homework, but I don't have a dog, and I haven't met a dog yet that could eat an entire computer or drink an entire bottle of rum faster than I can (NOTE: The Dood will not enter in to any rum drinking contest with your dog).

Depaz Blue Cane Rhum is a rhum agricole from Martinique. That funny spelling and title of the rhum is a French designation for rhum ("rum" to the Anglically-inclined) which is created by distilling pressed sugar cane juice, rather than molasses (rhums of this type are referred to as "rhum industriel" - although you'll probably see it labeled as "rhum traditionnel"). Rhum agricole is made by harvesting fresh sugar cane, shipping it to the distillery where it is crushed in a mill, and the juices collected and then distilled. It's a costlier process than making more traditional rums - err - rhums with molasses and other sugar cane byproducts.

Depaz is one of several Martinique distillers holding the French AOC marque (Appelation d'Origine Controlee) - and it maintains strict adherence to the requisite development and production standards that the French government sets to hold such a marque. Located at the foot of Mount Pelée in Martinique, the Depaz Estate produces its rhum using a variety of sugar cane known as blue cane - one of the more (if not the most) costly varieties of cane to produce. Depaz spares no expense in its hunt for your hard-earned rum dollars - err - rhum euros...francs?

In the US, Depaz offers the Blue Cane Rhum, while out of the States you can get a white rum (rhum blanc) as well as the amber Blue Cane. A word of warning if you buy the Blue Cane Agricole in Martinique (or just about anywhere not in the US): the product in the States is 90 proof, while elsewhere in the world you're probably buying 100 proof. It's not a significant difference, but when I have so much source material, I figure I may as well be thorough. Now, with that out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks...

Appearances

The rhum is a very pretty light amber color...almost straw-colored. Swirl the spirit in the glass and you'll see the legs forming, very light and delicate. A very thin ribbon of spirit clings tightly to the sides of the glass.

Nose

Right out of the gate, the first thing that strikes me when nosing this rhum is that it has a very - for lack of a better term and any real irony - agricultural aroma to it. There's a grassy scent right up front that permeates the entire experience. It's not overpowering...and it's even quite pleasant. I know that I've occasionally stated that I don't like grassy notes in my rums, but this is rhum...and it is exactly what you want to smell.

The grassy notes provide a nice undercurrent to the other scents...a hint of berries at the front, as well as banana both play very nicely with the vegetal notes. There's even an oh-so-subtle hint of honey at the end of the experience.

Palate

Enough dilly-dallying, let's get to the good part: THE TASTE!

I'll be honest when I say that the very first time that the rhum crossed my lips, I was a bit taken-aback by it's boldness. The very first sip had a bit more burn that I would normally like and I could feel the burn traveling down my throat and in to my chest. My impression at first sip was that this rhum was a tad rough, but there was a richness there, and as is my duty as your faithful guide on this journey, I had to go back for more.

Amazingly, the second sip was almost a completely different experience. The entry was smooth and warm. The same went for all subsequent sippings. Perhaps it had just been too long between reviews...perhaps my tongue and throat had forgotten how to handle their liquor...I really can't explain why the first sip was so much rougher than those that followed, but it must have happened because I wrote it down - and I wouldn't lie to the Muppet notepad.

The rhum is light on the tongue...dry but luscious at the same time. One can taste the banana from the nose with a mild sweetness. There's still a vegetal, grassy overtone to the rhum, but not in such a sense that it's a bad thing. I've mentioned here that with cachaÇa I find the flavors to be grassy and yet industrial. These flavors are grassy but - man do I hate using this word over and over again - agricultural. There's a subtlety at play here that most cachaÇas I've tried seem to lack. The flavor is evocative of a large sugar plantation near the sea, with a warm breeze blowing in from the coast as you stand in your linen knickers and open collared shirt underneath a straw hat.

Where was I? Oh yeah...sitting in a 900 square-foot apartment in Orange County wishing I was in Martinique. That's right.

In addition to the banana and grassy notes, there is a hint of vanilla that lingers on the tongue as the rhum's rather spicy finish takes the warmth of the spirit into your chest. It seemed that the more I dug in to this rhum, the more I found to like about it. Glass number two saw me adding one or two drops of water to the rhum to see what other flavors I could tease out of it. In the second glass I discovered tobacco and just the slightest hints of citrus.

The Long & The Short Of It

Wow...looking back on what I've written...there isn't much short about any of this. I don't have many rhum agricoles on my shelf. In fact, I have 2 - and that's including my (now half-empty) bottle of Depaz. I guess you could say I've been a "Dood traditionnel" in that I've tended to stick to my molasses-based rums without "h's". After spending an evening (OK, two really) with Depaz though, I realize that I've been missing out. Rhum agricoles are immensely different from their traditional cousins, and Depaz is a terrific candidate to introduce you to the wider world of rums, rones, and rhums with this exquisite offering. I can't find anything unbecoming to say about it...it's great in a mojito, it's wonderful in a ti'punch (made with Depaz Pure Cane Syrup of course!), and it's spectacular on its own.

It almost makes me sad that I'm finishing this review and my bottle (after being used for two articles) is half empty. Maybe if I scrap this review I can convince the good people at Depaz to send me another bottle...you know...for research and verification purposes...yeah...yeah that's it. No, actually that seems a tad unlikely. Dang.

I'm giving this rhum a 4/5, but if you were to take my scale and pull it out to being out of 100, this is easily an 91 or 92 out of 100. So maybe 4.5 / 5 is more accurate, but I don't have my new rating system finished yet. Let me put it this way: this rhum has earned a permanent spot on my shelf - if the bottle empties, it will be replaced, post-haste.

Dood's Rating: 4 Barrels of Rhum Out Of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Cabana Cachaca

Matt Robold — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:04:41 GMT

Since I started down this adventurous path of rum blogging several months ago, a goodly number of people have asked me, "Why, Dood? Why do you blog about rum?"

It's a fair question. I think I started for two reasons: 1. It's fun and 2. Because occasionally you can get free stuff. So imagine my glee when I came home from work one day to find a large package sitting on my porch! Ok, so I wasn't quite gleeful at just the package...I'm not that easily gleed (is that a word?). When I opened the box however, that's when the glee started, as inside was a bottle of Cabana Cachaca, along with a note from their marketing group saying that they hoped I would enjoy it.

Oh I will...oh yes, I will.

I don't know if this quite qualifies as having "arrived" in the world of blogging. I likely received the box because I'm taking part in the Tales of the Cocktail Blog this year, and Cabana is a sponsor of said blog and related blogging activities. And while there was no real request for a review, I find it hard to imagine that they sent a bottle of their cachaca to guy that writes rum reviews without it crossing their minds that, "Hey, maybe he'll write one of our stuff! And then the BIG BUCKS start rolling in!"

And for those who are concerned that my desire to continue to receive free booze by courier will influence my review, tssk tssk. I have integrity...or was it an Integra? The one without power steering. On to the review!!

Cabana Cachaca is a relatively new entry into the world of spirits, having been launched in 2006 by Matti C. Anttila of New York City (suddenly I find myself thinking of those BBQ sauce commercials with the cowboys..."This stuff's from New York City!?!?!"). Don't worry...this isn't made in New York City...it's made in Brazil, otherwise it couldn't be called "cachaca". Says Matti in the materials provided me, "We set out to introduce something American consumers had never experienced - a truly super-premium cachaca."

A noble goal, to be sure. I do take a minor issue with the label "super-premium". What is it with spirit-makers trying to outdo each other by saying their premium is more premium than the other premium? Listen, you're either premium, regular, or well. The avalanche of "ultra-premium", "super-premium", "mega-premium", and "premium-premium" labels is getting out of hand people. Let's try to keep things in perspective.

Cabana is distilled, aged, and bottled in Brazil before being imported into the US with the trendy "super-premium" label (note: "Super Premium" does not appear anywhere on the label, but the phrase is used 3 times on one page in the materials provided to me). The marketing spiel says that the spirit is hand-crafted, and is double-distilled in copper pot stills as opposed to the more ubiquitous column stills. After distillation, the cachaca is aged for six months in Jequitiba barrels, bottled, and then shipped.

Appearances

Cachacas tend to be "white" or clear, and Cabana does not stray from this. The spirit looks clean and clear in the glass. A swirl reveals a spirit that clings tightly to the sides of the glass, only slowly relenting and returning to the bottom.

Nose

I'm not typically a huge fan of most cachacas. I tend to find them grassy and a bit unrefined in a way that is totally different from my classy unrefinedness - almost industrial. After another swirl of the glass I held the Cabana up to my nose and inhaled. The scent was not what I had been expecting. It was fruity and warm. Notes of banana and lime, along with honey. There was a bit of a grassy hint to it, which is typical of Brazil's national spirit, but not as strong as I've seen in most other cachacas. I found myself already doing a mental inventory of my liquor supplies, wondering if I could make myself a caipirinha.

Palate

As I've already stated, I don't tend to be a fan of cachaca. I usually find the offerings I see in liquor stores to be harsh, grassy, and industrial-tasting...like a mix of lawn clippings, rum, and tequila (if you ever want to know what that tastes like, go get yourself the cheapest bottle of cachaca you can find and you will know pain). Cabana's goal was to "[refine] cacaca from its overly vegetal and harsh taste to a smooth and versatile elixir." In this effort, I think they have largely succeeded - while this is not the best cachaca I have ever tried, it is one of the better ones.

The entry is a mildly harsh, with a bit of burn on the tongue. The spirit is dry, but fruity. Flavors of overripe banana and citrus mingle together nicely. There's a subtle sweetness here, but nothing overpowering. Overall it's quite pleasant. There's a tad more burn in the chest than I normally like, as well as a grassy aftertaste. Neither of these is so bad as to make the spirit undrinkable neat, but it is unlikely to become a regular sipper for yours truly.

The Long & The Short Of It

Overall I have to say....I like it. This is a bottle of cachaca I will happily keep on my shelf and offer to friends, relatives, and strangers who somehow find their way into my house. I find that the flavors are more...cohesive than other cachacas I've had...better blended and balanced. I, personally, wouldn't label this a sippable spirit, but I can't wait to try this in a caipirinha or a mojito. The number of cocktails that could use this are probably close to limitless.

The only thing that concerns me a tad is the price: $34.99 according to the marketing materials. That's about what I pay for Ron Zacapa 23 Anos, and that's one of the best rums in the world and something I happily sip neat. Other than that though, this seems like the kind of Spirit of Brazil that will do you right, regardless of how premium you are.

Doods Rating: 3 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Ron Barcelo Imperial

Matt Robold — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:01:46 GMT

This week found me home alone, which is generally not a good thing. Not that I can't take care of myself or that I'm a threat to burn down the house or anything like that (Mrs. Dood usually hides matches and other dangerous items before leaving), but if I'm left to my own devices with no one to reign me in, I'm likely to spend inordinate amounts of time standing in front of my rum shelf, puzzling over which bottle to pour next. I might have 3 or 4 different rums in one night...or I might make myself the same cocktail over and over again while I watch TV or read. The big problem with this tasting is that it often doesn't lead to reviews, as I get too caught up in trying this and then that and then this other one and so on.

Last night, however, I managed to put my game-face on and pulled out my trusty Muppets notepad and sat down with my bottle of Ron Barcelo Imperial.

I acquired this rum right before Christmas as trade-fodder for a fellow rum enthusiast, but our deal subsequently changed to be for entirely different bottles and the Barcelo ended up on my rum shelf for good. It's a product of the Dominican Republic, which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite rum nations (you'll recall that the nation is also responsible for Ron Matusalem and Brugal, among others)...ranking right up there with Jamaica in my book. I know a lot of people who kind of knock the Dominican rums because they don't have a distinctive style all their own (they're pretty much Cuban-style rums), but I say "Pbbbbbblltlltltltl". I don't care if they didn't invent their own style of rum, they make rum with style. The offerings from this half-island nation are spectacular and all-too-often overlooked. Did you ever think that maybe the Cubans actually copied the Dominicans? HUH? Did you? I mean, you can't prove that Cubans from the future didn't steal the Dominican style and then take it back in time to try and preempt the Dominican dominance of the rum market, so there. On that note, if any time-traveling Cubans are reading this, can you bring me some Bacardi from the 1930's?

The Imperial product from Barcelo is a blend making use of rums aged up to 10 years in used Kentucky Bourbon casks, and is distilled using only Dominican sugar cane. The bottle, as you can see above, is a terrific, stylish affair with a serial number on the back. I mean, you know you've probably got something good when they keep a real serial number printed on the bottle rather than just a SKU (FYI, the bottle for this review was #683397).

Appearances

The rum is a cherry/mahogany color. Giving my glass its customary swirl, the legs form crisply on the glass, slowly developing the inching tendrils back to the body of the liquid.

Nose

Now that I had the rum aerated and ready to go, it was time to investigate the aromas held within. Let me tell you, this rum promises a lot. It speaks to your senses through strong notes of cocoa, lemon, and oak. The cocoa is most prominent, with the citrusy/lemony scents following, and then closing with the notes of the oak barrels. Going back for seconds (and thirds, and fourths) I found the usual rummy scent of molasses, and just a slight touch of leather. Overall the nose is warm and inviting.

Palate

The nose sent the invitation, and I RSVP'd "YES"!

The Barcelo Imperial is warm and rich on the tongue, with a very slight oily consistency. You immediately taste the cocoa and notes of toffee. There is a light, fruity sweetness in the body, and a mild oak flavor to the finish. The rum is smooth with a capital "S", "M", two "O"s and a "TH" for good measure. There is no burn whatsoever in the throat, and just a little warming in the chest. Unlike the last few rums I've reviewed, there's really no spiciness to this spirit. It's just warm, wonderful, and soothing.

Just to make sure my notes on this were up to snuff, I made sure that I sampled the contents of the bottle 3 or 4 times in total. I don't want to be accused of not being thorough...

The Long & The Short Of It

Wow. Just, wow. What a fantastic rum. There's a reason that this rum was called the "Best Rum In The World" by the Beverage Institute of Chicago in 2000 and 2001. It's smooth and rich...almost decadent. I know I had talked about not just reviewing the best of the best here, but I can't help the fact that I ended up with an extra bottle of one of the best rums on the market on my shelf. It's not my fault!!

Dood's Rating: 5 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Mount Gay Extra Old

Matt Robold — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:12:19 GMT

If you were to ask a random person on the street where they thought the oldest operating distillery in the New World was, they would probably choose somewhere in the USA or Canada. Some, upon thinking about it, might come up with Mexico or Cuba...possibly Brazil. None of these people would be correct.

Whiskey may be the dominant spirit in the New World, but rum has been here almost as long as they've been growing sugar cane; and the oldest operating distillery on this side of the Prime Meridian is in Barbados: Mount Gay Distilleries.

Mount Gay Distilleries has been in operation on Barbados since 1703 (and they have the documents to prove it), making it the oldest operating distillery in the Americas, and one of the oldest in the entire world. That's quite a distinction, and Mount Gay wears it proudly.

I was first introduced to the Mt. Gay brand while on my honeymoon in St. Lucia, although it is my understanding that the rum is very well-known on the Eastern Seaboard of the US and Canada (living in on the other coast sometimes has its disadvantages). My introduction was through the Mt. Gay Eclipse product, which was one of my many alternatives to the local Bounty rum (not that Bounty was bad) for my various cocktails. I haven't delved back in to Eclipse since those heady days of...honeymoon stuff...so I can't really speak about it intelligently.

I received my first bottle of the Extra Old from my sister-in-law as a birthday present. That bottle was not used for this review, because it didn't last long enough to be used for one. No, I had to go out and get a whole 'nuther bottle for this review. It's hard, but these are the sacrifices that have to be made.

Appearances

The Extra Old (often written as "XO"...if you're new to spirits you might have wondered why people talked about "XO" all the time, it means "Extra Old"...see? You've learned something already!) has a beautiful, warm, gold coloring to it.

A quick swirl of the spirit shows it's legs to be thin, and an almost ribbon-like ring forms after the swirl before it dimples and then collapses into the glass.

Nose

The smell of the rum is really rather pleasant. The first thing I catch is the smell of citrus and banana. Looking over my notes from my last visit with this rum, I see that I found cocoa up front last time, but this time I have to search for that to find it. A few extra swirls of the glass though, and there it is - revealed possibly by the extra time to breathe, the extra swirling to aerate, or just the fact that I wanted to smell it and so I did (which is one of the reasons I try not to read other people's notes before doing one of these reviews...the power of suggestion is amazing).

There is a subtle sweetness underneath these fruitier tones, just a hint of molasses mixed in with an oaky, woody scent.

Palate

The nose promises good things, and my tongue has just informed me that my nose did not lie. There's a slightly oily texture to the rum as it glides over my taste buds, and I'm struck at once by the woody notes from the time spent aging in barrels (the blend of rums comes out with an average age of 17 years). There is the taste of banana leaf and some coffee, followed by a peppery spice on the finish. The burn is non-existent in the throat, but this is a rum that stays with you after every sip (in a good way), as you feel the oily, peppery after-effects on your tongue, and the warm, glowing, rummy warmingness of the rum in your chest.

The Long & The Short Of It

This is an excellent rum. It's fantastic. I mean, you'd figure that the guys that have been doing this for over 300 years would be pretty good at it, and they certainly seem to be. This rum is wonderful in cocktails, and terrific on its own or with a cube or two of ice. Drinking it, you feel like when you blink you might find yourself sitting on the porch of a large sugar plantation in the South Caribbean, looking out on a sloop sailing in to the bay.

Mt. Gay XO is actually one of my favorite stand-by spirits after a long day - sometimes neat, sometimes in my fall-back cocktail of Mt. Gay XO, lime juice, blood orange bitters, and soda. I'm sure there's a name for that...I just call it "delicious". And that's what this venerable spirit is: delicious.

Dood's Rating: 4 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Oronoco

Matt Robold — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:57:59 GMT

I had originally planned to have a rum review posted for everyone some time in the middle of last week. Unfortunately for me, I managed to contract something called bubonic influenzebola death flu of dying, which first rendered me incapable of doing pretty much anything that didn't involve lying motionless on the couch or in bed while I prayed for death, and then once my fever broke, still left me noticeably congested in such a fashion that I probably could have drunk garlic juice straight from the jar and thought it was water. Such conditions are not conducive to writing reviews of rums unless you've had the notes just sitting around waiting to be posted. I had no such completed notes, so you got no such review.

This week, however, I suffer from no ailments or illnesses that require any sort of treatment or suffering beyond an aspirin of some sort, so I finally sat down last night with my favorite bottle of white rum: Oronoco. I've mentioned Oronoco a few times on this blog (here, here, and here to be specific), so I figured that it was probably a good choice for this week's review.

Oronoco is a white rum from Brazil, triple-distilled in copper stills. It is made from the combination of fresh-cut Brazilian sugar cane juice, spring water (also Brazilian), which is then sent through the triple-distillation process before being blended with Venezuelan rums (which are not Brazilian, for those of you keeping score at home). The rum is then finished in casks made of Brazilian Amendam wood (pretty sure this is Brazilian too). It's imported in to the US by Diageo, the same company that brings us the ubiquitous Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and other such - ehem - premier items.

Appearances

Oronoco, as I've mentioned already, is a white rum - a "ron claro^TM" if you will. I'm not often a fan of white rums, preferring to use them only in cocktails, and only when I really, really have to. Looking at the bottle of this leather-clad spirit, I could tell that it was, well, clear. I poured it in to my glass, and confirmed my suspicions: this is a white rum. The spirit is clear, with just a slight green/gold tinge if you hold your glass up to the light. More than likely, this slight tinge is the result of the blending with the darker Venezuelan rums.

The legs are thick and strong, clinging to the side of the glass as though trying to climb out of it.

Nose

After giving my glass its infamous swirl and inspecting the legs, I held the glass beneath my nose and took in a few breaths. There is a smooth vanilla note that stands out right away, followed by a caramelly molasses sweetness, and finally chased by a very slight grassy scent. Overall it's a very warm and inviting smell with just a touch of alcohol in the vapor. Further exploration of the nose can reveal fruitier notes of banana.

Palate

White rums are not renowned for their "sippability". Generally, like me, most people use them for cocktails and punches (the rhum agricoles from Martinique may be the biggest exception here - depending on the drinker). The Oronoco, however, breaks this mold. No, it doesn't break it, it bats it around like a cat toying with a mouse, then it tears the mold into pieces, beats the pieces with a hammer, and then covers them in gasoline and sets the pieces on fire. When the smoldering ashes are all that are left behind, those are scooped into a jar of lighter fluid, which is then set on fire again.

The Oronoco is smooth, with very minimal burn. There is almost no burn in the mouth or throat, with only a touch of burn in the chest.

This is not a dry rum. It is sweet from start to finish. There are the light vanilla notes that were detected in the nose, and a strong molasses flavor on the tongue. There's a bit of a peppery spice to it, but it's rather subtle. The finish is very sweet and sugary, with a slight grassy aftertaste at the end.

The Long & The Short Of It

I cannot say enough how enjoyable this rum is. I did the most recent tasting with my brother and his friend. My brother has long been a fan of Oronoco, and his friend's only reaction upon trying a sip of it was, "WOW!". It is simply a fantastic, top-shelf-deserving rum. It is sippable neat, or with a single ice cube - which renders the burn all-but-gone and strengthens the sweet, sugary notes.

It also makes a pretty dog-gone-good cocktail. My brother suggests Oronoco, soda, and ice to get something akin to a Hansen's Cream Soda, but with alcohol!

My only complaint about the entire experience is a complaint about the bottle. No, nothing to do with the look. Love the look. It's great. I mean, you've got a bottle of rum with a great leather patch in the middle with a map of Brazil on it. How cool is that? And the label? The label is industrial and sheik. I don't even have a problem with the cheap-feeling plastic cap. The cap looks fantastic, and while we all love the idea of a "classy" cork to close up our spirits, a screw-top is actually better for the long-term storage of any spirit as it does a better job of minimizing the evaporation of the alcohol.

No, my complaint lies with the oddly shaped mouth of the bottle. Something about the mouth just doesn't work. It's hard to pour the first few drinks cleanly, i.e without rum ending up running down the side of the bottle and getting onto that sheik label and oh-so-cool leather map of Brazil. Oh, and your hand. I don't want the rum on my hand. I want the rum in my glass. Maybe I'm nitpicking here, but I want my super-cool, ultra-good bottle of rum to be ultra-pourable. So if anyone out there has any pull with the folks at Oronoco, let them know that we either need better bottles, or some kind of fancy "Oronoco Bottle Accessory Packages" that give us a better way to pour. Vendor lock-in for vendor-specific hardware works for Apple and Microsoft, why can't it work for Oronoco and Diageo?

Bottle issues aside, there is no denying the extraordinary character of this rum. It makes you want to put on an island shirt and a wide-brimmed straw hat, and sit by the beach while listening to a steel drum play nearby and watching scantily-clad beach-goers dance in the afternoon sunlight.

Dood's Rating: 4 Bottle of Rum Out of 5

Be sure to also check out Scott's review of Oronoco at Scotte's Rum Pages.

Dood's Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Sea Wynde

Matt Robold — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:48:06 GMT

And here I'll bet you thought I had forgotten all about rum reviews here. Pish posh. I know what keeps people coming to this site, and it ain't my wit or good looks...both of which are currently on back-order, and I have been assured will be arriving within a month or two.

It had been brought to my attention that I have only reviewed rums that I rate as the very best. No 4's out of 5, no 3's...well today I decided to change that, and decided to take on a rum I had not tried in almost a year: Sea Wynde. I'm not going to say now what the end-rating will be for this review. Let's just say that the first time I tried this rum, it did not jump to the top of my favorites list.

Sea Wynde is a pot-still rum, meaning that instead of the more common and modern column stills used by most spirit makers these days, the makers of Sea Wynde have opted for rums made using the more classical approach of using copper pot stills. The rum is a blend of 5 rums from Jamaica and Guyana, boasting that it is "the only rum in the world made entirely from pot still rums from the Caribbean and South America."

I first happened upon Sea Wynde at the recommendation of an acquaintance. A friend of a friend, as it were, worked at BevMo down the road from me, and during a shopping excursion there, he noticed I was picking up my usual bottle of Appleton Estate V/X. He asked if I had ever had the Appleton before and if I liked it, and when I assured him that the answer to both questions was a resounding "yes", he suggested that I might like Sea Wynde based on the flavor profile. I eagerly grabbed the very impressive-looking bottle and took it home to try. To be blunt, I was bitterly disappointed in the rum.

Time passed by. My palate has evolved a great deal (I like to think) since the first time that I sat down with my bottle of the Wynde. While perusing my recently enhanced rum shelf for my next review subject, I thought that perhaps, just maybe, my better-trained palate could find more to like in the rum. Others I know seem to have found uses for it, so certainly it couldn't be all that bad...could it?

Let's find out...

Appearance

The rum is a nice, light gold color. It it not very deep in hue, and is really - as far as spirits go - rather pretty to look at. It is not the thick, syrupy nectar of Ron Zacapa. A swirl in the glass reveals a spirit that clings strongly to the sides, with legs taking a good deal of time to form from the rim of the liquid.

Nose

Sea Wynde has an aroma. It is unmistakable, and completely impossible to miss. If someone opens the bottle in the same room with you, I'd wager you could tell it had been opened within 30 seconds. As soon as I opened the bottle to pour myself my dram, I could smell the rough, metallic notes of the rum.

I let the rum sit in the glass for a second, did my usual swirling to look for the legs, and then placed my nose about a half-inch above the glass and inhaled.

I won't lie to you...I wasn't happy doing so. As I mentioned already, there is a distinct metallic scent to the rum. You can literally smell the copper. Buried beneath the coppery scents are stronger notes of orange, and a sugary floral scent that could be apple or apple blossom.

I spent a little more time with the nose on this rum than I normally do. I started wanting to like it. I wanted to will myself in to thinking it was good. After a while, when those floral notes started to reveal themselves, I began to think, "Hey, this isn't so bad...just a little rough around the edges. Rough isn't necessarily bad, right?"

Palate

I took my first sip of Sea Wynde and let it sit for a second. There is a strong oily quality to the body. Not a viscosity like the Zacapa rums, but rather a slick, lubricated feel to the rum. Just as you get over the texture, you notice that this is a sharp, rough-tasting rum, as the nose seemed to indicate. There is actually some burn on the tongue and while the burn in the throat is not significant, it does exist, as does a burn in the chest.

The taste is just as metallic as the nose, leaving your tongue feeling dry after each sip. I have to be completely honest here...I didn't want to continue. I didn't want to do this anymore. I don't like it. I don't. I could come up with a list of millions of liquids I'd rather drink than this if I needed to. I say with not a hint of jest that it is for you, my dear reader, that I persisted in my investigation.

I returned the glass to my lips a few more times to tease more of the flavors out. There's a touch of orange at the entry with the coppery taste, followed by raisins. The finish is dry and oaky at first, followed by a rush of peppery spice that quickly obliterates the other flavors besides the copper. In the end, I feel like I've been sucking on a spicy penny.

A Little Water Perhaps

Perhaps, as can be the case, this rum just needs some smoothing out. Perhaps a few drops of water will work some magic on it. I picked up this trick from Scott at Scotte's Rum Pages, and have used it for other rums.

I added a few drops of water to the Sea Wynde, swirled, and then sipped again. Some of the roughness was definitely smoothed out. The coppery taste was still there, but not as abrupt, and the burning on the tongue and the throat was pretty much eliminated altogether. Still, I don't think you could pay me to drink more than an ounce of this stuff. OK, I take it back, you could pay me, but I want a lot of money and I want it up front!

Put Some Ice On It

OK, water didn't work. Let's try some more water, but in it's more frozeny state. I took a single ice cube from my bag of ice and added it to my glass. I let the glass sit for a while, stirred a bit to chill the entirety of the glass, and then toasted my own health and dove back in to the glass with gusto.

I love my work. I really, really do. I think that getting to sit and sample rums and write about it, even if it isn't really my job, is one of the most enjoyable things I could do. I feel very privileged that any of you come to read my comments on these - OH SWEET MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS???

I can't do it...I just can't. I couldn't even swallow the vile concoction in my hand. I can't remember ever being so happy to be near a sink in my life, as I spat out what I had tried to sip.

I reflected for a bit, thinking, "It can't be THAT bad. You're just overreacting. Be a man, Dood...get back in to that glass! Do it for your readers! Both of them!"

Back I went, and back my head went to the sink.

OK, Maybe A Real Cocktail Then

How about "No", Mr. Section Heading? I may love my readers, but I don't love anyone that much (sorry Mrs. Dood). I have my limits, and I have reached my limits for tonight. Maybe some other night I'll go try this in a mojito or a mai tai or to degrease my car's engine, but for the moment I can't think of anything I'd rather do than bury this bottle as deep in the Earth as possible in the hopes that no one ever stumbles upon it for a thousand years. I was so horrified by the experience at this point that I walked to the fridge and opened a beer.

The Long & The Short Of It

The makers of Sea Wynde are very proud of their product. I can understand that...it's a rum! Who wouldn't be proud of making rum? But perhaps, regardless of whether or not a company refers to its rum as "the perfect rum", the fact that they have a section on their website on how to use it for cooking should probably ring a few alarms in your head. I mean, Castle Brands - the owners of Sea Wynde - also owns Goslings, and you don't the Goslings website suggesting you mix their rum with shrimp.

I've always described the imagery that different rums conjure when you drink them, but with Sea Wynde I'm just not sure what to say. I see images of Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs cleaning pot stills with old rags comprised of old socks...and I'm not sure any more detail is in good taste.

Rating this rum is hard. I'm usually prone to fits of hyperbole, and I'm tempted to give it a massive negative number. However, to maintain some integrity, and in recognition of the fact that at least this is a rum, Sea Wynde still stays above the dreaded zero.

Dood's Rating: 1 Bottle of Rum Out of 5

Other Rum Reviews

Rum Review: Brugal Siglo de Oro

Matt Robold — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:16:04 GMT

While on my most recent trip to the Caribbean, my wife insisted on stopping in one extra shop on St. Maarten when I thought we were done for the day. While we wandered around the shop, I took stock of the rums on their shelves and my eye was caught by a blue bottle with the word "BRUGAL" displayed prominently across the front in gold lettering. While I was familiar with Brugal rums (which is to say I had heard of and coveted them), I was honestly not at all familiar with the Siglo de Oro rum.

After a quick check of the price ($68US), I pulled the bottle and its associated box from the shelf and carried it to the checkout counter, where my wife smirked and made a joke about "Still managed to find another one huh?" Yes, I have an addiction. I can't help but buy interesting rums. The fine fellows at Hi-Time Wines in Costa Mesa, California are supporting their children with my "problem."

When we returned home, I started to research this magnificent blue bottle. As it turns out, Siglo de Oro is something of a rarity outside of the Dominican Republic, where it is made. Ed Hamilton of the Ministry of Rum expressed a bit of surprise that I had found this particular spirit in St. Maarten. A lot of other rum enthusiasts have expressed a desire for me to post my tasting notes, so on Repeal Day (December 5th) I sat down with the bottle and a glass, along with a pen and my Muppet notepad and dove headlong in to the premium offering from Brugal...

Appearances

I poured the spirit in to my tasting glass and did the requisite swirling. The rum is a warm amber color and has very strong legs. The legs are a tad bit runny (no pun intended), but watching the glass, you almost get the impression that you're watching syrup run down the sides instead of rum.

Nose

The eyes having been appeased, it was time to turn to the nose of the spirit. I swirled the rum in the glass while I kept my nose several inches above the rim. There are a lot of different scents that jump right out. Hints of orange peal and leather come to the forefront, with woody notes and a bit of a surprise with the scent of banana floating on top. The nose was cool and earthy, evoking images of the rain forest. I was suddenly more interested than ever in what flavors I would find trapped inside my glass.

Palate

As the nose foretold, this rum has a woody flavor to it. The immediate flavor on the tongue is that of the barrel with a mellow sweetness. There is a hint of leather which is blended nicely with notes of orange and coffee. Despite the syrupy legs, the Siglo de Oro has a very light but earthy body to it. The finish was clean, leaving a slight tingle on the tongue. The most dangerous aspect of the rum is probably the burn - which is non-existent. If a person didn't know what they were drinking and how hard and expensive it might be to replace, they could easily finish the entire bottle in a single sitting without realizing it.

I was a tad surprised at the fact that I didn't taste any of the banana that I had detected in the nose. I rechecked the nose and, sure enough, it was still there; but no amount of searching revealed the flavor to go along with the smell. The mental imagery, however, was still intact. If you close your eyes while drinking this, you quickly find yourself standing amidst the calls of birds, standing on a mountain-top under the shade of the rain forest canopy...broken shoots and branches behind you where you cut your path with your machete...you old companion Pedro and his ever-trusty horse standing next to you. You remove your hat to wipe your brow as you glance around, trying to determine where next to search for the lost idol of - wait, what was I talking about again?

The Long & The Short Of It

There's no need for my usual verbosity in describing how great this rum is. This is perhaps the best rum on my shelf, rivaled only by Pyrat Cask 1623, Ron Zacapa 23 Años, and Temptryst Cherrywood. I would recommend it to anyone who has the means of acquiring it that doesn't involve taking it from me.

Dood's Rating: 5 Bottles of Rum Out of 5

Other Rum Reviews