Let's talk rum, which are your favourites?

Graeme Harvie

Graeme Harvie

Location
U.K.
Foursquare Cask Strength 12 yo has been a revelation for me. I tried the 2005 in a Zoom tasting and was spell-bound. Amazing complexity and utterly mesmerizing. It is from Barbados, matured in first fill ex-bourbon, not chill filtered, natural colour and about 60% ABV. Not easy to find either. Managed to pick up the 2008 which I cracked open 25/12 and this too is a very special bottle. Cannot recommend Foursquare highly enough except it does not need any additional demand so it is fortunate not many read The Spirits Forum.
 
Foursquare are indeed brilliant, had a few of theirs, on the drier side so good to convert bourbon fans with. Personally I love appleton, the 25 (joy) is probably the best rum I've had, but the 21 is often available sub £100 and is a real winner for me. I'm excited to try to long pond and worthy park bottlings, I have samples of both but haven't enjoyed them yet. My other favourite for easy drinking rum is Cuba, although it can be tricky to find bottlings over 40% abv. Ron Stantero 11 (sub 40%) is fantastic with a cigar, Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros also great (45% abv helps).
 
Tom - when the world improves and if you find yourself in London - let me know as I would love to share a cigar and drink some rum with you. Thanks also for your rum tips. At the budget end I think Havana 7yo is pretty reliable.
 
Thumbs up for Foursquare, I currently have 2007, 2008, Nobiliary, Detente and Hereditas on the go. I prefer the higher proof of these compared to some of the other Foursquare products.

Doorlys XO, 12 and 14 are also good value Foursquare products and more widely available.

I have enjoyed some the That Boutique-y Rum single cask releases from Diamond Distillery in Guyana.
 
I am increasingly favouring (undosed) pot still rum with my current favourite being Hampden Estate 8 Year Old, but of the more available bottles enjoy Flor de Caña 18 (or 25) and Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros (as mentioned by Tom). Yet to try Caroni but high on my list

I find Havana 7 a better mixer than sipper as not the biggest fan of the nose - at the lower price point I would stretch to Appleton 12 / FdC 12 / Mount Gay XO (old blend if possible). Foursquare is certainly always a safe bet with The Real McCoy 12 a good alternative if struggling to find Foursquare editions and to my tastes better than Doorly's. Unfortunately seeing price creep across the board
 
There are alot of Rum releases selling out straight away so I think the prices going up is inevitable.

It is very good value still compared to alot of bourbons that make it to the UK and also alot of single malts.
 
Andrew Jordan said:
There are alot of Rum releases selling out straight away so I think the prices going up is inevitable.

It is very good value still compared to alot of bourbons that make it to the UK and also alot of single malts.
Click to expand...

Agree it remains good value, in particular for rums aged in country for long periods. What is less obvious is stalwarts such as Appleton / Mount Gay re-releasing slightly tweaked blends with an big step up in cost

Would be interested to know aside from Velier / Foursquare ECS which other releases are you thinking of? (if of course you re willing to share!)
 
Henry Davies said:
Agree it remains good value, in particular for rums aged in country for long periods. What is less obvious is stalwarts such as Appleton / Mount Gay re-releasing slightly tweaked blends with an big step up in cost

Would be interested to know aside from Velier / Foursquare ECS which other releases are you thinking of? (if of course you re willing to share!)
Click to expand...

You have the Doorlys, R L Seale and Real McCoy ranges that are all Foursquare distilled that are decent price and widely available.

The Hampden Great House rum from Jamaica was out recently in it's most recent batch for £80-90 RRP but disappeared very quickly off the shelves. I wasn't quick enough and missed out. The indie label Kill Devil does a fair few Hampden single cask releases that you can find, although worth looking at reviews as they do vary.
 
I think there's an argument it's been under loved and under priced for a while now, especially compared to bourbon and Scotch. I suspect people are looking for the value elsewhere and finding it in rum. Very easy to switch from a bourbon to something like foursquare.
 
I paid a little over opening market price at £85 + £10 shipping - and thanks Henry for helping me find a supplier at about 4pm this afternoon - as seemed to be cleared out everywhere.

Going forwards how do we know when the new releases are due?
 
The UK Rum Club Facebook group has plenty of information, although plenty of postings about Redoutable being sold out as much as those who got a bottle delivered.

I just think people are wiser to the better value in those Foursquare ECS releases than a lot of single malts that come out at the moment, so they fly off the shelves.
 
A well heeled pal of mine, after retiring from the insurance world, has started a distillery in Grenada, where he has a home. He’s making individual cuvées(?) from different farms/ plots of sugar cane deliberately using the term “Terroirs” in their marketing. Renegade is the name and he’s doing a similar thing with Waterford Irish Whiskey. I’ve only had the odd sniff but they are going down very well apparently. Interested if any Rum connoisseurs had tried them.
 
Jim Agar said:
A well heeled pal of mine, after retiring from the insurance world, has started a distillery in Grenada, where he has a home. He’s making individual cuvées(?) from different farms/ plots of sugar cane deliberately using the term “Terroirs” in their marketing. Renegade is the name and he’s doing a similar thing with Waterford Irish Whiskey. I’ve only had the odd sniff but they are going down very well apparently. Interested if any Rum connoisseurs had tried them.
Click to expand...

I thought it was the sale of Bruichladdich rather than his insurance interests that led to his new distilleries? While it's an interesting and new marketing slant I remain unconvinced that terroir in aged rum/whisky really makes a significant difference, certainly not enough of one to build a whole brand around. I've tried a few waterfords and they're ok, but still very young, I don't believe renegade have released anything yet. But if you can get your hands on a sample I'd like to give it a try!
 
Andrew Jordan said:
The UK Rum Club Facebook group has plenty of information, although plenty of postings about Redoutable being sold out as much as those who got a bottle delivered.

I just think people are wiser to the better value in those Foursquare ECS releases than a lot of single malts that come out at the moment, so they fly off the shelves.
Click to expand...

I think it's a combination of people finally catching on but also people being in lockdown, off sales have rocketed across the board, loads of stuff that wouldn't usually is selling out immediately. No idea if this is the "new normal" or not
 
Tom Worthing said:
I thought it was the sale of Bruichladdich rather than his insurance interests that led to his new distilleries? While it's an interesting and new marketing slant I remain unconvinced that terroir in aged rum/whisky really makes a significant difference, certainly not enough of one to build a whole brand around. I've tried a few waterfords and they're ok, but still very young, I don't believe renegade have released anything yet. But if you can get your hands on a sample I'd like to give it a try!
Click to expand...
It’s the Chairman I know and he’s also planted a vineyard in his Kent garden to produce ESW- not tried that either.
 
Another vote here for Hampden 8 year old.

During lockdown I took part in a zoom tasting featuring rums from Transcontinental. They buy up barrels and make and make a feature of where the rum has been matured - x number of years in a hot climate and x number of years in Europe. Great packaging, but not sure about the actual rums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top