Tag Archives: Jamaica

Appleton Estate 21yo (43%, Jamaica)

A long time ago I reviewed a 12yo from Appleton Estate and liked that very much. Not so hard since I love the Jamaican style of Rum making. Time now to try out the super premium 21yo. Besides the 12yo and the 21yo there are several other expressions in the Appleton Portfolio. In fact the 21yo is the super premium Rum from the portfolio and it doesn’t come cheap, ok, not really expensive either, but I see huge differences between one market and the other. On top of the 21yo comes a 50yo “Independence Reserve”, well that costs as much as a small car, but for that amount of money you do get one of the best Rums money can buy. The 12yo I reviewed earlier is the best of the rest and before that one comes a 8yo and an entry-level Rum called “VX”. Apart from that there are a special gold and special white colored Rums for ya cocktails.

Appleton Estate 21yoColor: orange Brown.

Nose: Thick and woody and dusty. Right from the start it is showing its age. Over aged old high ester rum. Jamaican and delicious. Hints of tar and dry. Over time becoming even drier. I have to say already, this is an excellent nose. Paint stripped old wood, dusty and worthy of restoration. Red apple skin and latex paint. Fresh creamy butter. Custard. Christmas pudding, without the Christmas. Dried old orange skins. Hints of very old Demerara Rum.

Taste: Quite woody. Mahogany, old furniture. Hints of old dry Demerara. Burn furniture. That slightly burnt note is very typical for Rums that have aged for a long time. I like that, but it may be an acquired taste. Decent sweetness balanced by old dark wood. Chocolate powder and hard coffee flavoured candy. Quite fruity and gives off some dry heat. Despite all this I have to inform you it’s only delicious, but lacks a bit of complexity I would have though and Jamaican Rum of this age would have. Quite a long finish though with some burnt wood and…wait for it…cow manure. Coming with the complexity, maybe even a wee bit too short aftertaste. The whole is utterly delicious though.

I tried this long ago and found it too woody then. Now it and I have aged some more, I truly like it. It’s not overly woody, but it may be a wee bit too simple, soft and a wee bit too easy-going. Nevertheless, lovely stuff, maybe a bit to expensive compared tot the complexity, but very nice and drinkable. Dare I say, again, that it has been reduced too much?

points: 88

Hampden 17yo 1990/2007 (46%, Berry Brothers & Rudd, Jamaica)

Quite nice trying some Rums in a row, something I haven’t done in a while, and I have to admit it, it’s quite a lot of fun. After the white Plantation, and the brown Cockspur 12, let’s try a super premium high ester Rum from Jamaica, bottled by the old Wine and Whisky traders, Berry Brothers & Rudd.

Hampden Distillery from Jamaica is known for heavy pot still Rums a.k.a. high ester Rums. A lot of effort is made in the workings of yeast in the production process using century old fermentors, and of course, they use their own cultured yeasts. Hampden has a reputation to uphold when it comes to this kind of high ester Rum.

Hampden 1990 BBRColor: White wine.

Nose: Highly aromatic. Lots of esters. Extremely funky and dense. I really love Jamaican Rum, and this is exactly why. I recognize the typical Jamaican smell from the Plantation Jamaican Rums. Its thick and chewy. Rum with raisins or raisins full of Rum. It reminds me of a lot of things but I can’t put my finger on it what it exactly is. Christmas cake. Vanilla Ice cream with raisins in it. Reminds me of Napolitanean cassata ice-cream. That’s it. Loads of vanilla and new (bicycle) tires, where do you get that! Great funkiness. After a while a bit dusty. This is reggae in a bottle. Excellent stuff, I need it.

Taste: Sweet (just right for me) and lots of fruity acidity. Which is a great addition that prevents this Rum from becoming too heavy or cloying, what is even worse. So it has a lot of the Jamaican funk, but it is also super fruity. Unbelievable. Heaviness I can deal with, I love it actually, but overly and sugary sweet, nope, not my cup of tea. This Hampden ís my cup of tea. Give me the whole pot! Clean (no, not clean actually) and funky, slightly Industrial. But I like Industrial notes in Rum. You can find it in Caroni from Trinidad, but also in Rum Agricole. Good drinkability at 46% ABV. Lovely stuff. Sipping away at this, the added acidity stand out in the finish, defining it, and sometimes can be too much.

I don’t want to add too much to what I’ve already written above. This is great Rum and I really like this style. For a Jamaican, it could have been dirtier even, and bottled at a higher strength even, but I’m not complaining. this is wonderful stuff, with more than usual fruitiness, and a nice fresh acidity. All that after 17yo! Wow. I can almost cry this isn’t available anymore.

Points: 89

Plantation 3 Stars (41.2%, Jamaica, Barbados & Trinidad)

Although maybe 90% of my reviews are about Whisky, essentially this is a drinks blog. I do prefer Whisky, but not all the time. There is more great stuff around, and mine is a constant journey in finding the best quality stuff to have around and enjoying my life with. I was on quite a roll of mostly nice Whiskies lately, but today I had a real craving for one step beyond the usual realm of Single Malt Whisky. Two days ago we had some guests over for an evening of Wines and Cheese, but already then I had an intermezzo of three Grappa’s. Today I’m getting off the road usually chosen and take a detour with a Rum. Long time since I reviewed Rum, which is also a fantastic and global distillate. This three stars Rum, blended by Cognac Ferrand, is made with Rums from three distinct places. Jamaica (partly an unaged Rum and a small portion of 12yo Rum), Barbados (unaged Rum) and Trinidad (a filtered 3yo Rum). So quite the blend. This may prove to be one of the best White rums around, at least on paper…

Plantation 3 Stars (41.2%, Jamaica, Barbados & Trinidad)Color: Colorless, ever so slightly green.

Nose: A bit alcoholic and vegetal. Very green, with unripe banana, and ripe tangerine skin. It also shows a lot of potential. Initial smell is very appetizing. For a white rum it smells like something to sip and not let go to “waste” in a coke or cocktail. Mind you, I do enjoy them very much, and this Rum is designed for usage in cocktails. Tea and lots of spices and a tiny hint of wood. Sprite or 7-up, so citrus and brown sugar and cane juice, but in a very appealing way. Nosing it more deeply, even some cola seems to have found its way into the blend. Tiny hints of wood related mint. Wonderful stuff.

Taste: Sweet, green tea with too much sugar in it. Citrus again. Lemon and lime with refined sugar. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t make the rum too sweet. Very smooth and seems a lot lower in ABV than it actually is. Definitely good enough to sip, although it is obvious from the start this was meant to be used in another way. Very young and light, and without a real finish.

Nope, I wouldn’t sip this. It’s good, but there are so many golden and brown Rums around, that are way better and much more complex to sip than this three stars Rum. And that’s no shame. This was never meant to be sipped on the beach or around a fire-place. It was meant for cocktails and give you the chance to make the best cocktail you can make with this. Well made stuff and tasty too.

Points: 73

Rum Week – Day 7: Appleton Estate 12yo Extra (40%, Jamaica)

Appleton Estate, of course, is a sugar estate that started to distill their waste, to earn some extra money. It is located on the Island of  Jamaica and makes Rum since 1749. The estate exists since 1655. It is the oldest sugar estate and distillery on the island. Appleton is owned by J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. another name we know from the rum business. The Appleton Estate covers more than 4,500 ha of land. Nice to know is that they still, in part, cut cane by machete! The Appleton Estate makes traditional pot still Rums that are aged in American Bourbon Barrels. Just like their counterparts of El Dorado.

Color: Orange brown.

Nose: yeah! That’s more like it! Sweet, Cane Sugar and molasses. Very fruity. Lots of banana. And some clean wood with tar in the far distance. Thick. Clay and full of esters. I like this very much.

Taste: Syrupy, half-sweet, and has a bit of a bite from the wood. It tastes just a tad too much toward the new-wood spectrum to call it great, but it does seem to be a great rum. Altogether I expected this to be a bit heavier and more complex, than it actually is.

So there you have it. Seven Rums in seven days. Three were pretty good and very close in points. If I would pick a winner I would choose the Barbancourt. It’s the most perfect of the bunch. The El Dorado is as good and who knows maybe even better in complexity, but I have a dislike for the sweetness that is on the edge. Almost too sweet or maybe it is already too sweet. This Appleton is almost as good as the ones I just mentioned, yet the taste is a bit too simple for the nose and maybe a tad too woody. Still I consider this a very good rum. Of the rest the Malecon is too weak to stand out, but the quality is there. The Angostura 1919 is pretty good too. The Diplomatico and the Flor de Caña were, for me at least, disappointing. Not bad, but disappointing. I expected more of both. These were all readily available rums that, compared to Single Malt Whiskies these days, cost next to nothing. To explore this further it will be interesting to look into some single cask Rums. I enjoyed this week thoroughly, but I do feel there is a lot of Sugar in these Rums, I’m not quite accustomed to. LOL.

Points: 83