Rhum Chantal Comte Tour de l’Or 2006

The La Mauny distillery, which received its AOC in 1996 has three distillation columns, including one that is completely made of copper. It’s there that Chantal Comte selected this single cask, traceable to the Section T of the La Mauny cellars.

The Rum: Chantal Comte Tour de l’Or 2006
Origin : la Mauny – Martinique
Raw material: fresh sugarcane juice
Distilled : 2006 – column still
Matured : 20% new French oak (Tronçais Forest) and 80% ex-cognac casks
Bottled: april 2017 – 2000 bottles
ABV: 57.7%

The Nose: the first impression is rather agricol-y, but in a subtle way. It’s not the in-your-face sugarcane but more a soft herbal, grassy kind of rum. It has a rather sweet floral perfume with hints of tropical fruits. In the nose also an autumn forest: wet leaves and humus. Dried prunes and sultanas and some sour cherries. Despite the high alcohol volume, the nose is rather soft. At the end it reminds a bit of a cigar box with soft cedar wood and a whiff of smoke. Adding water brings out more nutty flavours.

The Taste is firm with pungent alcohol. A soft swet touch and a big wood influence, but not bitter. The wood is spicy. After adding some water the rum gets very dry (ah, the irony!) bringing back the humus and a basket full of mushrooms. An autumn rum with a firm herbal touch.

The Finish is rather long with vibrant wood until the very end, turning just a very little towards bitterness. The herbal taste is now accompanied by some mocha.

Our Score: ****

Plantation Guatemala-Belize

Remember the Gran Anejo Guatemala from Plantation – the one in the dumpy bottle? It seems like Plantation has replaced it with a Guatemala-Belize blend. Same bottle, almost same label, different rum.

We kinda liked the old Guatemala. Just as we liked the Belize that Plantation did. You can find the notes onhttps://sugarcanecollection.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/guatemala-gran-anejo-plantation/  and  https://sugarcanecollection.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/belize-7-yo-prime-minister-edition-plantation/

So the big question is…does one and one equals two – will this new Plantation take best of both worlds and combine it in one bottle?

 

The Rum: Plantation Gran Anejo Guatemala & Belize

ABV: 42

Distilled : n.i.

Bottled: 2015

Casks: initial maturation in bourbon casks, finished in cognac casks

 

Nose: The nose is Spanish style rum all the way, with loads of honey. Over ripe pineapple. Sandalwood and ozone, with a very fine whiff of smoke – the kind you get when you softly burn very dry wood. The vanilla is playing second violin on the background. Also some cognac like notes. Pleasant all around…but nothing to surprise us.

Taste: Very light mouthfeel. Again..very Spanish style. Sweet, with the first attack surprisingly alcoholic. Light golden honey with some orange peel lingering through. Soft fruity notes and a very subtle wood influence. Again…nothing wrong, but where’s the complexity and the depth from the old Guatemala? Give it a good 20 minutes and it gets rather vegetal with a slight sour tone at the end.

Finish: sweet, but short. Too short actually, this one is gone in the blink of an eye.

 

Our score: ***

Sapucaia Velha Reserva da Familia

The cachaça: Sapuciaia Velha Reserva da Familia

 Region: São Paulo – Brazil

Distilled: ca 2004 in copper pot stills

 Bottled: 2014 at 40,5 abv

 Matured for 10 years in oak casks

 

Nose: sugar cane juice, warm toasted bread, and fine but firm oak.

 Taste: Much like the Sapucaia Velha Tradicional, but richer, smoother, more refined.  Nice hints of dreid fruit. This even has something cognac-like. The sugarcane is present, but is hiding rather well. A cachaça to the likings of amateurs of cachaça, rum, but also cognac or whisky.

 Finish: Medium long with warming oaky influence supporting the delicate sweetness.

 

Our score: ***** . Playboy – the magazine with the interesting interviews and articles – listed this cachaça of one of the very best around – and who are we to disagree with Playboy? 🙂

 

Remarks: this is without any doubt the best cachaça we ever tasted so far.

Plantation 3 Stars

Our next rum is often presented as a mixer. Now let’s see if this means it’s undrinkable as a ‘neat’ rum or not. Presenting :

 

The Rum: Plantation 3 Stars – 41.2 %

Origin : Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad

Distilled: not indicated

Bottled : not indicated – ca 2013, by Cognac Ferrand

 

Nose: Fresh sugarcane juice, but refined and subtle. Fruity aromas and vanilla, with a hint of coconut and some mango and papaya. Give it a good 20 minutes and the vanilla comes through much stronger, accompanied by green bananas and some more powerful spices

 

Taste: Soft, fruity : banana, tropical fruits.  Also some orange zest and a minty freshness. Medium sweet. Seems to me it’s mostly the Barbados rum doing the talking here, with the Jamaican rum playing second violin, giving the whole a bit more power. Now this might miss some complexity, but there’s definitely nothing wrong with this rum. It goes down real smooth and easy.

 

Finish: like the taste, but a little less pronounced. A little oaky bitterness and the very end. Nice, but rather short. Let the finish last a bit longer, and you gain an extra point.

 

Our Score : ***

Remarks :This is a blend of unaged rum from Barbados; a clear filtered 3-year-old rum from Trinidad, and the Jamaican composed of two Jamaican styles, an unaged rum  and a small amount of  12-year-old rum.

A mixer? Maybe. But highly drinkable ‘neat’. And more important : for around €20 this is excellent value for your money !

Trinidad 1999 by Plantation

The Rum : Trinidad 1999 – 42 abv

Distilled: 1999 – in column-still

Bottled: ca 2008 by Plantation

Cask: bourbon cask maturation – finished in cognac casks.

 

Nose: light with a lot of citrus notes, vanilla and red berries. Also some toast and cognaclike hints. For some reason, this strikes to me as being the Redbreast under the Rums. Which is a good thing – I do like Redbreast Irish Whiskey !

 

Taste: sweet, soft and elegant. Coconut and banana. Also some marzipan and very soft spices.  This is a light-bodied, easy going rum.

 

Finish: Elegant and medium long, going towards candied fruit and peaches in syrup.

 

Our score : ***

Remarks : I normally like Trinidad rum from Caroni a lot, due to its smokey hints coming through. No smoke whatsoever in this Trinidad Rum. Was this made by the fine people at Angosture – where they use molasses coming in from the Caribbean basin, including Dominican Republic, Guyana and Panama?

Jamaica 1983 Single Cask – Plantation for The Nectar

 

The Rum: Jamaica 1983 sc Plantation for the Nectar (Belgium) – 42 abv. Cask 1/1 – 150 bottles only.

Origin: Jamaica. My guess….Long Pond distillery (well known for the Captain Morgan brand).

Distilled: 1983

Bottled: 2011

Maturation: Finished in Cognac casks.

 

Nose: This is subtle and powerful at the same time. Raisins, and candied orange. A little whiff of mocha and crème brûlée. Even a slight vegetal side too.

Taste : my first impression was that this rum was a bit punchier than 42 abv. Perfect sweetness, without ever becoming too sweet. For an almost 30 yo rum – with the main part of the maturation in tropical Jamaica – the influence of the oak isn’t too overpowering at all. It’s there all right, but gentle playing on the background. After a good 15 minutes in the glass, I get more vanilla and chocolate notes.

Finish: Sweet again, but in good balance with the wood. A little nuttiness, and on the back of the tongue some verbena.

 

Our score : 18/20. Excellent rum indeed.

Remarks: This actually was a bargain in 2011, selling for about € 75. Now however almost impossible to find.