Rum Enmore 1988/2012 TWA-The Nectar

 

The Rum: Enmore

Origin: Guyana

Distilled: 1988

Bottled: 2012, 264 bottles- 50.5 abv

 

The Nose: yep, welcome to Demerara country. Herbal and powerful, but with a pleasant sweet touch.Molasses and oak, and surprisingly fresh for an Enmore this old.I’d say… eucalyptus with a hint of smoke. And even some (I know, strange!) olive oil. This is rich and yet round, punchy and yet pleasant. Very promising nose indeed!

The Taste: Herbal and a bit drying, with nice wood without getting too bitter. Burned caramel and cooking spices. Nutmeg. But also that little sweet touch again: raisins and a delicate fruity side with some mango. Also a bit of liquorice.  Again a little smoke or tar if you like. Very phenolic, but not too punchy on the alcohol level.

Finish: all the good stuff from the taste reflects in the rather long finish.

Our Score: **** Excellent rum – alas very difficult to find. I wouldn’t mind having another one of these beauties.

 

 

Rum Jamaica 1977/2012 – TWA/The Nectar

Time for an old Jamaican Rum! No distillery is mentioned on the bottle, so I’m curious.

The Rum: Jamaican 1977-2012 – single cask

Distilled: 1977

Bottled: 2012 by The Whisky Agency (Germany) and The Nectar (Belgium), 256 bottles only

Abv: 52.9%

 

Nose: Vanilla and herbal notes open the debates. The herbal notes remind me of rue (Ruta Graveolens) on a hot summer day. Also some fine sawdust. Soft tropical fruits (green banana, papaya) and subtle molasses, with a hint of cigar box and sweet perfume. Despite the abv, no alcohol bite. A very soft and pleasant nose, although rather simple. After 15 minutes more pisang and even some mocha lingering through.

Taste: Rather sweet, and this time the alcohol is well present. Candy syrup and molasses. The herbal touch is sweeter now, and the fruit is there (banana) but gentle. Surprisingly little wood influence for a rum this age. This was either a very inactive cask, or a cask that matured in Europe. Or both. A very tasty rum, but lacking just that bit of depth. Oh… and if you ask me, this could well have been distilled at Long Pond Distillery. Or not 😉

Finish: medium long, sweet, almost no wood, and again rather herbal. Honey bonbons. The lack of cask influence makes it less chewy than some of its siblings. Good or bad thing? That depends on your taste only…

 

Our Score: ***

Rum Uitvlugt 1998-2012 TWA – The Nectar

The originally Dutch rum distillery Uitvlugt was one of the very last to close its doors in the Demerara region. In 2000 the last rum was produced at Uitvlugt (I wonder how they pronounce it it Guyana…) before the stills were moved to the Diamond distillery.

The stills being two French four column Savalle stills. Savalle is a French manufacturer of stills The Savalle Stills at Diamond are used for a multiple number of marks. To the exception of the El Dorado 12 and 15 blend, all are using one or more marks of the Savalle Stills.

The Rum: Uitvlugt 1998 The Whisky Agency – The Nectar

Origin: Guyana

Distilled: 1998 – French Savalle still

Bottled: 2012 (14 yo) – 253 bottles – by The Whisky Agence (Germany) and The Nectar (Belgium)

Abv: 51,7%

 

Nose: Punchy alcohol opens the debates. The nose is very perfumed with lots of vanilla. A surprisingly fresh nose, unlike many other Uitvlugt rums that tend to be on the more heavy side. Some light brown sugar and even a soft iodine touch, but almost no wood. After a good 15 minutes a slight sour-vegetal touch and an aroma that reminds of broken young twigs

Taste: rather sweet and again strong alcohol. The cask actually adds little or nothing to the rum – must have been one very exhausted ex-bourbon cask. Well..it does add one thing: lots of vanilla. I also get some fruity flavours, mainly apricots.

Finish: Soft fruity notes and again vanilla. Tropical fruits now (green mango) and a touch of almond. And again: almost no wood in this medium long finish

 

Our Score: *** A decent rum, too bad the cask influence is very limited to vanilla, vanilla and vanilla.

Rum Don José 1995 17 yo TWA-Nectar

Talk about rum from Panama, and most people immediate think of Ron Abuelo from the Varela Hermanos distillery. This distillery was established around 1940 by the Spaniard Don José Varela Blanco who emigrated from Spain to Panama in 1908. It was about 30 years later that Don José and his sons began to distil rum; and today the Don Jose Distillery controls and produces about 90 % of all rum in Panama.

So about time we try an indy bottling from this famous Panamese distillers.

The Rum: Don José The Whisky Agency (Germany) / The Nectar (Belgium)

Origin: Panama

Distilled: 1995 in column stills

Bottled: 2012 (17 yo) – 279 bottles

Abv: 52,9

 

Nose: the ex-bourbon casks immediately show their influence on the aroma. Lots of vanilla, with fine oak sawdust and soft but sweet molasses. I also got some white flowers (lily of the valley) and a pleasant vegetal touch. Cocos oil finishes the range of aromas.

Taste: Again rather sweet, candy, and beautiful yet subtle wood influence. As like in the nose lots of vanilla. Also very fruity, but it’s rather hard to put my finger on it. It really is a mixture of all kinds of fruit. I mainly get some mango and pineapple on syrup. Also some pepper and coriander.

Finish: long and lasting sweetness without ever getting sticky. At the very end a pleasing little bitter touch. Also some green bananas and acacia honey that stays in the throat for a long time.

 

Our Score : **** . A very nice, sweet and rather soft (for that almost 53 abv that is) rum. Give it a more complexity and depth and it might deserve the whole 5 stars. But 4 stars is a very, very good score.

Price? About €160-170…provided you can still score a bottle !

Belize 7 yo ‘Prime Minister Edition’ Plantation

The Rum : Belize 7 yo ‘Prime Minister Edition’ by Plantation for The Nectar (Belgium) – 43 abv

Origin: Belize

Distilled: ca 2006

Bottled: 2013 – cask 2/6 – 450 bottles. Late Harvest Cask Finish

 

Nose: First impression is cognac, but also some very nice fruity notes: tropical fruits followed by peaches. Soft herbal with a little whiff of vanilla. Soft nose without any aggressive alcohol. After a good 15 minutes in the glass a delicate floral perfume with more vanilla now.

Taste:  A rather strange but very pleasant mixture of sweet raisins, banana (pisang), chocolate with nuts and even some smoke. In the middle of the palate a little bitter note that quickly drowns in the overall sweetness of the  rum.

Finish: Retakes all the flavours of the taste, being a little less sweeter and more wood influence. Long finish.

Our score :*** For not even €50 this is a stunner indeed.

Remarks:  A very pleasant rum from a small nation that surely deserves its place on the rum map. This 7 yo shows great maturity. I suppose this is a sister cask of the Belize 7 yo Late Harvest  bottled for Juuls Vin & Spiritus?

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.