I spent an enjoyable cheeky little midweek rum tasting session up in the Library of Liquor, hosted by Peter and Pauline Holland from The Floating Rum Shack. This is going to be a regular Bournemouth Rum Club event.
An absolute bargain at £10 for 6 tasting measures and 90 minutes of good insight into the world of rums, beyond that major brand that you mix coke with. Peter is very knowledgeable and this wasn't some brand manager pushing product so it was very laid back.
Yes, I admit I like my Bacardi and Coke, which works even better with Fentimans' cola. It doesn't seems to work well with Pepsi for me although I prefer drinking Pepsi on its own over Coke Cola. So, when I was gifted a bottle of Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva for my drinks box it was the first time I had tried "real" rum and it was lovely. Like a dessert rum, dark and sweet, if I can use such a phrase. Definitely not for mixing. I was then given a bottle Santa Teresa 1796 for my birthday and that was just another shock as well. Light rose in colour and dry in taste. Just so different again.
Peter explained about the different styles of rum as in Latin, British and French, along with the different distillation methods such as column and pot stills, and that the rums were were tasting were purely one method or a blend, and made from sugar cane or molasses. It was such a good night that I have forgotten it all!
The rums that we got to taste are listed below:
1) Angostura 1919 (Trinidad)
2) The Real McCoy 12 year old (Barbados)
3) Botran 18 (Guatemala)
4) Appleton 12 year old 'Rare Blend' (Jamaica)
5) La Mauny XO (Martinique)
6) Diplomatico Vintage 2001 (Venezuela)
At the end of the day, your taste and smell palettes are very personal to you (as well as changing over time) and when you do a tasting then it is very subjective.
When tasting the first sample of the night, the Angostura, it just immediately struck me as slightly harsh and like drinking a blended Scotch whisky. Most people were nodding away, saying it was smooth with vanilla notes and so on. Stepping through it was the Botran 18 that really took my fancy, well until the Diplomatic, which wasn't as sweet as the Reserva Exclusiva.
What did surprise me was that the La Mauny XO came across like a toned down Laphroaig, I just got the oily peaty taste and mouthfeel.
Salvatore gave me a top up on the Botran 18 and I was good to go. However, as I was going, Peter introduced me to a taster of something rather special from HSE (Habitation Saint-Etienne) and I think it was the Rhum Agricole Extra Vieux - Highland Finish as I remember the green label, but Peter can correct me if I am wrong.
This was a different beast altogether, but the word beast is the wrong word as this was a very classy mature drink. In comparison, what we tasted earlier I could describe as flavoured rums, but that's not to say that they were rums with some flavouring added, but just to demonstrate the distance between those and this drink, in my view for what that's worth.
So, the night presented such a wide spectrum of rum and this was the first time I have tried stepped beyond the few that I have had so far. Peter was a fantastic host, very knowledgable and approachable. I feel the need to source a special bottle from him to squeeze into my drinks box.
