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Archive for the ‘Extras’ Category

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#Top100CanadianWhisky #25: J.P. Wiser’s Union 52

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 29, 2017

And now for something different ….

J.P. Wiser’s Union 52 Canadian Whisky is a blend of mature 16-year-old Canadian whiskies with an extremely old single malt whisky that was distilled in the Highlands of Scotland. (Eighteen barrels of this whisky had been stored and aged at one of the J.P. Wiser’s warehouses in Canada since 1964. Apparently, if you go poking around in the aging warehouses in Canada, you can find all manner of strange spirits lurking around.)

Dr. Don Livermore (J.P. Wiser’s Master Blender) is apparently the creative mind behind who developed Union 52. The results of his experimentation yielded a whisky blend which consisted of 52 year-old single malt spirit (4 % of the total blend) and 16 year-old Canadian spirit (96% of the total blend).

Here is a link to the Rum Howler #25 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:

Review: J.P. Wiser’s Union 52 Canadian Whisky

The dominant flavours of the whisky are oak, vanilla, caramel, baking spices (cloves and cinnamon) and dark fruit (dates and figs) with hints of peat. I also taste black licorice, toasted walnut, and an herbal component which brings forward green sawgrass, willow and hints of menthol.

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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.

Posted in Awards, Canadian Whisky, Extras, Whisk(e)y | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100CanadianWhisky #25: J.P. Wiser’s Union 52

#Top100Rums of 2017: #23 Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 28, 2017

Ron Matusalem prides itself on being a Cuban style of rum with a history in Cuba they trace back to 1872 when two brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo Camp, together with a partner, Evaristo Álvarez opened a distillery in Santiago de Cuba. According to the information I found last April on the Matusalem website, the rum they were producing began to win acclaim by the first quarter of the 20th century. The distillery apparently operated until the 1960′s when due to the Cuban Revolution the Álvarez family was exiled, and the rum they made disappeared from the landscape.

The brand was resurrected by Claudio Álvarez Salazar, who is the great-grandson of Evaristo Álvarez. Of course, it was not possible, given the political situation in Cuba, for Claudio to produce or bottle the rum in Cuba. Apparently, it is produced (presumably by a third-party as Ron Matusalem does not own a distillery) in the Dominican Republic, and then bottled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana by Proximo Spirits.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #23 Rum of 2017:

Review: Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

“… I taste bitter-sweet caramel turning to treacle in my mouth with a light layer of vanilla keeping the rum smooth. A somewhat peppery, somewhat pungent oak spice is apparent which brings impressions of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon to the fore with just a touch of spicy wood sap melded in …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

 

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #23 Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

#Top100Rums of 2017: #24 El Pasador de oro XO Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 27, 2017

El Pasador de oro XO is a new rum brand brought into Western Canada by Charton Hobbs. The rum is produced by Les Bienheureux S.A.S. (in Paris France) and (according to the information sheets given to me) is a blend ‘grand XO’ Guatemala rums aged from 6 to 15 years in oak barrels at selected Guatemalan distilleries. The rum undergoes a final aging process in France where the spirit is rested in used cognac barrels in the cellars of Les Bienheureux.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #24 Rum of 2017:

Review: El Pasador de oro XO Rum

“… The mouthfeel is creamy and I begin to notice fine oak spice unraveling from the sweetness and heating my palate. Orange marmalade, caramel toffee, oak and baking spices (vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg) are all melded together into a very nice rum elixir which is not only easy to sip, it is also very yummy. Other flavour impressions drift into the menagerie of flavour, both milk and bitter chocolate, walnuts and pecans, and perhaps a smattering of Oolong tea and sweet cola, and a ribbon of frangipani …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #24 El Pasador de oro XO Rum

#Top100Rums of 2017: #25 Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 26, 2017

Dictador is produced in Colombia on the Caribbean coast at Cartagena de Indias City. Rather than being produced from molasses, the rum is produced from the virgin honey of sugar cane which has been distilled upon a stainless steel alembic, and aged using Dicatador’s unique take on the solera-style aging system.

Dictator’s solera aging system is a cascading process where younger rums are aged in oak casks and then blended with older rums. The aged rum are arranged in different flights with the oldest distilled rum on the lowest levels of the Solera. The younger rums are placed on the upper levels with the very youngest rums at the top. As the rum is pulled from the lowest barrels for bottling, the barrels are not fully emptied, and those barrels (about half full) are then topped up with rum from the levels just above. This marrying of old and new softens the fiery younger rum and provides the final blended rum with a refined smoothness and flavor not found in ordinary rums.

The Dictador 12 Year Old Rum, is a solera aged rum which is taken from the solera at the point where the age of the rum within that solera row is at least 12 years of age.  Some older rum is certainly within those barrels as well.)

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #25 Rum of 2017:

Review: Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

“… A light oak smokiness present in the rum seems to be acting to carry the other elements in the rum forward. I liken this to a well aged brandy in its delivery and in the manner in which the oak leads out in front without devouring the other flavours …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

 

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #25 Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

#Top100Rums of 2017 #27: Rum Nation Jamaica 25 Year Old Supreme Lord V

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 24, 2017

Rum Nation is an Italian company created by Fabio Rossi. His company is headquartered in Italy; but Fabio purchases select rums from various distillers in the Caribbean and the Americas. As a result Rum Nation provides a rather unique assortment of limited edition bottlings. One such bottling is Rum Nation Jamaica 25 Year Old Supreme Lord V Rum (2010 release).

This small batch bottling was distilled upon a pot still at the Long Pond Estate in Jamaica in 1985 and was bottled in 2010 by Rum Nation. (In case you did not know, the Long Pond Distillery is the original home of Captain Morgan Rum.) The rum is apparently produced from locally grown Jamaican sugar cane molasses, and was originally aged in American Ex Bourbon Casks after which the rum was transferred to Oloroso Sherry butts where it aged for an additional time period.

Here is a link to the review for the #27 Rum of 2017:

Review: Rum Nation Jamaica 25 Year Old Supreme Lord V

“… sweetness develops with impressions of butterscotch and dark brown sugar appearing as well as rich baking spices in the form of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. There is an herbal grassiness present reminiscent of green tobacco and heather with perhaps a little fresh poplar and willow thrown in for good measure. A touch of sea brine, bits of iodine and a phenol (rubbery) scent of fresh tar round out the aroma …”

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To follow the countdown list on a daily basis, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

The Reveal Page will be updated at least weekly through September, October and November and then daily in December.

 

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017 #27: Rum Nation Jamaica 25 Year Old Supreme Lord V

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