Review: Chairman’s Reserve Forgotten Casks    90.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on December 13, 2019

St. Lucia Distillers is a joint venture of the last two remaining rum distillers on the Island. Their flagship rum Chairman’s Reserve is created using a blend of molasses based, aged rums produced on Coffey and  Copper Pot Stills which were matured in  American Oak.

On May 2 2007, the St. Lucian distillery caught fire, and in order to preserve the company’s stocks, many rum barrels were saved from the disaster by removing them and quickly finding new storage spaces at the distillery. In the confusion of the event, some of these new storage spaces were not recorded and afterwards all these barrels had to be recovered.  It is not surprising that the barrels in one of these spaces were left undiscovered for quite some time.There were in fact lost and forgotten.

Years later, when these barrels were found, the rum within was too old for the original Chairman’s Reserve blend, so it was decided this rum would be released on its own, as an extra aged Chairman’s Reserve. This new blend was so popular that St. Lucia Distillers continues to hold back select Chairman’s Reserve for extra aging to offer a limited release of the Chairman’s Reserve Forgotten Casks. Each new batch is made to replicate the flavour of the original Lost Casks.

Chairman’s Reserve Forgotten Casks is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume and according to the website information is made from a blend of Coffey and Copper Pot distilled rum which has been aged from 6 to 11 years.

In the Bottle 4.5/5

The Chairman’s Reserve Forgotten Cask arrives in the stubby bottle shown to the left.  The bottle and the label both seem to exude a masculine classiness which I appreciate. My only suggestion to improve things would be to increase the depth of glass at the base to give the bottle a little more heft and stability. (That is but a quibble, they don’t really need to change anything.)

In The Glass 9/10

Colour:  Copper/bronze

Legs: Slender legs falling rapidly

Initial Nose:  Fine oak spice ,butterscotch, vanilla and almond

Decanted Aroma: Leather and burlap, whisky, dusty chaff and straw, hints of maple

In the Mouth 54.5/60

Alcohol push and Spice: Smooth and enticing with light oak spice

Initial Taste: herbal grass and menthol melded with butterscotch, vanilla, fine oak spice and almond

Follow up: Maple sweetness with a nice light oaky backdrop, light nuttiness underneath reminds me of almonds and pecans, and then there is a lovely little bit of baking spice (vanilla  and cinnamon), Finally hints of raisins mixed with that light herbal grasses.

With Ice: Leather and burlap come to the fore as well as a distinct impression of smooth Cognac

In The Throat: 13.5/15

Body and Length: Light to medium body with a lightly herbal finish

Flavours during Swallow: Vanilla, baking spice and almond

Lingering Flavours: Oak spice lingers with almond and light herbal menthol and grass

The Afterburn  9/10

Final Thoughts: What a pleasant surprise. The rum is very whisky-like and also finishes with a light herbal flair similar to an agricole. It very nice to sip on its own or with an ice cube. I also tried a little with a touch of ginger-ale and citrus and found the combination enthralling.

If you are interested in comparing more scores, here is a link to my other published Rum Reviews.