Review: Takamaka – St. Andre 85.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on December 12, 2019

The Republic of Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, approximately 1500 kilometers from the coast of East Africa. It is here that Takamaka Rum is produced in Au Cap on the Island of Mahé by the d’Offay brothers  at the family’s historical La Plaine St André homestead.

According to the producer’s website, to produce their rum the d’Offlay brothers use organic sugarcane is grown in four different regions of Mahé by an independent cooperative of farmers. The harvested sugarcane is crushed on site at La Plaine St André and the sugar cane juice is distilled in three copper stills, a rectifying column still for purity and two pot stills produce the rum’s distinct flavour. After distillation the rums are matured in French and American oak barrels in the unique tropical Seychilles climate. The estate-produced barrels are then blended with some of the finest aged rums, local essences and water sourced from the Vallée for its high mineral content.

It is not clear from the website whether all of the Takama Rum is produced from the estate-produced barrels as the wording seems to imply that another source of aged rum may be used for blending. The Takamaka – St. Andre is apparently produced from rums aged for 8 years in American oak. The spirit is bottled at 40 % alcohol by volume.

In the Bottle 4.5/5

The bottle shot I was given for Takamaka – St. Andre is shown to the left. I have seen a few variations of this bottle on different retail websites, with a common theme to the variants being that the bottle looks to be clear rather than dark, and the label is a printed white paper label rather than what appears a clear plastic label in the bottle shot. The information presented on each is the same however.

I like what I see, and if I had an actual bottle on hand I am sure it would look very nice on my rum shelf.

In The Glass 8.5/10

Colour:  Between amber and copper

Legs: Medium sized legs fall

Initial Nose: Oak spice and orange peel with butterscotch, hints of almond and tobacco

Decanted Aroma: Oak spice, ginger, vanilla and cane syrup melded with almond and orange peel

In the Mouth 51.5/60

Alcohol push and Spice: Smooth with mild oak spice gently heating the palate

Initial Taste: Mingling of light chocolate, butterscotch almond canned fruit, and oak spice.

Follow up: Vanilla and baking spices merge with bright orange peel and oak spice

With Ice: Coffee and milk chocolate ooze out with vanilla and canned apricots

In The Throat: 12.5/15

Body and Length: Medium bodied with mid-length finish heated by oak spice

Flavours during Swallow: Oddly muted in the finish with light vanillans and butterscotch

Lingering Flavours: Mild baking spices and hints of chocolate

The Afterburn  8.5/10

Final Thoughts: A nice rum I would mix in old fashioned or with a splash of cola and ice.

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

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You may (loosely) interpret the scores as follows.

0-25     A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49   Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59  You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69   Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74    Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79    You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84    We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89    Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94    Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+       I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping