Review: Toucan No. 4 Rhum   83/100
Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
Posted on December 11, 2019

Toucan Rhum is produced at Rhumerie Saint-Maurice, located in the municipality of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (French Giana). This South American distillery is located about 350 km from the equator on the east coast. The sugar cane used for the production of Toucan Rhum is harvested from a field which sits at the edge of a virgin rain forest where the Toucan bird (from which the Rhum receives its name) still flourishes in great numbers.

Note: French Guiana is an overseas department of France on the northeast coast of South America, composed mainly of tropical rainforest

Toucan Rhum No. 4 is an Agricole Rhum aged in low-armagnac barrels and bottled at 40 % abv.

In the Bottle 4.5/5

To the left is a bottle shot of the Toucan No. 4 Rhum. It appears to be sealed with a wooden or plastic screw cap in a squat medium necked bottle. The label is colourful showing us a stylized Toucan Bird above the brand name and a real Toucan flying in the forest underneath.. Apparently the Toucan is a symbol of the South American continent within which French Guiana Resides.

In The Glass  8/10

Colour:  Golden Straw

Legs:  Small droplets which fall as skinny legs

Initial Nose: A hint of sour, some shortbread, a few light vegetal notes beside butterscotch and (this will sound crazy) Elmer’s white glue

Decanted Aroma: A light herbal quality with hints of camphor, some sour fruit, hints of short bread, baked pineapple and again that light impression of white glue.

(This is really much nicer than it sounds.)

In the Mouth 50/60

Alcohol push and Spice: Youth is strongly hinted, but so is the underlying complexity brought about from pot still distillation

Initial Taste: Mingling of light butterscotch and vanilla with hints of herbal mint and resin. A light impression of grape which reminds me of a young cognac

Follow up: Fine oak spice appears with a strengthened herbal impression which reminds me of grassy tobacco with a dash of menthol. Bits of resin and camphor, butterscotch, orange peel and balsam wood and …. shortbread cookies

With Ice: Taste much like a VS Cognac with a similar herbal appeal

In The Throat: 12.5/15

Body and Length: Medium bodied with a light herbal finish

Flavours during Swallow: Herbal with mint, mixed with light butterscotch .

Lingering Flavours: Wood spice and and winding grassy quality accented by shortbread, butterscotch and mint

The Afterburn  8/10

A good example of a young agricole-style rhum. I would be tempted to make some Ti punch rather than sip the spirit on its own. I tried a little with ginger-ale and was pleasantly surprised. Tasted very much like a French Presbyterian which implies we could mix a nice Sidecar as well.

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