The Appleton Estate is located in Nassau Valley in St. Elizabeth which is part of Jamaica’s Cockpit Country. The Cockpit Country is a karst formation which was formed over millions of years as the underlying limestone was eroded by the chemical action of rain. Within a cockpit karst formation are valleys known as Poljes. They are formed where a river floods, then recedes and forms a flat valley over millions of years. The soil in the poljes is very fertile and rich in nutrients because of the sediments left behind after the river had receded.
Appleton Rum has made some changes to their core line-up in recent years adding a 15 Year Old Rum (see review here), and moving towards minimum age statements for a larger part of their family of rums. In particular the Appleton Estate Reserve which was previously a blend of 20 rums with an average age of 6 years, is now an Age Stated Rum with a minimum age of 8 Years for the rums in the blend. The new Appleton Estate Reserve 8 Year Old Rum is also bottled at a higher bottling proof now 43 % abv instead of 40.
Here is a link to my review:
Review: Appleton Estate Reserve 8 Year Old Rum
Please enjoy my review of this sipping caliber rum.
Chimo!
The Black Velvet brand has a long history in North America, originally produced at the Schenley Distillery in Valleyfield, Quebec in the late 1940s. The whisky was initially called Black Label; but because of its perceived smoothness, the producers soon changed the name to Black Velvet. It has been a staple of the Canadian whisky scene ever since and is now produced at the Black Velvet Distillery (also called the Palliser Distillery) in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve was launched in the fall of 2008. The whisky was a more premium version of the companies flagship Forty Creek Whisky except that for the Double Barrel Reserve one more step was taken in the maturation process with the final blend set down in first run bourbon barrels for a final period of aging. The release was very successful, and Forty Creek soon made this whisky part of their permanent family.
Pierre Ferrand Reserve Cognac is blended solely from aged eaux de vie produced within the 1st Cru de Cognac, specifically from the Ugni Blanc and Colombard grapes grown within the Grande Champagne Cognac appellation (region) of France. Although the final spirit has no age statement, this is because the spirit is blended to meet an age profile that represents a 20-year-old spirit. To maintain product consistency from year to year, the actual average age of the blended cognac will vary depending upon the cellar conditions during maturation and the interactions between the oak and the aging eaux de vie.
Two weeks ago I began examining the entire family of English Harbour Rum as I published my recently revised review of the 5 Year Old Rum. This week I step up the ladder so to speak and have a look at the more prestigious English Harbour 10 Year Old Reserve Rum (next week I go to the top of the ladder and look at the 25 Year Old).
The Rum Howler Blog 