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Posts Tagged ‘Rum’

My Early Reviews of Renegade Rums

Posted by Arctic Wolf on May 10, 2011

This week I am re-posting my early reviews of the rums from the Renegade Rum Company.

One of the aspects of these rums which sets them apart from other rums is the barrels chosen for refinishing. Not second run whiskey barrels from the United States, but rather more exotic wine barrels from selected wineries in Europe.  They produce Port finished rums from Panama and Barbados,  and Chateau Latour finished rums from Jamaica and Guyana. Renegade also experiments with a Madeira finished Guyanese rum.  And those are but a few.

These rums are unique and quite unlike anything produced anywhere else in the world.  They do not taste like traditional rums, rather they taste like new hybrid spirits with the influence from the finishing casks setting their imprint firmly into the rum.

For more information please visit the Renegade Rum Website.

Here are the links to my early Renegade Rum Reviews:

Review: Renegade Rum Panama (Don José) 1997

Review: Renegade Guyana Uitvlught 1995

Review: Renegade Rum Company 2000 Jamaica Rum

The Review for the Renegade Uitvlught 1995 includes a cocktail designed specifically for that rum, A Sloe Walk in the Jungle.

(Just to be upfront with everyone I admit that I have edited the reviews to correct the old typos that I have noticed, and in some cases to clarify my somewhat terse writing style. But the scores and the essence of each review has remained the same.)

Please enjoy this re-posting of my Renegade Rum Reviews!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on My Early Reviews of Renegade Rums

Review: Atlantico Private Cask Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on May 8, 2011

At Rum Renaissance 2011, in Miami Florida I was lucky enough to be treated to an information session hosted by Brandon Lieb, of the Atlantico Importing Company. I was allowed to sample their present offering, Atlantico Private Cask Rum, as well as sample two new products which were in development. Atlantico Rum is planning to expand their range with a new white rum, and a new anejo rum to add to the success of their Private Cask Rum. As their guest, I was given a bottle of the Atlantico Private Cask Rum after the presentation and I have decided to review the rum here on my website.

The Atlantico Private Cask Rum is a private label rum produced by Oliver and Oliver,  for Atlantico Rum. (If you have not heard of Oliver and Oliver, I should explain that they are an independent bottler of rum operating in the Dominican Republic.  They buy barreled rum from major rum producers, and then age it using a solera aging system in the “Cuban” style.)  Oliver and Oliver was given a specific flavour profile to blend towards, and working in conjunction with the Atlantico team, the Private Cask Rum was developed through a series of blending and tasting exercises. The result is a rum constructed to be a smooth easy to sip rum which is hoped will appeal to a wide variety of palates.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…Taking a little time with my glass I began to notice some nice oak and baking spice entwined in the caramel and honey flavour. Vanilla is very obvious as is the maple I detected on the nose. Deeper down I taste faint echoes of tobacco….”

You May read the full review here:

Review: Atlantico Private Cask Rum

As well I have included a nice “Mule “style cocktail for your enjoyment.

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Atlantico Private Cask Rum

Review: Diplomático Añejo Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 19, 2011

It has occurred to me that I have a lot of new readers who may not have had the opportunity to read some of my earliest reviews. In order to make these reviews more accessible I have decided to revisit them. These re-postings should appear about once a week (usually on Tuesdays). I have resisted the impulse to re-write the reviews. I may however have fixed the odd typo and inserted some clarification where my writing was unclear.

Today I am reposting my review of the Ron Diplomático Añejo which is a four-year old rum from Venezuela produced by Distilerias Unidas, S.A. . This rum review was one of the very first I had ever written. I was quite happy that when I went back to the bottle and tried the rum again, I found my tasting notes were very consistent compared to my early review.

Here is an excerpt from that review:

“… I taste nutty caramel, brown sugar, and cinnamon with butter.  It also tastes a bit like Amaretto. There is also a harsh backbite of spice almost like a sudden infusion of allspice at the end of the flavour.  This is still very good, and if we had a little more balance here I could rate this even higher….

You may read the full review here:

Review: Diplomático Añejo Rum

Please enjoy the Review!

Posted in Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Diplomático Añejo Rum

Review: Bacardi Superior White Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on April 10, 2011

In 1862, Facundo Bacardi and his brother José bought the Santiago de Cuba Distillery and began to distill what would become the most popular commercial rum in the world. Using a method of charcoal filtering, and oak barrel aging  along with a still of copper and cast iron, Facundo Bacardi created a smoother more refined version of the locally made rum. His smoother version of the spirit became local favourite, and over time, an international sensation.

Bacardi Superior White Rum is a direct descendant of the original rum which Facundo Bacardi produced back in 1862. Although production methods have undoubtedly changed since then, the Bacardi White Rum is still produced using a method of oak barrel aging (for one to two years) and charcoal filtration.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…I began by sipping the Bacardi Superior White Rum neat in my glass without ice. The initial impression was of a dryish rum which was perhaps a little rougher on the palate than I was hoping for. I taste a firm presence of almond and a softer presence of caramel and vanilla…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Bacardi Superior White Rum

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Review: Isla ñ Gold Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on March 20, 2011

Isla ñ Rum is a small boutique rum distillery based in Tucuman, Argentina which is in the middle of a major subtropical sugar-producing region of Argentina. The company was established to recover old distilling techniques in the production of artisan rum. Thus the company considers itself to be a boutique distilling company and produces all of their rum on copper stills in small batches. The copper stills have been designed to produce rum by a method which the company calls ‘slow distilling‘ which apparently allows the master distiller to have much more control over the process, and should enable the company to deliver a superior rum product.

Isla ñ Rum began appearing in the Alberta market about one year ago, and I thought that it would be interesting to review this rather unique rum from the sub tropics of Argentina. According to the company website all of the Isla ñ rums spend some time in french oak casks, and it states that large vat style casks are avoided in the maturation process. Further research indicates that the Gold rum which I am reviewing was aged for about 2 years, and that charred oak chips were added to the oak barrels to speed/enhance the maturation process.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…The initial nose is very crisp with some astringent birch and poplar aromas accompanying lighter toffee and coconut rind. Wood spices and a reedy tobacco lurk in the breezes as well and the overall effect is a rum which is very unique and interesting…”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Isla ñ Gold Rum

Please enjoy the review!

Posted in Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | Comments Off on Review: Isla ñ Gold Rum