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Posts Tagged ‘#Top100rums’

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#Top100Rums of 2017: #21 Dictador 20 Year Old Solera Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 30, 2017

Dictador is produced in Colombia on the Caribbean coast at Cartagena de Indias City. Rather than being produced from molasses, the rum is produced from the virgin honey of sugar cane which has been distilled upon a stainless steel alembic, and aged using Dicatador’s unique take on the solera-style aging system. Although the rum is produced upon a stainless steel alembic, the inner workings of this still contain more than enough copper such that it functions in basically the same manner as a copper pot still.

 

The Dictador 20 Year Old Rum, is a solera aged rum which is taken from the solera at the point where the average age of the rum within that solera row is at least 20 years of age.  (Some older rum is certainly within those barrels as well.)

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #21 Rum of 2017:

Review: Dictador 20 Year Old Solera Rum

“… I would suggest that oak and caramel dominate the rum, but in spite of the age of the rum, (which is apparent on the nose), the oak flavours do not attack you with sharp tannins and citrus zest. Instead, the oak flavours have melted into the caramel-like flavours and appear to the palate as a yummy oak and caramel syrup that carries hints of other the flavours within it …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

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#Top100Rums of 2017: #22 El Dorado Grand Special Reserve

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 29, 2017

Last year El Dorado Rum announced the release of a new special edition rum which celebratesd the 50th Year Anniversary of Guyana’s Independence from Britain. This Anniversary Rum is produced from a blend of rums aged 33 to 50 years, and finished with a soupcon of aged pot still rums surviving from El Dorado’s heritage Double Wooden Pot Still and a since-discontinued John Dore Copper Kettle Still.

50YO Presentation box_retouched

The completed rum is bottled at 43 % alcohol by volume and presented in a distinctive crystal decanter adorned by an 18 carat gold collectible medallion. Only 600 bottles were produced, each individually signed and numbered by the El Dorado Master Blender.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #22 Rum of 2017 (one which is almost certainly going to be sold out by year’s end):

Review: El Dorado Grand Special Reserve Rum

“… The initial aroma is rich and intimidating with dark caramel and treacle aromas rising laced with the smells of oak sap, tar-like asphalt and gluey resin. Wisps of dry fruit (raisins and dates) and hints of licorice and menthol mingle within as do a impressions of vanilla, dark brown sugar, and cinnamon. As the glass sits the complexity builds with damp cigar tobacco, espresso coffee and sweetened canned fruit (peaches and apricots) …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

Posted in Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #22 El Dorado Grand Special Reserve

#Top100Rums of 2017: #23 Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 28, 2017

Ron Matusalem prides itself on being a Cuban style of rum with a history in Cuba they trace back to 1872 when two brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo Camp, together with a partner, Evaristo Álvarez opened a distillery in Santiago de Cuba. According to the information I found last April on the Matusalem website, the rum they were producing began to win acclaim by the first quarter of the 20th century. The distillery apparently operated until the 1960′s when due to the Cuban Revolution the Álvarez family was exiled, and the rum they made disappeared from the landscape.

The brand was resurrected by Claudio Álvarez Salazar, who is the great-grandson of Evaristo Álvarez. Of course, it was not possible, given the political situation in Cuba, for Claudio to produce or bottle the rum in Cuba. Apparently, it is produced (presumably by a third-party as Ron Matusalem does not own a distillery) in the Dominican Republic, and then bottled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana by Proximo Spirits.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #23 Rum of 2017:

Review: Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

“… I taste bitter-sweet caramel turning to treacle in my mouth with a light layer of vanilla keeping the rum smooth. A somewhat peppery, somewhat pungent oak spice is apparent which brings impressions of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon to the fore with just a touch of spicy wood sap melded in …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

 

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #23 Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum

#Top100Rums of 2017: #24 El Pasador de oro XO Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 27, 2017

El Pasador de oro XO is a new rum brand brought into Western Canada by Charton Hobbs. The rum is produced by Les Bienheureux S.A.S. (in Paris France) and (according to the information sheets given to me) is a blend ‘grand XO’ Guatemala rums aged from 6 to 15 years in oak barrels at selected Guatemalan distilleries. The rum undergoes a final aging process in France where the spirit is rested in used cognac barrels in the cellars of Les Bienheureux.

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #24 Rum of 2017:

Review: El Pasador de oro XO Rum

“… The mouthfeel is creamy and I begin to notice fine oak spice unraveling from the sweetness and heating my palate. Orange marmalade, caramel toffee, oak and baking spices (vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg) are all melded together into a very nice rum elixir which is not only easy to sip, it is also very yummy. Other flavour impressions drift into the menagerie of flavour, both milk and bitter chocolate, walnuts and pecans, and perhaps a smattering of Oolong tea and sweet cola, and a ribbon of frangipani …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #24 El Pasador de oro XO Rum

#Top100Rums of 2017: #25 Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on November 26, 2017

Dictador is produced in Colombia on the Caribbean coast at Cartagena de Indias City. Rather than being produced from molasses, the rum is produced from the virgin honey of sugar cane which has been distilled upon a stainless steel alembic, and aged using Dicatador’s unique take on the solera-style aging system.

Dictator’s solera aging system is a cascading process where younger rums are aged in oak casks and then blended with older rums. The aged rum are arranged in different flights with the oldest distilled rum on the lowest levels of the Solera. The younger rums are placed on the upper levels with the very youngest rums at the top. As the rum is pulled from the lowest barrels for bottling, the barrels are not fully emptied, and those barrels (about half full) are then topped up with rum from the levels just above. This marrying of old and new softens the fiery younger rum and provides the final blended rum with a refined smoothness and flavor not found in ordinary rums.

The Dictador 12 Year Old Rum, is a solera aged rum which is taken from the solera at the point where the age of the rum within that solera row is at least 12 years of age.  Some older rum is certainly within those barrels as well.)

Here is a link to the review for the Rum Howler #25 Rum of 2017:

Review: Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

“… A light oak smokiness present in the rum seems to be acting to carry the other elements in the rum forward. I liken this to a well aged brandy in its delivery and in the manner in which the oak leads out in front without devouring the other flavours …”

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We  have reached the top 25 rum spirits of 2017. I have reviewed and/or re-tasted each of these rums within the past three years. (All Rum reviews were based upon bottle samples either purchased by myself or provided to me by industry.)

You can continue to follow the countdown on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100Rums.

Alternatively you can view the list as it grows daily by viewing my Reveal Page:

The Rum Howler – Top 100 Rums of 2017

 

Posted in Awards, Extras, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , | Comments Off on #Top100Rums of 2017: #25 Dictador 12 Year Aged Solera Rum

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