| |
House
1000’s of tastings,
all of the music,
all of the rambligs
and all of the enjoyable
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Assured ad-free
copyright 2002-2025
|
 |
|
| Hello, that is one in all our (nearly) each day tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
|
January 12, 2025
|
|
  |
|
|
|
A phrase of warning
Let me please remind you that my humble assessments of any spirits are performed from the perspective of a malt whisky fanatic who, what’s extra, is aboslutely not an knowledgeable in rum, brandy, tequila, vodka, gin or another spirits. Thanks – and peace! |
|
An avalanche of white rums
to carry the sunshine in
|
|
|
| Distillerie Bologne, Basse Terre, La Guaddeloupe (Rhum Bologne) |
|
We hardly ever get the possibility to style white rums, and to be trustworthy, they’re not totally at dwelling on Whiskyfun (and don’t get me began on the variety of ‘joven’ tequilas and mezcals we nonetheless must strive). However for me, white rum, very similar to a spritz, can also be an emblem of summer season. So, within the northern hemisphere, January looks as if the proper time to pattern a bit wheelbarrow-load of them. Our purpose: round fifteen or twenty, particularly because it’s good to have the ability to discover the DNA of those distillates and evaluate them extra successfully, one thing you can not actually do with malt whisky. Thoughts you, we gained’t be tasting all of those in a single go, however the whole lot will probably be revealed beneath in a single batch. And I ought to add that we don’t really feel assured sufficient to assign scores with pinpoint accuracy, right down to a single level. Good luck to us, and good luck to you…
|
|
|
Black Stripe (40%, OB, Canada, +/-2020) 
The bottle is kind of intimidating, although it’s value noting that is blended by Forty Creek. One can’t have all of it, can they? Color: white. Nostril: good day? Effectively, there’s a contact of cane juice, hints of bamboo shoots, a drizzle of sugar syrup, and a mere drop of pineapple liqueur. Hardly the type of profile one may recall the subsequent morning. Mouth: it’s effective, let’s transfer on swiftly. A little bit of earthy cane, a faint suggestion of artichoke, and sweetness with out precise sugary weight, when you observe. End: just about non-existent. A faint notice of lime. Feedback: not dreadful, however moderately weak for a malt fanatic’s palate.
SGP:330 – 60 to 69 factors. |
|
|
La Favourite ‘Cœur de Canne’ (50%, OB, La Martinique, agricole, +/-2023) 
This ‘Cœur de Canne’ (Coronary heart of Cane) can also be obtainable at different strengths, corresponding to 55%. Color: white. Nostril: ah sure, fermented cane, olives, capers, lime, parsley, Thai basil, beet syrup (and cane syrup, naturally). Mouth: a contact candy however in any other case superb, vibrant, and completely pleasing even with out water or ice, with a beautiful earthy character. Recent carrots, lychee, hints of roses. End: lengthy, clear, and aromatic. Feedback: fairly light for an agricole, but nonetheless very charming.
SGP:441 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Taragawa (40%, OB, Japan, +/-2023) 
Made by sake makers in Okinawa, utilizing shochu stills (metal). Color: white. Nostril: ultra-soft, nearly like rose water blended with lychee syrup. Mouth: strikes nearer to the world of rum. Beautiful fermentary notes, with rice and chocolate, roses, violets, and papayas. End: good size, with a pleasing acidic construction past the floral and lychee components. Pink grapefruit. Feedback: attention-grabbing and strange, I moderately prefer it.
SGP:730 – 75 to 80 factors. |
|
|
Aguardiente de Cana (46.9%, OB, El Destilado, Mexico, +/-2020) 
That is from Oaxaca, although it’s not mezcal. Color: white. Nostril: properly, it will not be mezcal, however it actually smells prefer it, with simply the right combination of olives and charcoal. Small pickled lemons, pickled onions… Mouth: frankly, it tastes like mezcal. It’s glorious, nonetheless full of olives and smoked lemons, together with earthy tones and a touch of petrol. Loopy stuff. End: lengthy, smoky, earthy. Feedback: I’m undecided they nonetheless produce this, a minimum of that’s what I collect from the TWE web site. The world’s gone mad if we lose top-quality spirits like this whereas persevering with to churn out oceans of ghastly, sugar-laden gut-rot. Proper, let’s take a deep breath…
SGP:372 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
|
Duppy Share White (40%, OB, Jamaica, +/-2024)
The bottle may be very fairly. We had tried an aged model earlier than, which wasn’t unhealthy in any respect. Thoughts you, that is Jamaican! Color: white. Nostril: hey, that is pretty! Tremendous-ripe mirabelles, raspberry syrup, blackcurrant juice, and prickly pear. No Jamaican funk at this stage, however who cares. Mouth: oh sure, hints of varnish, fermented fruits, and olive oil, adopted by touches of liquorice and even tar. End: not very lengthy, however the flambéed banana notice is great. Feedback: this deserves greater than 40% ABV; it will be good at 50%.
SGP:561 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Neisson ‘Clos Godinot’ (52.5%, OB, Martinique, agricole, +/-2023)
Certainly one of, if not the very first parcellaire white rum from Neisson. Color: white. Nostril: geranium and jasmine, white peaches, longans. With water: contemporary concrete, engine oil, tropical greenhouse. Mouth (neat): barely sizzling, earthy, and loaded with fermented fruits. It wants water. With water: a beautiful saline contact, hints of tarragon and sage, with a fermentary bitterness. End: lengthy, this time with extraordinarily, extraordinarily ripe bananas. Feedback: loads of motion on this Neisson blanc.
SGP:462 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Renegade ‘All-Island Cuvée Aura’ (46%, OB, Grenada, 2024) 
A lot emotion right here, because the distillery has closed. Individuals undoubtedly desire sugary garbage and that’s why main alcohol corporations desire to put money into manufacturers of pretend rum with made-up tales whereas being loaded with components. As Coluche used to say, “To calculate the IQ of a crowd, you’re taking the IQ of the dumbest particular person and divide it by the variety of members.”Alright, let’s take it simple, in spite of everything, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Color: white. Nostril: a shocking distillate, saline, tarry, oily, and chic. Tiny pink olives and a fantastic manzanilla en rama. Mouth: exceptionally saline and oily, adopted by ripe mangoes and black cherry juice. Magnificent. End: lengthy, with extra citrus and spice. An excellent saline aftertaste with olives. Feedback: what a distillate! As a white rum, that is simply on this planet’s high ten and even 5, for my part. After the stunning Neisson, this confirms it.
SGP:462 – 90 factors. |
|
Replace: there are some really unbelievable coincidences — we had simply completed wrapping up and modifying this session when the information of a possible refinanced restart of Renegade reached us!!!
|
|
|
Bielle Blanc (59%, OB, Marie-Galante, agricole, +/-2023)
Color: white. Nostril: closed and easy at 59%, which isn’t actually ‘Bielle’. Sugar syrup (eh?). With water: no improvement, which may be very stunning. Mouth (neat): varnish and cane, however once more, it’s too sizzling. This have to be made for ti-punches. With water: higher, however a bit messy and poorly outlined. It struggles after the Renegade. End: similar. Feedback: I don’t fairly perceive this. Bielle, in concept, is high 5 as properly—I’m positive of it. Have to be me, I may need performed one thing mistaken, I completely beloved this one 5 years in the past. I am going to strive once more with one other batch.
SGP:441 – 75 to 80 factors. |
|
|
Domaine de Bellevue ‘Rhum Blanc Bio’ (59%, OB, Marie-Galante, agricole, +/-2023)
This can be a single-parcel rum from Marie-Galante, although it carries the Guadeloupe GI, as administratively, Marie-Galante is a part of Guadeloupe. We’ve already tasted some nice Bellevues. In response to the homeowners, ‘the Bellevue distillery is the one eco-positive distillery on this planet’, although I’ve seen ‘carbon-positive’ rums earlier than. To be verified… In any case, this rum comes from the brand new Bellevue distillery, inbuilt 2001 proper subsequent to the outdated one. They personal 62ha of sugarcane. Color: white. Nostril: pretty light at first, barely earthy with notes of ripe pear, hearts of palm maybe, and contemporary blackcurrants… In any case, it’s very gentle to this point. With water: little improvement, a contact of paraffin. Very discreet, which is stunning. Mouth (neat): very {powerful}, very grassy, fairly bitter, with bagasse and hay. Water is basically essential right here. With water: once more, it’s discreet, however moderately elegant, with inexperienced berries. It then good points complexity with notes of olives and a contact of seawater bringing a lightweight ‘funk’. Far more to my style now. End: of medium size, fairly grassy and salty. The little olives stay, as does a touch of vanilla. Feedback: it wanted fairly a little bit of water and a few endurance, however it labored out very properly in the long run, phew.
SGP:461 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Longueteau ‘Memento L’Intemporel’ (62%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, 2024) 
A mix of roughly one-third blue cane and two-thirds crimson cane right here. Like many effective white rums, it’s matured for a number of months in vats earlier than bottling. I’m very keen on the easier Longueteau blanc at 50% ABV (WF 88). Color: white. Nostril: a particular nostril, beginning with greens and fish (sardines in olive oil), seaweed, and seaside sand… It nearly looks like standing earlier than a ‘low marque’ Jamaican. Naturally, we love this, even at 62%. With water: hints of carbon, exhaust fumes… (in rum, that’s interesting; in actual life, not a lot) adopted by orange blossom. Mouth (neat): good, with lime, inexperienced pepper, olives, and seawater. That is daring! With water: the cane reigns supreme, elevated by the identical very saline flavours. End: lengthy, exact, even refreshing. Feedback: I’m undecided all of that is ‘timeless’, however it actually evokes the fashion of a fantastic white mezcal, as an illustration.
SGP:462 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
|
Amrut 2022 (62.8%, Habitation Velier, India, pure sugarcane juice, 2023)
Created from cane harvested simply close to the distillery and distilled within the pot stills used for Amrut’s famed malt whiskies. Color: white. Nostril: pleasant! Extra tarmac than in all of the others, with contemporary rubber, zucchini, dried mushrooms, seawater, and whelks… Very stunning. With water: a contact more energizing, extra maritime, and even a bit chalky. Have they got all these aromas ‘close to the distillery’? Mouth (neat): oh sure! Beautiful ‘funky’ mangos alongside baggage upon baggage of Williams pears, which is totally surprising. With water: good—cakey, honeyed, and salty. End: lengthy and tight, with a touch of varnish. The pears stay within the aftertaste, together with a return of tar. Feedback: a pleasant shock.
SGP:552 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
|
Montebello 2019/2022 ‘Canne Rouge’ (52%, Barikenn, Guadeloupe, 551 bottles)
Color: white. Nostril: tender and fruity, with pears and plums, papayas and bananas, plus tender honey and contemporary cane juice with a faint chalky contact. With water: cement, plaster, limestone, and rainwater. Mouth (neat): earthy, with fermented fruits and saline notes… With water: it’s the earthy facet that really stands out. Reasonably dry in profile, which is strictly what we like. A drop of mustard. End: lengthy, mineral, and wealthy. Shares traits with a effective fino sherry from Jerez. Inexperienced pears. Feedback: this little Montebello is a real champion swimmer.
SGP:562 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
Wait, we have to reassure ourselves in regards to the Bielle blancs… (We’re already completely satisfied by the aged ones, I insist).
|
|
|
Bielle 2023 (58%, Swell de Spirits, Marie-Galante, On Tour Sequence, for Limoges Spirits Competition 2024, 250 bottles)
We’ve obtained some pretty pals in Limoges. Color: white. Nostril: coconut, mercurochrome, and peach syrup. I’m positive water will work wonders. With water: the pears take management as soon as once more. Delicate touches of first rain, although it stays discreet. Mouth (neat): wealthy and oily, with lemon, pear, cane juice, and a touch of brine. With water: cane juice, agave juice, and pear juice—very light. End: of medium size, tender, and nearly folded onto apples. Feedback: these contemporary Bielles strike me as surprisingly light, however this one remains to be vastly superior to the official ‘59’.
SGP:551 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Bologne ‘La Batterie’ (58.6%, OB, Guadeloupe, agricole, canne noire, 3,000 bottles, Version 2020)
Black cane is claimed to be a really fragrant selection, albeit low-yielding. This can be a single-plot cuvée from the parcel ‘La Batterie’, because the title suggests. Sadly, we haven’t tasted a lot Rhum Bologne to this point. Color: white. Nostril: loads of freshness but additionally sweetness, with orange blossom past contemporary cane, adopted by fennel and dill, clementine peel, Sichuan pepper, and a faintly brioche-like notice. Very fairly and chic, although not precisely ‘light’. With water: a contact of seawater and a small olive full the profile. Mouth (neat): tender however superbly lemony, with zest, pink pepper, and fennel. It’s a bit sizzling at 58.6%, although nothing out of the bizarre. With water: delicate earthy touches, jasmine tea, citrus peels, saline notes, liquorice, and pepper. End: actually lengthy, with citrus, pepper, and a tiny pinch of wasabi. A touch of coconut lingers within the aftertaste. Feedback: at no level did I really feel the necessity to add ice cubes—properly performed, Guadeloupe.
SGP:551 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
|
Jamaican Blended Rum (58%, Swell de Spirits, excessive ester, On Tour Sequence, for Rhum Fest Paris 2024 10 years, 200 bottles)
Color: white. Nostril: in fact. Mouth: naturally. End: clearly. Feedback: pure Jamaica, with tar, olives, antiseptic, paint, petrol, seawater, acetone, and all kinds of numerous solvents, plus that little masochistic contact that Jamaican rums (other than Appleton) all the time compel us to embrace. And we do, nearly with disgrace. A high-definition white rum, distinctive.
SGP:463 – 90 factors. |
|
|
Unaged Heritage Mix (56%, Tamosi, Jamaican and Guyana, +/-2024)
From what I perceive, that is Hampden + Port Mourant + Uitvlugt. As blends go, you may do a lot worse. Color: white. Nostril: an acetic facet, very charming, with touches of ammonia and parmesan, adopted by olive brine, seawater, and fermented fruits (bananas, pineapples). With water: carbon paper and linoleum. Mouth (neat): fairly frankly, the Jamaican dominates. Tar, olives, pickled objects, carbon, and all that. With water: including a good quantity of water proves attention-grabbing, because it brings out the mix’s parts past Hampden’s dominance. Sardines in olive oil, salted anchovies, black olives, and fermented cassava (bitter cassava starch) … End: related, very briny. Feedback: all in all, it is a Navy Mix for extremely superior British officers.
SGP:562 – 88 factors. |
|
|
Ghana ‘Unaged’ (65%, FRC, 320 bottles, 2024)
We’ve forgotten the title of this distillery in Ghana, however we all know, having tasted it as soon as earlier than (whoof), that it’s superb. What a ineffective blogger (a uncommon second of lucidity, S.). Color: white. Nostril: it’s a bit sturdy (no kidding Erwin), however there are pretty notes of apples and bananas. With water: the solvents and acetone come by—like a medical cupboard. Mouth (neat): varnish, petrol, coconut milk, and apple eau-de-vie, together with huge doses of ethanol. With water: ah sure, right here come the olives, tar, lemon, pine needles, iodine tincture, and oysters… End: lengthy, very saline, and intensely coastal. Seaweed and seawater. Feedback: Ghana is by the ocean, isn’t it? Undecided if this distillery is in Accra, however that will make sense. In any case, properly performed, FRC!
SGP:562 – 85 to 90 factors. |
|
|
White Pearls ‘Rhum Blanc’ (48%, Vagabond Spirit, Réunion, 2024)
Rum from Savanna, it appears, with a passage in amphora. We’ve all the time been supportive of ageing in amphora/concrete/glass/stoneware, however it seems that authorities usually desire oak or different wooden, which makes one suspect that these authorities are doubtless influenced by the agroforestry trade. Simply joking. Color: white. Nostril: simple, gentle, and candy, with honeysuckle, apple, gentle lemon, plums, and contemporary cane juice… This isn’t a grand fragrant profile however it’s very nice. Mouth: good, simple, with notes of fermented apples, younger calvados, grappa, umeshu, and pear cider… End: medium size, barely acidic, with a curiously gentle however refined physique. It’s near the cane. Feedback: effective and delicate.
SGP:541 – 80 to 85 factors. |
|
|
Los Convidados 2023 ‘Satvrnal’ (64%, Swell de Spirits, Mexico, 1,000 bottles)
Effectively, we don’t actually know what that is, so let’s see. In any case, the oldsters at Swell de Spirits are clearly having enjoyable, and rightly so, when you ask me. Color: white. Nostril: it appears a bit deadly, however we get pleasure from these whiffs of gunpowder, black olives, smoked bacon, contemporary IKEA plywood, and moped exhaust fumes… (I’m considering of the Gitane Testi Grand Prix 50cc from 1975). With water: by Zeus, we’re in Jamaica. Mouth (neat): completely explosive. Salmiak and heather maceration, common glue, and concentrated lemon juice with hen’s eye chili. To be trustworthy, it stings your tongue fairly a bit. With water: loopy, admirable, acetic, spicy, salty, and… pretty floral. There’s mullein syrup, as an illustration. End: very lengthy, mineral, and salty, with lupins in brine. Feedback: what an journey for a white rum. I adore it, and so must you, if I’ll say so.
SGP:572 – 90 factors. |
|
Final one, let’s hold on…
|
|
|
South Pacific Distillery 2017/2018 (83%, L’Esprit, Fiji, third version, 258 bottles)
It appears that is what Fiji’s omnipotent rugby workforce makes their opponents drink earlier than matches. Have you ever seen the ABV? Lets survive? And who will care for Whiskyfun’s mousers if one thing occurs? Color: white. Nostril: it’s petrol blended with medicinal alcohol. I really feel we must always have notified our insurer earlier than making an attempt this ‘factor’. The worst half is, it’s truly pretty—so long as you retain your glass a minimum of two metres out of your nostril and guarantee no open flames are close by. Olives, anchovies, and sharp inexperienced apples. With water: smoked bacon and fish, plus small thick-skinned lemons with ultra-acidic juice. Or finger limes. Mouth (neat): it obliterates your complete airway, however you may inform it’s good. Hyper-concentrated olives and solvents. With water: completely unbelievable. An enormous mixture of pepper, tar, glue, and lemon so intense even the C.I.A. would lodge a criticism. End: overlook it—you may’t combat this, even armed with two litres of Vittel (or Gleneagles, Highland Spring, Miller Mild and many others.). Feedback: did we dream this? Did a comparatively discreet French unbiased bottler truly launch a ‘very excessive ester’ rum at 83% ABV, the equal of John Bonham in Achilles Final Stand?
SGP:384 – 90 factors. |
|
Effectively, I believe this concept of sampling variety of ‘whites’ has run its course. It’s attention-grabbing to notice, a minimum of from my humble perspective as a mere fanatic, that the hierarchy of ‘aged’ rums doesn’t essentially align with regards to the whites from the identical distilleries or manufacturers. We’re planning one other tasting of utterly loopy white rums round July 2028, if that fits you (we’ve nonetheless obtained fairly a number of ready). Oh and nice information concerning Renegade!
|
|
 Test the index of all rums we have tasted to this point
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
