Rum - what's your favourite(s) ?

[dramtastic]

Well tried Agnostura 1919 yesterday for the first time. Quite lovely on toffee, hazelnuts and huge vanilla.

[Johnny Murgatroyd]

Can someone clue me in on the following: Pyrat XO and Pusser's Navy Rum?

I gather from some sources that Pyrat is overly sweet commercialised plonk with a reputation for a wonky nose. Anyone like this?

As for Pussers, I'd be fascinated what sort of character the ol' Navy Grog had.

[Mark C]

Alas, poor Foursquare 1998, I knew him well. All sadly gone and no more to be had. The 2001 port-finished version is a bit poor in comparison.

[Mark C]

Well tried Agnostura 1919 yesterday for the first time. Quite lovely on toffee, hazelnuts and huge vanilla.

I don't have a sweet tooth and find that far too sweet for my tastes, but it's a popular rum.

[whiskytime]

Can someone clue me in on the following: Pyrat XO and Pusser's Navy Rum?

I gather from some sources that Pyrat is overly sweet commercialised plonk with a reputation for a wonky nose. Anyone like this?

As for Pussers, I'd be fascinated what sort of character the ol' Navy Grog had.

IMO - The Pussers is one of the worst rums I've ever had....& everyone I had sample it also hated it. It has this really nasty sour oak or something flavor - just awful. It was not even good enough to drink in Coke - it made the Coke taste nasty/sour. I cringe even thinking about it

A really good inexpensive rum that is always in my cabinet: Plantation Barbados 5 year old Grande Reserve - it's excellent straight up or mixed. Has a butterscotch/brown sugar flavor but not overly sweet. I can buy it for @ $19 - really good deal & I've never served anyone who doesn't try it & ask what it is (because they like it).

[Johnny Murgatroyd]

Thanks for the heads up on Pussers. Will avoid unless someone else has something to say...?

Still no word on Pyrat.

[whiskytime]

Thanks for the heads up on Pussers. Will avoid unless someone else has something to say...?

Still no word on Pyrat.

.....but I think you should try it yourself (Pussers). I would not buy a bottle but try a shot of it in a bar. Who knows, maybe you'll like it? Someone must like it - it's been @ for a very long time. But I've never MET anyone who does...

[chrisg]

Looking at a few of the BBR bottles. One from St Lucia and one from Panama.

[athlete cured]

I'm venturing beyond Barbancourt (of which I usually have a bottle) with a purchase of El Dorado 15, Lemonhart 151, and Smith & Cross. Now to figure out how to enjoy them. not a huge fan of things tiki.

[The Third Dram]

I must say that I've been totally smitten by a fairly recently opened bottle of Admiral Rodney Extra Old Saint Lucia Rum... Smooth? Certainly. But at little expense to both substance and length. In short, a delectable sipping spirit.

[JohnnyV]

How does rum react to age? I've been eyeballing some lovely looking 70's demerara rums, but can a 30+ year old rum be as excellent as whisky matured for just as long, or does the spirit tend to get overwhelmed by the oak?

[The Third Dram]

It's hard (as with any spirit) to generalize as to how a particular rum will evolve in cask over such an extended period of time... Too many factors (cane sugar vs. molasses, distillation procedures, types of casks into which the spirit is filled, locality variations, etc.) to come to any simplistic conclusions, alas.

One thing I can say with certainty, however (my opinion further reinforced by cross-comparison spirits tasting conducted by Decanter Magazine tasting panels many years ago), is that as spirits (be they whiskies, brandies or rums) tend to become less infallibly identifiable the longer they mature in oak casks. No surprise here given the potentially dominant role that wood maturation can play in well-aged spirits.

Bottom line: If it (extended maturation) works in any given instance, it works.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

I was thinking much the same...I know nothing about rum, but have had a few well-aged examples of Calvados (Calvadoses? Calvades? Definitely not Calvadi), and found them and really old whiskies to be converging toward something. A major factor, of course, is the life in the cask, and a lot of old whiskies are from refill casks that aren't too active up front, so not all 30yo spirits are dominated by wood. But they're headed that way, at least.

[bpbleus]

It depends a lot where the rum has been aged - on location or in Scotland (or elsewhere in the UK, where a lot of rum casks end up)

My impression from rum sites is that rum aged in the Caribbean generally become over-oaked once past their mid-teens. Rum aged in the UK seems to take an aging pattern more or less similar to that of whisky.

I have a 1974-2004 Demerara with still a youthful touch and a very long and lovely finish proving its age. No sign of oak dominance. According to its bottler (G&M), this spirit from an unknown still spent a few years in Guyana before being shipped to Liverpool. It ended up in the Elgin warehouse shortly thereafter, where it rested until bottling at CS w/o flavor enhancements for Binny's.

[The Third Dram]

I would tend to agree, having sampled a fair number of the C. Ferrand (French) bottlings of Rum, many of which seem relatively 'youthful' given their degree of maturity. This characteristic also, coincidentally, translates into very well balanced spirits.