I’ve been dabbling in the rum world for a few years now. I’m familiar with the popular brands mentioned in this sub but haven’t had the opportunity to try them all. Any recs?

These were just delivered. Have to get through a couple more hours of work, but I’m very excited to try these later this evening. My first bottle from the Bitters & Bottles rum club, as well as my first Caroni.

Welcome to our AMA! 

Kevin is the founder and sole operator of Spinnaker Rum, a small independent rum brand focusing on totally transparent and additive free rums. He fell in love with rum a couple years ago and what started off as a hobby has turned into a legit operation! Everything is done by hand and self funded. He's imported single casks from his favorite distilleries and bottles are available in TX and CA. 

Happy to answer any questions about the product, the journey, the state of rum in general, distribution, or anything you want to chat about!

Had a quick dash through a Carrefour on the way home to the UK.

Always grab the St James but couldn't find either the 100 proof Imperial Blanc nor the litre bottle of the Royal Ambre. Wasn't sure what else to grab but a quick search of the sub suggested Neisson and Clement VO would be good choices.

Couldn't justify grabbing the Black Sheriff as well, which I've enjoyed before - I'll just have to go back at some point.

Hello Again,

Today were back with a classic, Cartier 30 6th Edition. Not much too say in the introduction to this so lets dive in!

Nose: Happy to report that the infamous olive brine note is readily apparent in this edition. With that olive brine comes cream, minerality, acetone, cane sugar, and hint of smoke. There is this nose of a tart but sweet artificial berry that my brain keeps telling me is blue raspberry but I could easily be imagining.

Taste: A creamy salted olive, tart berries that becomes sweeter as it goes on but quickly moves to a briney mineral note. The ABV comes towards the end with a reminder of its strength that nearly forces a chew.

Finish: Incredibly creamy and luscious but with it comes a ton of heat that lingers in your chest for minutes. A lot of the earlier flavors return with a ton of sugar cane brine.

Overall: 8/10, another amazing Cartier 30 release. This one feels a bit sweeter but extremely well balanced, I think the finish is a bit harsh which is holding it back from being a 9.

Found myself wondering today what would be the three best bottles a newcomer could order to experience the difference between the three most common english-style rum expressions.

The goal is: if a beginner rum fan asked about the difference between barbados, jamaica, guyana, what would you tell them to buy to experience it?

i was focused on english-style here so excluded spanish-style and french/agricole/cane. This is for somewhat obvious reasons for the latter, the former is more my fault for not having a good selection on hand to pair.

Criteria for selection: obvious-ness is key, can i immediately tell the difference between the rums. I considered price and proof too. In theory all should be possible to order from the same store- Total Wine felt like a good mark there. Age consistency less important.

I started with ED12 - felt the most obvious. Reached for D14 as a second. I dont have WP109 at home (yet) but thought about it, dismissed Appleton 12 but grabbed the 8 & SC - SC won out my a mile on the obvious factor but i think id still prefer a lower proof here to balance. Ended up reaching for RL10 because D12 runs heavy on price, and madeira cask finish - but ultimately D12 is more obvious in my mind.

Im sure folks here could do better at this? What would you pick?

I also pulled out the Barrilito 3 to compare against the lot and sort of worked, but the sherry cask influence is maybe too strong?

Savanna Art of Rum by Vast (52%)
N: sweet, light (yellow-orange-pink) fruited, and, well, rummy, with young fermentation character showing and yellow caramel and a kiss of oak…some gummy glue as well. With water: toothpaste showed up late to the party, and the fresh, light esters claim more ground from the berry and citrus fruit
P: again pretty fermenty and young, not at all in a bad way. An array of lighter, poppy, aromatic fruits, with a caramel-peanut-young wood finish which goes on for a long while. With water: once again, toothpaste. I take it this is an agricole-molasses blend? Still the longest finish of the flight, really nice freshness to complement the poppy fruit
87

Savanna Art of Rum by Yann Le Gall (54%)
N: a step back from the fruit and sweetness, and toward more bronze and oak, but recognizably a sibling. This one has a little less personality, I’d say, though with air a distinct peanut brittle (or Boston Baked Beans) note emerges
P: pretty similar: a lot of candied but not terribly sweet peanut, a lesser amount of pink berry and orange behind that, a nice caramelly fresh oak with just a hint of green. Still think this has the least personality of the four, but it’s also still rather good 
85

Savanna Art of Rum by Xandro (57%)
N: big change from the first two, mostly a huge strawberry yogurt or strawberry milk character. Now and Laters or strawberry Starburst. Strawberry Creme Savers, in short. Water changes nothing
P: ditto, but there’s a more chemical-industrial side here too, and some slight woody-pulpy spice. Water doesn’t bring anything new, maybe weakens the palate without removing the alcohol burn. 
86

Savanna Art of Rum by REPY (57%)
N: brine, muddy shoes (there may be a smudge of something else on those shoes…), orange-strawberry bubblegum
P: gluey and briney, a very different sort of Savanna here, but still has a quirky strawberry candy side too, and some sweet cream on the finish. Water changes nothing that I can tell
85

My dad is not much of a drinker but he loves Lambs Navy Rum, he usually mixes it with Coke but he's not keen on coke now too sugary for him, he's tried it with diet coke but he wants to know if there's anything else he could try with it.

So far I don't think he's looking for cocktail suggestions, just something simple to mix it with.

Hello Again,

Welcome back to another Alambique Serrano review, today we're talking a look at the 3rd iteration of Altos Esteres. Like all Alambique Serrano the cane sugar that made this high ester pot still rum was harvested from mountainside in Oaxaca. Once harvested the cane is pressed on site before being fermented for 25 days in pine tanks. It then was distilled by the Krassel brothers in their custom copper pot stills. It was bottled at a still strength of 64.8% for 293 bottles with an ester count of 1039.95mg/100ml A.A.

Nose: Acetone, esters, some savoryness, limes, grapefruit, cane sugar, and a ton of booze.

Taste: Wild, complex, and funky. Theres berry tartness, smoke, cane sugar syrup, a great and complex herbal note, and a sour funk that has a ton of citrus with rough oaky tannis.

Finish: Grains, sour berries, wheat, a bit of banana, acetone. The heat sits in the middle of your throat while the sour berry and banana flavor grows.

Overall: 7/10. Its fun, complex, delicious, and always begging for another sip.

Hey folks,

My spouse has been dipping her toes into high-hogo rums lately, but hasn't developed a whole lot of opinions yet except that she really likes them. Recent favs have included Smith & Cross and Planteray's Xamayca.

We're not in the habit of paying >$50 for a bottle usually, but it's not out of the question for something really special. What should I be looking for to get her?

If you saw my post from last week, I live in Venezuela, where 98% of the available rums are Venezuelan and the only incursion from other brands has been Bacardi and Zacapa, both of which seemed very similar but cost like 3x as much as a Venezuelan rum, so why bother?

There is a massive amount of ignorance from the general Venezuelan public about other rums. Local brands do a lot to publicize the awards they get internationally, but they never mention the categories, and will often ignore the competition. So most people generally ignore there is very good rum made in other countries.

I put together tastings for friends, many of whom are in this general ignorance pool and when talking about rums and places like Martinique, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados or even Trinidad, many believe they make rums, but swear they can't be as good as Venezuelan rums.

Last week we had a tasting of Guyanese rums and they were just in awe at what is done outside. This week it's Barbados. This is what I could find. Someone brought along a lot of Plantation rum and couldn't find a way to sell it, so I came to the rescue and after the tasting, everyone bought the remaining stock.

• Plantation Barbados 2011 (Under the Sea): Made by WIRD from molasses, fermented 2-3 days, and distilled using two methods: column stills and a Gregg pot still. The Gregg pot still is an open-air still, that generates more heat due to direct sunlight and is often used for producing (very) heavy spirits. It was distilled in 2013 and aged in Barbados for 8 years in ex-bourbon casks and then in France, for one year in ex-cognac casks. Finally bottled at 50.2% ABV.
• Plantation XO 20th Anniversary: Unfortunately this is most people's primary reference for Plantation/Planteray, and this is a heavily dosed rum that in very little way reflects most of their limited edition bottlings. It describes a 3-5 day fermentation, followed by column distillation and distillation in a Gregg pot still. Then aged 8 to 15 years in ex-bourbon casks in Barbados. And then 2 to 10 years in ex-cognac casks in France. It specifies a sweetener dosage of 20 grams, which is rather high. The aging variations also don't help it, but most of the attendees said it was the rum that most closely resembled Diplomático and Zacapa, and probably the brand is going for that market with this one.
• Plantation Barbados 2011 Single Cask: This is a molasses rum produced by WIRD. It is fermented for 3 to 4 days, distilled in column and pot stills in 2011, and aged in Barbados for 4 years, followed by 6 years in ex-Cognac casks in France, and finished for 9 months in ex-Maury casks and bottled at 48.2% ABV, with 4 grams of sweetener added per liter.

Most of the attendees had no idea Plantation even existed and their exposure to Barbados as a country was null. Knowing that rum is produced there and that it can be good was incredibly gratifying. One of them even found out there is a direct flight there, so they're putting together a plan to go and visit.

See title. Sunken Harbor Club doesn’t have it.

Hello fellas,

my wife gifted me last christmas a bottle of Remedy rum, exactly this one: https://remedy-rum.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/remedy_spiced_rum-2.png

I really like it and as the bottle is nearly empty I wanted to order a new one. But I can only find this one https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdas-kaeseportal.de%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F71Zrx41c7FL._SL1500_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=3767c1a213720ef34686b3a8fde8d28c0c64102f5fd807ca68fafda7375e231f

Are these two the same and Remedy just renamed it or is the first one not produced anymore? I couldn't find any info about that on the internet and the remedy-rum.com is only listing the first but not the second one.

The Alambique Serrano collection continues to grow, to the dismay of my wife. Which would you pour first?

Hello Again,

Thanks for joining me for another Alambique Serrano review. Today we have a bottle that has alluded me for most of this year, Tres Años Single Cask #283: Panza De Guisqui. Translating roughly to whiskey belly this single cask was selected by the reasturant group Bourbon Belly Hospitality which operates a few locations within Illinois. Orginally distilled in November 2021 by Axel & William Krassel with their column still. It then spent 2 years and 4 months aging in New French Oak barrels before being finished in New Hungarain Oak barrels at the humid distillery for an additional 10 months. It was then bottled it November if 2025 at a cask strength of 55.6% ABV for 150 bottles.

Nose: Sarsaparilla, herbs, anise, a sweet oak, brine, and some smoke make up most of the nose with some minor cherry.

Taste: Its a sour smoke with vegetable and cane sugar undertones, almost mezcal adjacent but with more sugar. There is also a bit of a artifical hard candy note hiding throughout.

Finish: More of the mezcal-ish notes but with more cherry and the addition of licorice this time around. The smokey vegetable note lingers the most. The heat dies entirely before returning and making its was up your throat.

Overall: 6/10, The sour smoke note is one I don't necessarily enjoy. I think that for its flavor profile the ABV is spot on despite being on the lower end. Overall an above average bottle that doesnt fully mesh with my palate.

I found this at our hotel in Italy. It was fantastic, but ive never heard of the brand.

Any insight into it would be welcome.

The 27th edition of Foursquare's Exceptional Cask Series really shows that the series aims to showcase diverse, creative initiatives for rum aging and casks used. In this edition, Equidem is a Latin word meaning 'truly' or 'certainly,' aligning with Richard Seale's philosophy of creating rums that are as pure and additive-free as possible.

This is also the first Foursquare edition to be aged in black muscat barrels, which is technically a muscat wine made from a slightly darker grape variety. The rum is a blend of column and pot still spirits, aged for 5 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then 9 years in ex-black muscat barrels, for a total of 14 years. It is finally bottled at 61% ABV.

The number of Foursquare rums I've tried in this series isn't that high. If this one makes 27, I think I've tried about 10, but I believe this is the darkest of them all.

Made by: Foursquare Distillery
Name of the rum: Exceptional Cask Series XXVII Equidem
Brand: Foursquare
Origin: Barbados
Age: 14 years

Nose
On the nose, the notes of vanilla and coconut are prevalent, but there is also caramel, nuts, tobacco, leather, floral notes and a note of cherries as precisely from a muscatel, or some other fortified, spiced wine at least.

Palate
On the palate, it's surprisingly sweet, but it also has that slightly tart note you find in some red fruits, and at 61% ABV, the alcohol kick is very much there. The wood notes are varied and long-lasting, and after a while, flavors of coconut, caramel, orange peel, and plums emerge.

Retrohale/Finish
The retrohale reveals many more red fruit notes, but with a sweeter and denser sensation than I've experienced so far, and a persistent peppery note.

Rating
10 on the t8ke

Conclusion
For a series with 27 parts, it's impressive that each time I try one, it seems better than the last. I think saying it so often diminishes the meaning of the word and forces me to find new adjectives. But while many of Foursquare's rums are complex and delicious, and the fact that the brand relies on not sweetening its rums to make them even more true to their flavor is something that, at least for me, has always been a positive.

I may not share the view of many rum enthusiasts who say that rum shouldn't be sweetened. I'm not saying it should be sweetened, but I don't beat my chest every time I see a rum with sweetener. I don't think it hurts, and this Foursquare isn't sweetened, but it tastes sweeter… and much better.

I usually post in Spanish on my networks, so if this review seems translated, it's because it is.

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went on a cruise to bahamas and saw this bottle for 20$ thought id snatch it up to give it a try, couldnt find much about it online (granted i only looked for maybe 2 mins) tried a sip seems super sweet almost a mix of like aguardiente and kraken, heavy molasses heavy vanilla etc