From the back label: The Royal Navy Admiralty-approved blend of Pusser’s Aged 15 Years is heavily influenced by rum from the double wooden pot stills of Port Mourant, Guyana, which have been in production since 1732. The Greenheart staves of these historic stills provide unique tasting notes incomparable to those of modern metal stills, giving way to an unparalleled and authentic drinking experience. Additionally, the blend is aged to perfection in charred oak barrels for 15 years.
So a rum from Demerara sugar and so from Demerara Distillers Limited.
I was told by my vendor there is no sugar or any other additive in this rum but the rum has been tested independently to 8g/l of sugar. That isn’t very much, but it is not strictly sugar free. I include a link below to a review by “the fat rum pirate” who did the testing. Its color comes from the long aging in charred oak. Its smoothness comes from that, but also its bottling at 40% ABV, a little weak, and cheap, for a 15 year rum costing $85/bottle. Even the base level blue-label Pusser’s is bottled at 42%! Come on guys and gals. I’d like to see what this is like in the 46-54% range… I suppose a bottle would have to be $100+. Too bad…
Color: medium dark and red-brown like old polished copper.
Legs: Fast, thin legs run down when the glass is swirled.
Aroma: Lots of complexity. Some alcohol, dark fruit (over-ripe prune, raisin), lighter pineapple or apricot, heavy into dark caramel, dark-brown sugar and warm spice. The aroma is mostly sweet with some bitterness in tobacco notes.
Flavor/texture: This turns out to be one of those rums that must be tasted to understand where good rums can go. Whether you like it or not is another matter. What strikes me is a glassy texture, not creamy, and definitely not sweet. Smooth, yes, there is only a little warmth going down and a rather bitter tobacco sort of flavor on the medium finish. But there is a funk here, that “old socks” or “moldy forest” sort of funk you also find in the Pusser’s blue label. Here it is less prominent but sharper without any sweetness to back it up. Not a fruity Jamaican funk but something vegetal. The fruits, caramel, and sweetness in the aroma are gone in the flavor. I imagine it is the wooden pot stills and the long aging in ex bourbon barrels that gives it this, maybe strong woody note.
I compared this to another “sugar-free rum” from Guyanese distillate, Hamilton Demerara at 43% ABV, which I took down to 40% with a little water. Both had the same level of non-sweetness, but the Hamilton lacked all the funk and woody bitterness. I think this sort of rum would appeal to a drinker of scotch, rye, or bourbon. One thing I do notice, the funk is at its heaviest when the bottle is first opened. A few glasses and a week of evolution in the bottle have already changed it; the bitter woody or tobacco notes seems better blended into the over-all flavor. Maybe I’m just getting used to it.
Is it worth $85/bottle? Everything is going up! All the Foursquares I see are now in the $75 and up range, even the Hamilton’s have gone up. This trend seems par for the course now. Yes, you can tell this is a high quality rum. But if I’m going to spend $85/bottle I’d rather get something without that bitterness. That’s just me though. There are rum aficionados, especially those I think who like whiskeys, who are going to love this. For me, no. If it was $50 or less I would buy another bottle, but at $85 I think this one bottle will have to do.
Here is a link to a review by The Fat Rum Pirate who has far more experience with rums than I. As is often the case, you will see his aroma and flavor impressions are very different from my own.
The cigar pictured is one of the last of my Foundation Tabernacles, among my best cigars. I’ve paired a few different cigars with this rum. They all work, but I haven’t yet found one that stands out. To my taste, this is an afternoon drink and not for the evening when I seem to much prefer the warmer tones.
Have at it and let me know what you think if you try this rum.
Ruminations 