I’ve been a fan of the standard production English Harbour for many years. Bottled at 40% ABV, perhaps one of the best rums around for about $28 U.S. This incarnation is a special limited production at about twice (a bit more at $61) that price. Had to try it at least once didn’t I?
From the label and what I can find online, this rum is aged 5 years in ex bourbon casks and then Malmsey Madeira and Bual Madeira casks for 3-6 months finish. This link will take you to a nice article on types of Madeira wines, the Bual and Malmsey types are the sweetest of the Madeira types. So basically, this is English Harbour with some extra aging in Madeira casks and bottled at 46% ABV. Very nice.
Color: Medium pale, reds, copper, amber. Lots of bright color here.
Legs: Long thin legs but slow to coalesce. They don’t so much run down from the top of the swirl line, but appear like magic midway down the glass.
Aroma: Dark and bright fruit, raisin, prune, orange, molasses, caramel, and a little tobacco.
On the tongue it is creamy from the first sip and gradually grows less so as one drinks. I taste coffee, dry chocolate, something like allspice, a tobacco note and perhaps a slight hint of grape. There is a nice warmth on the swallow and a long sweet creamy finish which, again, becomes less sweet and creamy as one finishes the glass, but never goes bitter. This is a nice complex rum exhibiting various flavor transitions as one drinks it. I don’t get all the flavors described in this “Master of Malt” review, but all palates vary.. Interesting in that what they call “opening up” as one drinks seems more like a “thinning out” to me, but the goodness is always there.
The bottom line here is that this tastes like English Harbour with a little extra aging in Madeira casks and bottled at a somewhat higher ABV. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. The rum is delicious. Much more complex than the English Harbour that is its foundation. Not sure if the price is exactly fair by comparison, but it is certainly worth a try if you can afford it, especially for English Harbour fans.
Here’s another review of it from Caribbean Journal.
Ruminations 