For those in the Chicago area especially, this is a real banger you'll likely want to grab if you're an Alambique Serrano fan! (For those not in Chicago... our apologies.) Full review below but you can also read it at https://www.esterisland.com/reviews/alambique-serrano-4-anos-single-cask-143-binnys-pick

Nose: Watermelon rind, lime, nutmeg, orange
Palate: Strawberry, watermelon, spa water, lime cordial, toffee, Smarties candy
Finish: Fruit compote, oak, caramel

This site has only existed for a little over two months, and this is already the eighth review we’ve done of a rum from Alambique Serrano - and it’s not like we’ve been diving into the back catalog, as nearly all the reviews have been new releases or at least bottles that hit retail in calendar year 2026. We’ve noted before that AS is just insanely prolific and they rarely miss, so it’s hard not to want to buy (and review) a significant portion of their output. This is all the more true when Binny’s Beverage Depot, the major alcohol retailer in the Chicagoland area, gets its own specific barrel picks. We already reviewed the 4 Años Single Cask #374 which came out earlier this year, and both of us have it under strong consideration for possible rum of the year. Could a second 4 Años single cask - this time #143 - possibly match or exceed that level?

As it turns out… maybe! Cask #143 comes in a full 20 proof higher than Cask #374, and that more than 69% ABV is certainly noticeable on the nose and initially on the palate. Give it a few sips and things start to smooth out, though, and that’s when this bottle really blossoms. The nose can be hard to read as one adjusts to the proof, but there were distinct notes of watermelon rind and lime, as well as a whiff of spice - we thought nutmeg - and a hint of orange. The palate, once the initial heat dies down, is where things open up into a ton of strawberry. There’s also more lime, although in a fashion that more suggests a lime cordial, and more of the watermelon and “spa water” notes that were so famous in the Pico Canoa bottling. A mild tartness along with the fruit also gives the suggestion of Smarties candy (the American version), and there’s a bit of a toffee backbone to prop up all the fruit. The finish settles into more of a fruit compote, with lingering notes of oak and caramel. When empty, the glass gives an aroma of fruit cobbler.

Suffice to say, Alambique Serrano have done it yet again. I might not have minded tasting this at more like 120 proof, but even just shy of 140 it’s pretty drinkable once you get over the initial strength. There’s a ton of fruit here and it’s just wholly enjoyable; there’s also enough different fruit that it’s not one-note but still evolves and shifts sip to sip. No doubt this is another 5 on Taste. We’re going to call it a 4 on Haste as well; it’s a limited single cask only available at one chain, but you’ll want to find a way to get it if you’re an AS fan. For as popular as the Vida Nativa series is - and rightfully so - this is up there with the best of those and has a lower price point.

Taste/Haste Scale: 5 / 4

(See https://www.esterisland.com/about for an explanation of the Taste/Haste rating scale)

Before getting into the review, I recently started an Instagram Account where I’ll be sharing shorter versions of my reviews. While I mainly do whiskey, I am slowly starting to dabble in rum as well (this being my first “official” rum review).

This bottle was purchased by me with my own funds. I have no association with Circle Hook or its associated brands

Background: Circle Hook was founded in 2018 by Eli Underhill. A commercial fisherman by trade, he got his first exposure to rum when an old fishing partner would mix Meyers with orange juice after a long day working off the California coastline. Fast-forwarding to 2012, Eli and his wife Amy moved from Sitka, Alaska, to Gulfport, Mississippi. However, Eli was still spending 6 months out of the year in Alaska fishing, growing tired of being separated from his family and the strenuous work. After some thought and much research, Eli decided to build a craft distillery from the ground up. Choosing to produce his take on a rum, partly due to his position around sugarcane farmland. Taking the name Circle Hook as a reference to his extensive fishing career.

The Distiller’s Reserve line is a bit of a Mississippi brand collaboration. Taking their rum and maturing it in a blend of new American oak casks and ex-bourbon barrels from Crittenden’s in Kiln, Mississippi.

Circle Hook Distiller’s Reserve Batch 2

Aged 2 Years 6 Months

125 Proof (62.5% Alc./Vol.)

I paid ~$65 (after tax) for 750mL

Nose: Starting strong with dark brown sugar, vanilla bean, overripe banana peels, and maybe even a bit of guava. Faint sweet cinnamon, mace, marzipan, and cacao nibs too. A heavily reduced fruit note ties everything together. No real proofy notes are jumping up; yes, the alcohol is present, but it's well integrated.

Palate: Overall, not as sweet as the nose would suggest. Opens up with a bit of shortbread cookie before transitioning to plentiful vanilla along with some dried coconut and brown sugar. Wisps of banana. A tropical fruit cocktail bridges the gap to the finish.

Finish: The finish is reminiscent of banana foster. Cooked overripe bananas, dark brown sugar, dry cinnamon. Also, the tropical fruit cocktail note is persisting. As it progresses, flecks of dry black pepper, toasted oak, and the transition of brown sugar to a more earthy molasses start to happen. That cooked banana and tropical fruit cocktail lingers, with the oily mouthfeel and grippy tannin. Even getting a bit of pineapple rind on the exhale.

Conclusion and Thoughts: This might just be the bourbon drinker in me, but I love this rum. With some oxidation, this bottle began to really shine, having enough subtle changes between each session that I wanted to keep coming back. I appreciate the organic growth idea that Circle Hook is taking, and I am looking forward to future projects. Apparently, some more experimental finishes are coming down the pipeline, which has my attention.

I want to keep on exploring rum, so if anyone has some other recommendations, please drop them below! As always, if you made it this far, thank you! Cheers!

“So many choices! I usually drink Doorly’s 14-year-old rum. Which of the rums on this list would be a step up in quality?”

I was at my local bottle shop this week and happened to notice a dusty old end cap display set off to the side, full of Planteray products. One shelf had a bunch of bottles of Mister Fogg. Now, I'd bought a bottle of Mr Fogg several weeks ago, which turned out to be the second batch, and while I've enjoyed it, I've read several folks say they preferred the first batch. So I've been keeping my eye out. Well, it just so happened that this end cap had exactly one batch 1 hanging out in the back, in a sea of batch 2s. So naturally I had to pick it up and do a side by side review / comparison. So that's what we're doing tonight.

Alright, here we go:

Batch 1

ABV: 55.7%

Raw Material & Origin Blend: Exclusively molasses. 43% Barbados (West Indies Rum Distillery), 36% Trinidad (TDL), 17% Guyana (DDL), and 4% Jamaica (Long Pond and Clarendon).

Distillation: Column / Pot blend

Tropical Aging: Initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks in the respective countries of origin.

Continental Aging and Dynamic Aging: Shipped from the Caribbean to south-west France and matured in used oak barrels, followed by extensive oxygenation in large, open wooden vats in cellars along the Charente River for up to three years.

Volatile Compounds: 182 g/hL AA

Esters (Congeners): 39 g/hL AA

Dosage: 4.8 g/L

Rested in glencairn for ~15 min

Nose: Deeply caramelized sugar, fig jam, dates, bananas foster, molasses, hint of baking spice.

Palate: Nice, medium body. Burnt sugar, figs, dates, some oak, some baking spice (clove, allspice).

Finish: Nicely drying. Lots of Demerara rum notes here. The burnt sugar really lingers.

Final Thoughts: I really like this bottle. I got the batch 2 first, and have been working on it for the last several weeks, and very much enjoy it, but I think this one has to win out. It's more what I was expecting when I first cracked the bottle batch 2. I think the main difference is that the Barbados rum seems to be holding down the backbone here, while the Jamaican rum acts as a much more subtle accent. The Demerara presence is technically less here, percentage-wise, but the batch 2 has more funk, which kind of makes the Demerara flavors take a back seat -- meanwhile, in this batch 1 lets the dark sugar notes shine through a bit more. I really like the balance this blend strikes.

T8ke: 7.1

..................................................

Batch 2

ABV: 55.7%

Raw Material & Origin Blend: Molasses / cane blend. 35% Trinidad (TDL), 34% Barbados (West Indies Rum Distillery), 20% Guyana (DDL), 6% Mauritius (St. Aubin Distillery), and 5% Jamaica (Clarendon, Long Pond, and Hampden).

Distillation: Column / Pot Blend

Tropical Aging: same as above

Continental Aging and Dynamic Aging: same as above

Volatile Compounds: 183 g/hL AA

Esters (Congeners): 62 g/hL AA

Dosage: 4.8 g/L

Rested in glencairn for ~15 min

Nose: Overripe bananas, bananas foster, deeply caramelized sugar, faint tropical fruit (pineapple?).

Palate: Medium body, like batch 1. Funky banana, burnt sugar, grilled pineapple, a tad astringent.

Finish: Drying, burnt sugar predominates. The astringency is still around.

Final Thoughts: This is definitely a nice bottle, but like I say above, I think this one misses the kind of balance that I was hoping for out of the blend. I see what they were going for by adding in the cane juice rum, and increasing the ester presence here, but the final product feels slightly less coherent to me. It's very good, but I do prefer the way the first batch incorporates the funkier spirits in a more subtle way.

T8ke: 6.2

Note: I use a modified form of the take scale in my reviews, which adds a decimal point. I know that that flies in the face of the original intent of the scale, but I do want to be able to include some degree of granularity in my reviews, just so that I can make finer distinctions when comparing my preferences. So for me, I like the scale in the sense that I like what each whole number value maps onto, but I made my modification for granularity's sake.

What are your favorite rum-based, non-tiki drinks? Stirred cocktails preferred. I’ve been drinking Kingston Negronis and a manhatttan riff, and wondering what else is out there in that part of the cocktail playbook.

Trying to get rid of the rests of my old remaining Bacardi Carta Blanca to make room for better mixers ... So i started mixing it with Cola ... boooring ... then lime juice ... as expected ... then a small dash of coconut and demarara syrups ... ooookay? ... then my Hampden 8 spoke to me and i put it on top of it all ... tastes quite like Hampden pure now – but in huge amounts :-)
Like it much more than expected!

The UK rum industry is growing. Last night I visited Dropworks on the Welbeck Estate. The focus was on the impact the cask has on the rum. Sampled 4 higher proof versions the first two of which were drawn from the barrel.
A very entertaining visit in a small group. Came away with a few bottles including one drawn straight from the cask (far right).
It’s only 15 minutes from home - so no excuses when I need refills.

With the new Forbidden Island bottle releasing, figured it was time to clean up and make room!

the Vaval 10yr was really good. hope to see more aged clairin get into circulation. Paul and Noah were great to spend a few hours talking to.

Typed up from my phone, so apologies for formatting
.
Had a pour of two non-DDL heavyweights tonight and wanted to put them side by side. I also had an Enmore sample on the table, which I recently reviewed here. It was nice to compare it against something outside the DDL world.

I like to do random head to heads to clearly remember how distinct runs can be.

Background

Damoiseau Rhum Vieux Millésime 1980: Vintage rhum agricole from Guadeloupe, bottled full proof (brut de fût).

The Last Caroni, 23yo: Distilled 1996, bottled 2019, 61.9% ABV, 5,522 bottles. Heavy Trinidad rum from the Caroni distillery.

Damoiseau 1980
Extremely well crafted. Floral, luscious and fruity. Almost no heat at all, just thick and luscious from start to finish.

9/10

The Last Caroni 23yo
Oil and tar, much heavier in comparison. Baking spices come through underneath. Definitely the best Caroni I've had the pleasure to taste.

9/10

Verdict
Same score, completely different rums. The Damoiseau is all elegance and fruit with no burn, and the Caroni is dark, oily and heavy. Love them both and I love rum. Definitely my favorite spirit.

I've recently been exposed to the joy that is aged Haitian rum; don't get me wrong, I loved the unaged Casimir or the Clairin Communal. Coming from the whiskey world, I tend to enjoy a bit of oak and age. I'm also a major fan of Papalin bottlings - I've only had their 7yr Jamaican blend and the 5yr High Ester blend, but they haven't let me down yet.

Papalin Haiti, 4yr Blend

The nose starts off very fruity. There's some industrial notes like rubber, but also hints of smoked BBQ meat. Additional nosing brings out a chalky cherry medicine note.

The palate is all juicy fruit, sweet mango, and very tropical fruit forward. There is also notably little alcohol burn on the palate into the finish.

The finish is very pleasant - fruitiness continues from the palate and some of the industrial-ness returns towards the end.

7/10 - Great, well above average

Papalin Haiti, 6yr Blend, Ex-Sherry Casks

Unsurprisingly, the nose is very fruity; the dominant note is strawberry, and rather than the rubber note from the 4yr blend, I get more of a motor oil note.

The palate is a lot more funky than the 4yr as well. I've never tried Hampden Pago but I could see these pours being very similar. The mouthfeel is extremely viscous and there's a sort of berry cream cheese note akin to some high ester Jamaican rums.

The finish is a little short and there's more alcohol present. Pineapple upside down cake with a side of strawberry/raspberry.

7.5/10 - Great-Excellent, almost exceptional

Final Thoughts

I continue to be amazing by the variance and complexity of Haitian rums. I give the edge slightly to the 6yr ex-Sherry blend; I think that's because it reminds me the most of high ester Hampden distillate, and from the Papalin bottlings I've tried, they definitely seem to have a certain profile they aim for with their blends. Regardless, both are great pours and I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for a bottle of my own.

+++

Follow me on Instagram u/stubbydrams
I also started have a blog - stubbydrams.wordpress.com

Hi everyone, Oliver here, founder of RumX. 🥃

Like promised the line on top: I think and write in german, the english version is AI translated from my german notes and I edit it until it says what I mean. The article I link at the end was co-written by my friend Robert Bauer and me, the numbers in it come from our huge RumX dataset.

After the Caroni post Robert wrote about the 36 Demeraras that Velier bottled between 2005 and 2014. He has tasted all of them. The article got very long, so here is what I would tell you about it over a glass:

The part I like most is an exclusive interview with Daniele Biondi. His first trip for Velier in June 2010 went to Guyana, and together with Luca Gargano and Yesu Persaud he chose five legendary bottlings there: Albion 1986, Albion 1994, Diamond 1996 SVW, Enmore 1995 and Blairmont 1982. They drew samples in Warehouse No. 1, tasted them overnight in an old wooden villa on the DDL compound, and the next evening they had to negotiate the quantities with Persaud over dinner. Biondi gave us his photos from that trip, as far as Robert knows they were never published before. One shows a palm with marks written on it in ballpoint pen, this is how Carl Kanto explained the system to them. His own favourite is the Enmore 1995, he says he often prefers it to an old Port Mourant. He also tells how it ended. In early 2015 there was a meeting in Genoa with the new CEO of DDL, and in that meeting the supply was stopped. He says Luca was happy about it from the beginning, because DDL had adopted his idea.

Matt Pietrek wrote a guest column about standing next to the wooden stills. Two details were new to me. The Enmore column was never completely taken apart since it moved to Diamond in 1999, and the whole vat of the Versailles still was replaced at once in 2006. He also repeats what Shaun Caleb said in an interview with him: the wooden walls keep the heat, the stills run hotter and at higher pressure, and what you taste are mostly higher alcohols, less the esters.

Then the ratings. We have 1,449 ratings from 310 enthusiasts, the median is 9.1 and 74% are 9.0 or higher. Over all rums on RumX the typical rating is around 8. These are no blind tastings, people know what is in the glass and what it costs, so I would not read much into the second digit. What surprised me is the La Bonne Intention 1998. It is only 9 years old and stands at 9.4 from 19 ratings. The Versailles 1998 is also 9 years old and is the lowest of the series with 8.2 from 12. Robert thinks the smoke in the LBI comes from the old fermentation recipe, but he says himself he cannot prove it. On top is the Diamond 1988 with 9.7 from 13 ratings. Only 51 bottles were filled, and other people independently wrote strawberry in their notes, like Robert did.

About prices only this. At release the bottles cost around 100 EUR, a Skeldon 1978 around 155, and they sat on the shelves for a long time. The first reviews came 2010 from Serge Valentin and almost nobody noticed. In our auction data (769 hammer prices since 2021, without buyer's premium) the series is down 44% against 2023 at the median. A Skeldon 1978 went for 29,250 EUR in November 2022 and for 10,000 in April this year.

The article has the full interview with the photos, Robert's notes on six bottles and a table of all 36 with bottle count, rating and last hammer price: https://rumx.com/en/blog/velier-demerara-rums/

Has anybody here tasted the LBI 1998 or the Versailles 1998, and does this gap fit to what you had in the glass? And if you want the numbers of one bottling, name it and I post them here. 🥃

Hello Friends,

Welcome back to another Alambique Serrano review, today I'm taking a look at Blend #10: El Estado Dorado a California exclusive blend. Blended by Maxwell Reis from Mírate and Jason Paul Cox from Alambique Serrano the blend contains the following:

- 29% Krassel Still rum aged 28 months in New French Oak and 10 in a ex-red wine cask

- 28% Krassel Still rum aged 23 months in New French Oak and 10 months in a ex-red wine cask

- 27% Krassel Still Rum aged 38 months in a ex-bourbon cask

- 22% Pot Still rum aged 22 months in New French Oak (the Night on Earth blend)

What resulted was 907 bottles of 56.7% ABV Oaxacan rum.

Nose: A strawberry cough syrup with a bit of vegetables, floral notes, peppercorns, vanilla, with some tropical fruit notes and some olive at the end.

Taste: A spiced vanilla grape with plenty of oak, theres a bit of incense, leather, wheat, cane sugar, citrus, and some underlying tartness.

Finish: Wine soaked coffee beans, oak, graphite, a bit of incense, some herbal notes, but a ton of heat that sits mostly in your mouth and upper throat for a noticeable amount of time.

Overall: 7/10, really well balanced.

Hello all rum lovers,

i am no rum expert or anything but about two years ago i had an excellent encounter with a really tasty rum but neither was i smart enough to take a picture of the bottle nor write down the name. Searching up and down the internet the only clues i can remember are:

• a black label with yellow/golden writing

• named something like 'es stephan'

• a bottleshape close to a El Dorado rum

• french origins - french caribbean?

• bottle was about 80/90+ euros

• not a white rum

I would love if some of you have a suggestion or even know what the hell i am searching, appreciate the help!

I don't think I would ever approach a non-alcoholic spirit with interest and enthusiasm; fortunately, this particular product doesn’t try to pass itself off as rum, though it is produced by a rum brand, the Captain Morgan Rum Co. Regardless of how one might classify it, the category of non-alcoholic spirits is growing significantly, so it would be foolish not to pay it at least some attention.

A quick search for this… well, I’m not sure what to call it. This ‘product,’ leads me to many websites that glorify its existence, all while focusing on the benefits of not drinking. It’s a bit like looking for a cucumber on a vegan website. In fact, much of the product’s description centers on the joy of waking up the morning after a party without a hangover. I don’t know about you, but I don’t get drunk every time I have a drink or two; therefore, attending a party or having a few drinks doesn’t automatically guarantee a hangover the next day.

Still, it’s worth a try, especially since I didn’t actually buy it; I just tried it at a friend’s place. The first thing that struck me was the price: $45 for a non-alcoholic mixer. Interestingly, the alcoholic version of Captain Morgan is produced on the island of St. Croix, which is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This non-alcoholic version, however, is made in Italy by DOI S.p.A. in Santa Vittoria d'Alba.

Made by: Diageo
Name of the (non) rum: Spiced Gold 0.0%
Brand: Captain Morgan
Origin: Italy
Age: NAS (and I don't think it's aged)

Nose
The aromas have intense notes of vanilla and caramel, to the point of feeling synthetic, but also include hints of clove, molasses, brown sugar, and a hint of anise.

Palate
On the palate, it is disgustingly sweet, much like the original Captain Morgan, but without the sensation of alcohol, of course. The flavors are dominated by vanilla, which makes up nearly 60% of the profile, followed by nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and a hint of cake batter.

Retrohale/Finish
The finish is purely vanilla.

Rating
3 on the t8ke

Conclusion
In many ways, this Captain Morgan Spiced Gold 0.0% feels like a mixer, though it’s worth noting that the original, alcoholic version also feels like a mixer. I wouldn’t classify either as a rum *per se*, given that both are heavily spiced. This leads me to think that if you enjoy the original, you’ll likely enjoy this one too. It tastes almost identical, just without the alcohol.

Is that a good thing? I don’t know. But I don’t like it, whether it’s with alcohol or without. Beyond personal taste, paying $45 for a mixer... I just think there are far better options on the market, even ones that contain alcohol. But still, I don’t see the existence of alcoholic spirits as a negative thing; I don’t get drunk regularly, nor do I get drunk every time I have a drink or two, or four, or six. In moderation, and provided we stay in control and keep ourselves hydrated, we can all enjoy alcohol and spirits. The problem lies with those who lack self-control, and perhaps for them, this product might be useful.

He's here, the unage hampden DOK from Warehouse 1.

What should I do with this big boy ?

Would also be open to any other hot/warm cocktails you like for the winter. I've got a nice little rum collection put together over the summer for tiki drinks

A couple of recent hauls. The first picture is from a trip the New York and the second is from a road trip to Mass today. Burlington Wine and Spirits had Chairman's Reserve Legacy so I stocked up because they discontinued it.

Just got it! What do you guys think?