Dead Reckoning Rum: Independently bottled rum from around the World [Tasted #605 - 607]

We don't feature a lot of malternatives on the blog, but when we do, we prefer them to follow the same types of whiskies we typically like to drink - i.e. cask or higher strength, single cask, and/or independently bottled. So when Justin Boseley of Dead Reckoning Rum (IG) reached out recently, it only took a quick Google to learn this was the sort of malternative that ticks the TimeforWhisky boxes...

Justin runs La Rumbla Imports, a premium spirit store based in South Australia focusing on (you guessed it) rum, but also runs his own independent rum brand Dead Reckoning Rum, described as "An Australian Independent label specialising in master-mixed rum blends, single casks and some rare, forgotten ‘barn-finds’ of the Rum world".

Justin was kind enough to send through three samples of recent and upcoming releases, specifically:

• Dead Reckoning Rum Mutiny - South Pacific Cask Strength 21 Year Old (65%)
• Dead Reckoning Rum South Pacific Muscat Cask 10 Year Old (47%); and
• Dead Reckoning Rum Mhoba - South Africa 2 Years 5 Months Old ex-Red Wine Cask (56%)

Being a relative newbie to rum, I hadn't heard of South Pacific Distillery, but a little Googling led me to learn it's from Fiji, owned by Coca-Cola, and has been bottled by other independent bottlers (Samaroli, Kill Devil etc..) previously. Whilst the distillery does release some of own bottlings at the younger end of the spectrum, it seems they didn't quite know what to do with some of the older stock they had on-hand, which is how Justin came to bottle the 21 Year Old featured here (due for release in November in Australia, $200AUD RRP).

Dead Reckoning Rum Mutiny - South Pacific Cask Strength 21 Year Old (65% ABV, 21yo, 100% tropical aged, 85-90% angels' share, 285 bottles, Fiji, $200AUD)

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Colour: Deep burnished copper.

Nose: Grass-laden earthiness, stewed pears and peaches, along with banana & singed straw, funky, intriguing and inviting.

Palate: Big, mouth-filling Esthers give way to blackberry and blackcurrant notes, intense blackcurrant jubes, 85%+ dark chocolate and coffee beans then some black jelly babies. It’s big, very big, but not at all harsh. LOTS of flavour.

Finish: Long, dark chocolate coated coffee beans.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100 (Martin). At 65% this could've just been an overly hot mess, but it's not at all. It's complex, full of flavour, big, and delicious.

Dead Reckoning Rum South Pacific Muscat Cask 10 Year Old (47% ABV, 10yo, 100% tropical aged, 50% angels' share, 1,240 bottles, Fiji)
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Colour: Copper gold.

Nose: Esthers, grass, and a sweet fruitiness.

Palate: I get toffee at first, followed up by Sultanas and 70% Lindt Chocolate. These are big flavours, but they're refined, and at 47%, eminently drinkable.

Finish: Long, with slight oak tannins and coffee grounds.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100 (Martin). I like this.

Dead Reckoning Rum Mhoba - South Africa 2 Years 5 Months Old ex-Red Wine Cask (56% ABV, 2yrs 5mths old, 21% angels' share, 377 bottles, South Africa, $170AUD)
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Colour: Burnished copper-gold

Nose: Wow, instantly I just get huge amounts of blackcurrant juice, followed by some apple juice. It's intense, it's huge, it's obviously young, but it's packed full of flavour.

Palate: Big esthers, alongside fresh apple juice and juicy blackcurrants. I left the sample bottle half-full for ~2 weeks and after that oxidation, noticed some chocolate milk and caramel chews.

Finish: On the shorter side, with more blackcurrent and grape, hints of chocolate before ending in slight hints of drying oak.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 86/100 (Martin). Super unique, youthful and not overly complex, but definitely a well-made rum - tasty and in no way "harsh".

Thanks to Justin of Dead Reckoning Rum for providing these samples - definitely a brand I'll be keeping my eye on in the future.

Cheers,

Martin.

Black Tot Rum on Black Tot Day (Tasted #488)

It was a dark day for many on 31st July 1970, when 200 years of tradition came to an end as the last daily rum ration (or "daily tot") was handed out to British Royal Naval sailors. In time however, the day has grown to become a celebration of all things rum, and big things were planned this year, when 31st July 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the day known as "Black Tot Day".

In Hong Kong, the day was to be celebrated in a big way with Timeless & Tasty (official distributors of Black Tot Rum) at the newly-opened Central rum bar The Daily Tot, but unfortunately a third wave of COVID-19 put an end to those plans. Luckily, Black Tot Rum had an alternative, in the form of an epic, non-stop 24 hour online rum festival, featuring rum ambassadors, independent bottlers, formal naval officers and even Sukhinder Singh! 

To prepare for the event, Timeless & Tasty offered this pack containing component rums from Barbados, Guyana & Jamaica, along with a sample of Black Tot Rum, a blended Caribbean rum from The Whisky Exchange.

"But this is a whisky blog, Martin!" you may be thinking, and you'd be right....but I've never been averse to the odd "malternative" brown spirit being featured occasionally, especially when that brown spirit is rum. Personally, I find rum a delicious spirit, fascinatingly varied, and a category which (thanks to efforts like The Whisky Exchange's focus on categorisation) will likely start to gain the legitimacy and respect already commanded by other categories (e.g. whisky) in the years to come.

The aforementioned pack from Timeless & Tasty was a great way to delve into some rum geekery and explore the different styles and regions which make up the category, especially when enjoyed alongside the following online session (as part of the 24 hour online celebration), conveniently held at 7pm HKT!

THE PILLARS OF NAVY RUM
with Global Rum Ambassadors - Miguel Smith (Mount Gay), Christelle Harris (Hampden Estate), Daniyel Jones (Angostura), & Benjamin Boothe (Tamosi)

The hour-long session involved an overview of  Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica (from where the rums within Black Tot originated), insights into what makes their spirit production / style unique, thoughts on the future of rum, and for those lucky enough to have the corresponding sample pack, a tasting!

My favourite of the components was Barbados, followed by one of the Guyanan rums (not a surprise given I usually love El Dorado rum, which comes from Guyana), but it was the final Blended product itself I was most excited to try....

Black Tot Finest Caribbean Rum (46.2% ABV, NAS, Blended rum, $660HKD)

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Colour: Copper gold

Nose: Grilled pineapple, acetone and glazed honey on the BBQ. There's a meatiness, and a slight hint hint of petrol (in a good way - in the way it really "works" on say a Caroni), along with some vanilla

Palate: Lots of grilled pineapple, BBQ smoke, banana fritters, sweet caramel, dried mango pieces, stewed apples, spice and dried ginger.

Finish: Toasted honey-coated banana toast, coated in icing sugar.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. I'll admit I was sceptical when I read how tropical the official notes are, but it's true - there are some great tropical flavours in here. I mean, don't expect a 1964 Bowmore, and it's still a rum, but it's a delicious, fruity one.

A big thanks to Timeless & Tasty for the sample pack, and The Whisky Exchange for putting on a fantastic online event and giving those of us in various states of lockdown the ability to still enjoy a delicious spirit and learn something in the process!

From now until 30th September, everyone who buys a bottle of Black Tot Rum from gets the chance to find a Rum Ration Card in their tube, giving them a variety of Black Tot prizes. I'm not sure exactly what the prizes are, but I found one with the bottle I bought (and submitted it for a prize), so I'll let everyone know via Instagram stories once it arrives!

Cheers,

Martin.

Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo 2015 review

Moving to Hong Kong has provided us with some great whisky experiences over the past year - meeting David Stewart, sharing a few 'fiddichs with Ian Millar and enjoying a 1969 Glenrothes with Ronnie Cox to name a few.

What living in Hong Kong has also done though, is put us a lot closer to the rest of Asia, and allowed us to visit distilleries in Japan, India, and in the case of this post, spend a crazy 36 hours in Tokyo for the Tokyo International Bar Show + Whisky Expo. 

It all started when a friend suggested the Tokyo International Bar Show ("TIBS" for short) sounded like a fun weekend. While he didn't end up attending, another friend (Eddie Nara of Barrel Concepts) made plans, and I decided to join in. My plan was simple - fly out of HKG at 1am Saturday, land in Tokyo at 6am, get to the hotel, shower, dump the bag, then head to the bar show and catch up with Eddie just in time for opening. Stay all day Saturday, visit a whisky bar Saturday night, do it all again on Sunday, and fly out Sunday night, back home in time for work on Monday. Simple right? Thanks to the general efficiency of Cathay Pacific (and Japan), that's exactly how it went down.

Arriving at TIBS, I was faced with a queue of at least 400 people, snaking around the Tokyo Dome City Prism Hall venue. Luckily I'd arranged a press pass, and managed to walk straight in via the (empty) media entrance. I made a bee line straight for the Shinanoya stand to order a bottle of the (quite limited) TIBS bottlings - a 6yo single cask ex-French Oak Chichibu, and a 4yo single cask ex-American Oak Komagatake.

TIBS always held special appeal for me - mainly because it combines two things I love - whisky and bar culture (and as we've mentioned before, Japanese bar culture is about as good as it gets).  The venue wasn't big, but showcased a significant number of stalls with every spirit you can imagine, and a number of cocktails to sample too. 

The "+ Whisky Expo" part of the name was evident by at least half the venue being filled with whisk(e)y brands - from the big names (Suntory, Nikka, Beam, Bacardi / Dewars etc..) to independent distilleries (Arran, Glenfarclas) to smaller or lesser-known whisky players (Chichibu, Shinshu (Komagatake / Mars), Kirin) and everything in between. It was particularly exciting to see Kirin - who brought their 17 and 18yo single malt, and 25yo single grains along.

Independent bottlers were also present, with the larger-than-life Robin of Blackadder, complete with his 10 gallon hat, proudly proclaiming his complete lack of filtering for the excellent "Raw Cask" series).

A masterclass theatre provided a variety of masterclasses throughout the day (I attended a rum class with Ian Burrell the "Global Rum Ambassador" on one day, and a Hibiki component class with Suntory's Master Blender Shinji Fukuyo on the other).

A live stage added another dimension, showing various demonstrations and cocktail competitions, including demonstrations from headliner Julio Bermejo of Tommy's Mexican Restaurant (home of the world famous Tommy's Margarita). Enjoying one of these made fresh by Julio and handed directly from the stage was a pretty special experience, and provided a nice break to reset the palate after tasting 20+ whiskies!

The Chichibu booth was crowded for most of both days, and it wasn't hard to see why - with a full line-up, including a few pre-release bottles that read "Bottle 1 of 2"! Akuto-san was also around to greet fans and pose for photos / sign bottles. A top bloke and very humble!

Food within the venue was limited, but with okonomiyaki, tempura, takoyaki and sushi, covered most of my favourites. When a break from the spirits was needed, there were a few options including Nikka (with their Highball machine, showcasing the new Nikka Black), and Brewdog, the Scottish craft brewery famous for making some insanely high-ABV% beers.

The rest of the story is probably best told in pictures - enjoy!

I'm really glad I went to TIBS, and would encourage anyone who likes whisky, cocktails or bar culture to try to visit at least once in their life! A huge thanks to Tokyo International Bar Show and Hidetsugu Ueno (of Bar High Five and the Cocktail Culture Foundation) for the press pass.

Tasting notes to follow in a further blog post.

Cheers,
Martin

Fine spirits amongst fine suits (Tasted #126 - #128)

Last week I headed back to The Whisky Library (which we featured recently) to chew the fat with their whisky guru Marlon, and taste two recent whisky arrivals (and a sneaky rhum agricole thrown in for good measure).

The whiskies to be tasted were Douglas Laing Old Particular Glen Grant 18yo (48.4% ABV, $1,550HKD) and Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2014 (46% ABV, $1,150). Having tasted and enjoyed the 2013 Loch Gorm earlier this year when Anthony Wills visited Sydney, I was keen to see how the 2014 stacked up. The rum, a 45% ABV Rhum Agricole from Guadeloupe, bottled by Samaroli (who I suspect you'll hear more of now that we're based in Hong Kong) was a unique way to finish off the tasting.

The setting for the photos was the stunning The Armoury store in Landmark Men, conveniently connected to the Whisky Library. Fine spirits and fine suits - a perfect match.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Glen Grant 18yo (48.4% ABV, 18yo, Speyside, Scotland, $1550HKD)
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Colour: Light, golden sunset.
Nose: Vanilla, toffee and hazelnuts.
Palate: Spice, but sweet. More cinnamon than paprika. Toffee notes. Some heat, but not excessively so.
Finish: Long and smooth, with some lemon notes and a continuing cinnamon tinge right to the end.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 92/100. A fine example of a middle-aged, enjoyable, reliable Speysider.


Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2014 (46% ABV, 5yo, Islay, Scotland, $1150HKD)
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Colour: Deep Amber
Nose: Campfire smoke and raspberries.
Palate: Deep intense smoke, but not in a "bite your head off" style like some other younger Islay malts. but not bite your head off. Toasty cinnamon with some berries.
Finish: Long, smoky and earthy.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 93/100. An improvement on the 2013 release I think - less bananas and youth, and more of a well-rounded, full-bodied Sherried Islay whisky. Can't wait to try future releases.


Samaroli Rhum Agricole - distillery unknown (45% ABV, Guadeloupe, $1800HKD)
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Colour: Orange golden
Nose: Citrus - lemon and grapefruit mostly.
Palate: Smooth, very smooth. Very light and "thin" when compared to the previous whiskies. Boiled lollies predominantly. Very easy-drinking.
Finish: Medium to long, with oranges, apples and a hint of toffee at the end.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 93/100.

Whilst none of the whiskies in the photo below were tasted, I noticed this 40yo OB Laphroaig on the shelf and just had to include a photo (the company it keeps isn't too bad either). Bottled in 2000 at 42.4%, it's not too often you see an OB Laphroaig that was distilled in the 1960's!

Cheers,

Martin.

Sugarcane Sunday - Sydney Rum Club Showcase

Right, so it's not whisky, but (quality) rum makes a pretty bloody good sipping beverage. We've long been fans of quality sipping rums (in fact the same can be said for most quality brown spirits), so when we heard there was a rum show on in Sydney, we had to check it out.

Sugarcane Sunday is the first annual rum expo put on by the Sydney Rum Club, held at Sydney's The Standard this Sunday just past. With over 20 brands on offer, and brand ambassadors on hand to answer any questions, it was sure to be a good event.

...and a good event it was! You know those events that are "yeah, it was fun", and those events that completely blow away your expectations about how much fun you can have on an average Sunday afternoon? Sugarcane Sunday fell well and truly into the latter camp.

Brands represented ranged from the familiar (Bacardi, Havana Club, Appleton Estate) to the less well-known (Matusalem, English Harbour) right through to the as-yet-unseen-brand-new-in-Australia (Ron Abuelo). Most brands had most (if not all) of their expressions on offer, such as Cubaney (who had 9+ expressions for tasting).

While we ended up staying way too long and drinking far too much excellent rum, the highlights included:

• A walk-through (and tasting) of Bacardi at it's 8 different stages of production
• Ron Abuelo - A new rum from Panama which stood out as one of the best we tasted all day, amongst some very stiff competition (the 12yo and Centuria were particularly good, but the 7yo was excellent too)
• Appleton Estate's Planters Punch speed-bartending competition
• The Think Spirits Tiki Bar (with Kraken, Matusalem, English Harbour and Goslings on offer). This wasn't so much about the rum, but what was going on behind the bar. Hilarious staff made the event that much more enjoyable.
• The free hats and sunglasses on offer from Bacardi (and others) - pretty sure everyone was wearing them by the end!

After working our way through (most of) the stands, it was time for a break at Johnny Wong's Dumpling Bar. Then back into it for a few more fortifying rums before the trip home. We also ran into Gourmantic!

Cheers, 

 - Martin & Steph.