Spirited News 05/2020: Plantation Rum SC
Every year Plantation Rum releases new Single Cask bottlings. This year is no different, with a whooping number of elven different ones. I was lucky enough to get my hands on five samples of the whole range for 2020. So, let us see what master blender Alexandre Gabriel has in stall for us today!
Starting with the youngest one a six-year-old rum from the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados. The rum is distilled from molasses after three to four days of fermenting. The distillation takes place on a column still. Afterwards, the rum rests for four years in 200 l bourbon barrels in Barbados. Then it is transferred to France and filled into 350 l Ferrand Cognac casks for one year and 225 l calvados casks for another. The rum has a dosage of 10 g / litre and is bottled at 41,3 % ABV. I am a big fan of calvados cask finishes, unfortunately you do not see them that often. With the Plantation Single Cask Barbados bottling you even notice a slight apple brandy note in the nose. However, in the taste typical rum notes have the first stage with caramel, molasses and vanilla. Even when 10 g / litre is not that much of sugar in the rum, especially a rum from Barbados could be even more interesting with less sugar and a little higher ABV. Nevertheless, the Barbados six-year-old is a smooth and pleasant rum which can please a lot of regular rum sippers.
Quite some esters notes
Surprisingly for me the six-year-old rum from Panama had quite a lot of ester notes. The molasses ferments for three days at the Alcoholes del Istmo S.A. distillery. Again the distillation is done on a column still before the rum is aged for three and a half years in ex-Bourbon barrels with a capacity of 200 l. The finish in France is done in 350 l Ferrand casks for one year and for one and a half years in 200 l Masala sweet wine casks. The resulting rum has a dosage of 16 g / litre and is bottled at 45,2 % ABV. Maybe it is the ABV, but the rum does not appear as sweet as it is. Besides the ester notes you can find some bananas, nutmeg and cloves. Again you can taste the finish, but this time it comes in the form of a certain wine note in the taste.
Smoky rum
Usually, when you read of an Islay cask finish the smoke is not that prominent in the taste. However, this is not the case with this rum from the Rum Company of Fiji. Fermented for four to five days and distilled on a triple column still as well as a pot still, the rum ages for eight and a half years on the island. After spending two years in Ferrand casks, the rum is finished for half a year in Kilchoman Single Malt barrels which previously held peated scotch. The rum beautifully combines typical Fiji ester notes which are somewhat softer than Jamaica rum ester notes and noticeable peat smoke. In my mind the rum even has a certain Iodine flavour in the nose and taste. I enjoyed this combination very much and if you are a peated whisky fan, you should definitely check out this rum!
Guyanese esters
The Demerara rum from the Port Mourant still delivers another variation of ester notes. The molasses for the rum ferments for a whole week before distillation. Next, it spends nine and a half years in Guyana ageing in bourbon barrels and is finished for one and a half year in Ferrand casks as well as in 400 litre Pineau des Charentes Rouge barrels. The dosage consists of 14 g / l sugar and the bottling is done at an ABV of 47,6 %.
Almost an ester bomb
This little tasting could also be titled: “A lesson in ester notes”. Last but not least, I tried the Plantation Single Cask Jamaica 1996. The rum comes from the Long Pond Distillery and the molasses is fermented for one week. Afterwards, the mash is distilled on a John Dore double retort pot still. The ageing takes place for 21,5 years in bourbon barrels, two years in Ferrand barrels and six months in rye whiskey barrels from the New York Distilling Company. The rum has a dosage of 16 g / litre and is bottled at 49,1 % ABV. I am not the biggest fan of ester heavy rums. So, the first taste was a little overwhelming. Yet, after a while I got used to the ester notes. This is when I also noticed the spice notes. There is a lot of anise, lovage and black pepper. All in all, it is quite complex with just the longest aftertaste you could imagine.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Rum was provided by Ferrand Spirits and the glass by Eisch Germany.
