Last March, we offered you an exhaustive cross-tasting of Appleton rums, from their whites to their 12-year-olds. This time, we close the adventure with some commemorative rums as well as the oldest in the range, starting from their very first 20-year-old to the enigmatic 50-year-old.

Some of the samples and bottles tasted here come from the Rumaniacs collective ; you can also find the tasting notes of my colleagues on the site.

And as for the first session , the goal here is to make a comparison of rums throughout the history of the distillery to detect differences, preferences, in short, minimal or notable changes in order to seriously, and as precisely as possible, take a tour of the owner. Enough blah blah and let's go to Jamaica.

• The Appleton 20 Year Old was released in a ceramic jar in the 1970s,
• The Appleton 21 year old, first launched in the 90s (blue box edition), will change at the dawn of the 2000s with a more imposing and luxurious bottle. It is part of the classic old rums from Appleton, along with the V/X, 8 and 12 years old.
• The Appleton 30 years is a limited edition (1440 bottles) composed of a blend of rums of at least 8 years old re-blended and aged for an additional 22 years.

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Appleton Reserve 20 circa 70 / 43°

A 75cl stoneware jar from the 70s containing a 20-year-old rum reduced to 43°. Also available in 12 years. With the always well-placed inscription "aged in wood 20 tropical years ".

A beautiful bright amber, the dress is oily and the legs imposing.
On the nose, it is exotic with a mature tendency, with a harsh and opulent smell of fruits that have reached saturation and a punitive sweetness: mango and papaya that deliciously tickle your nose, at the right time and become almost tangy, mixed with melting mineral notes: smells of asphalt and olive, earth. A kind of devilishly captivating and seductive exotic solvent. A very well-balanced and above all very well-preserved Jamaican nose where everything seems to merge harmoniously and very pleasantly with a lively exoticism that transcends the tasting. The kind of fusion that only time can forge and master. An exceptionally well-made and delicate rum.

On the palate, the attack is warm and oily, on a mixture of exoticism (mango, papaya), asphalt and senile citrus fruits giving it a beautiful freshness; in perfect harmony with the nose and further proof of the astonishing balance of this 20 year old. The palate continues towards more darkness, pepper and brine, with once again the citrus fruits and their tangy juice. The oak also speaks, bringing small touches of bitterness, but the freshness, saline, has the good idea to eclipse it as quickly as it arrived, in a medium-long but persistent and purely Jamaican finish. The exoticism returns after long minutes as if to drive the point home. A slap in the face.

A very well-balanced rum with a clever complexity. It is when tasting this kind of rum that we sincerely regret the recent releases: it is rich, melting, tangy, sweet and asphalted. The best of Appleton? Just lacks length if we want to quibble. Note: 89

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Appleton 21 circa 90 / 43°

The first 21 year old to come out of Appleton in the late 90s, in a "limited" edition: it is mentioned that 12,000 bottles were produced annually (here #1999). The master blender at the time was Owen Tulloch.

Deep coppery amber color, rich and bright.
The nose of this 21 year old is fine and relatively dry, shy at first, with a fine coppery astringency and a slight spiciness; it is interesting to see the changes with the 20 year old in gré, much more talkative at the start. After a few minutes of rest, it is something else: caramelized orange peel and a fine woodiness that melts into a blond tobacco, then liquorice for a more empyreumatic than exotic profile, on dried fruits (raisin and prune). It is both rich and complex, gourmand and sweet, and we can already guess a fleshy and heavy juice.

On the palate, the rum appears oily and sweet, even mellow (and fat) on a liquorice that floods the mouth and mixes with leather and citrus fruits; very charming, full of sweet and loving spices (cinnamon, vanilla), with a little olive for a nice concentration, for a serious and dark rum, luscious and fertile. Its finish is very liquorice (tendency candy with zan), accompanied once again by spices, leather, and persists for a long time.

An Appleton with a mouth very concentrated on liquorice (candy, zan), but without sickening sweetness. And in the end very different from the 20 year old. Note: 85

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Appleton 21 / 43°

The “latest generation” 21-year-old from the 2000s, still available at 43°. Appleton is taking the opportunity to refine and refine its packaging.

The rum is a deep amber tending towards bronze, and its dress is rather oily and has a beautiful shine.
On the nose, it is rather dry, on orange peel (zest), vanilla and grilled almond, brown sugar. It is delicate and far from being extravagant (or even very Jamaican), but rather calm and classic, consensual. And if it weren't for this orange, it would even be banal, on a burnt sugar, vanilla and cinnamon profile. The rest has the good idea of ​​transforming the zest into marmalade and raising some notes of tobacco, but the rum remains very classic in the end.

On the palate, it is fat, almost honeyed (especially compared to previous rums of the same age), with a more all-purpose side and on the verge of sweet. We find this brown sugar, caramel and vanilla, and…orange. The rum is not unpleasant, on the contrary, but it quickly becomes sickening and dry on the palate. Faithful to the nose in this sense, but neither complex nor really very Appleton.

With rest, a little more vanilla, cinnamon, dried fruits and oak, with the caramel side still dominating. The finish is quite short, without any real aromatic persistence and the rum fades rather quickly, on sweet grilled spices and a caramelized zest.

A 21 year old in tune with the times, consensual, pleasant but inevitably less distinctive than the previous versions. Rating: 82

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Finally, let's move on to the commemorative rums:

• The Appleton Estate Master Blenders Legacy Rum , a bottling launched to celebrate the work of three generations of master blenders, and created by the latest, Joy Spence, using “rare rums up to 30 years old”.
• The Appleton 250th Anniversary Edition was released in 1999 to commemorate Appleton's 250th anniversary,
• The Appleton Exclusive offered only at the distillery in 2009 in a luxurious box to celebrate the terroir of Nassau,
• And finally the Jamaica Independance Reserve 50 , a very special blend of 50-year-old rums released in a limited edition of 800.

Added to this list is the Appleton “Joy” released in 2017 to celebrate Joy Spencer’s 20th year of service to Appleton as Master Blender (a blend of rums aged 25 years and over).

Appleton Estate Master Blenders Legacy Rum / 43°

A special bottling to celebrate the work of three generations of master blenders (Joy Spence, the current one, Owen Tulloch the former one, and David Morrison, Joy Spence's protégé). It would be a base of Appleton 21 years old to which rums of 12, 15 and 18 years old have been added.

The color is amber and coppery, oily with rather greedy tears.
The nose is quite dry, on a fine and slightly astringent oak, vanilla; then coppery notes and dried lemon and orange zest. It is very soft and benevolent (I didn't say boring but almost), on caramel and grilled spices (nutmeg) and some orchard fruits (apple, pear), fried. A fairly sober and light blend in the end.

On the palate, the attack is very soft and light, smooth and a little mellow. The rum rather speaks of youth, that of the still incisive tannins and the still green spices; the atmosphere is acrid, slightly bitter and it is the barrel that speaks: oak, vanilla, 4 spices, and our orange and lemon peels which seem to participate in this benevolent bitterness, soon caught up by more peppery notes. It is still quite dry on the palate, almost buttery (orange butter), and the finish remains faithful to the tasting: on a background of oak, spices and peels, leaving behind a slight bitterness in the mouth. The rum will nevertheless disappear far too quickly.

This is probably not the rum that will best represent the work of the blender, unless the aim was to highlight the younger generation, and therefore younger rums than usual? Note: 76

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Appleton 250th anniversary Edition / 43°

Released in 1999 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Appleton (since 1749), it is a blend of rums of different ages (some sources mention 25 to 50 years) released in a carafe of 6000 copies. We are moving a little further into the high end of the brand, before tackling the 50 year old.

Excessively bright copper color, old melted gold where tears have been replaced by footballs.
The nose is very molasses and warm, even classy atmosphere: dried fruits, roasted nuts (walnuts), brown tobacco. This is an Appleton that is darker than usual, and which has not forgotten its trademark: citrus zest, which here gives just the right amount of freshness without breaking the seriousness that has been established since the beginning of the aeration. A licorice caramel, melting spices, the atmosphere is honeyed, on brown sugar, maple syrup and becomes like sticky. The rest reinforces the burnt caramel/molasses side.

On the attack, the rum is honeyed and engulfs your mouth, pouring molasses all over your mouth, accompanied by black licorice and grilled spices (even caramelized). Very oriented towards molasses and caramelized sugar, it is dry and monolithic, in addition to being quite sweet on the palate. The finish is strangely short, very dry, as if literally absent. We will retain some hazy memories of licorice and grilled spices.

A classy rum but kind of sticky, pasty. Displayed at 43° and given the sweet mouth and the almost non-existent finish, it will be measured at Anton Paar at 40.8, or the equivalent of 8.8g/L of possible addition. Strange way to celebrate a birthday. Note: 77

A simple mistake along the way, or a sleight of hand to make a rum that has become too tannic or marked by time affordable (drinkable)? The 50 year old will probably provide us with the beginnings of an answer…

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Appleton Estate 50 years / 45°

A blend of 50+ year old rums, released to commemorate Jamaica's independence in 1962. The story goes that just before the country gained its independence, Appleton set aside a few casks with the intention of releasing this blend 50 years later; Joy ​​Spence would make the final blend, a combination of pot still and traditional column rums, the proportion of which is kept secret. A "double chill filtration" would have prevented overly pronounced tannins at the end of the aging process, and the final blend would have remained in vats for "a certain time" before bottling.

This Appleton bottling is still today the oldest rum ever released and aged in the tropics. 50 years, no less… So myth or reality ? You probably already know all the technical constraints that such a long aging implies, so what about this rum? We already know the seriousness of the house, but also its enormous stocks that undoubtedly allow it such an adventure, and we can therefore ask ourselves the question with complete legitimacy.

Even if one imagines such a test (of time) to be technically difficult, especially in the tropics, it is worth looking at Appleton's communications for this exceptional outing:

The story (which lends itself very well to commercial argumentation) mentions 24 barrels that were supposedly selected from the beginning of the 60s with the aim of releasing this selection (editor's note: barrels selected by Joy Spence's predecessor and mentor, Owen Tulloch, the same one who taught her his know-how for 16 years). Barrels set aside, from 1962, and even chained together on the floor of the cellar (still according to Appleton). After half a century, only 13 barrels still contained a little rum, evaporation (the angels' share) having got the better of the rest. From these remaining barrels, Appleton will release 800 75cl carafes.

Small feasibility calculation

Starting with an evaporation rate of 5% per year, there could be the equivalent of 1 to 2 full barrels left out of the 24 initial barrels after 50 years of waiting. And the quantity of rum needed to bottle 800 carafes at 45% corresponds roughly to 2 barrels filled with rum. The approach (and the feat) therefore remains plausible starting with an initial stock of 24 barrels, and of course with a lot of care taken with the whole thing.

Appleton mentions that there were 13 barrels left on the base stock, which would suggest either that there were more than 24 barrels at the start, or (and this is the most plausible) that there was about 15% of rum left in 13 of its barrels (and enough to fill, in the end and once everything was assembled, the equivalent of 1 to 2 barrels), while 11 were completely nibbled by the angels. After these apothecary calculations, time for refreshment and tasting…

Mahogany and dark but sparkling dress, tending towards a conquering bronze. Fat? And not just a little! It would even stick to the walls like a sloth to its branch.
On the nose, we are immediately plunged into a patinated caramel cream, varnished and flavored with cinnamon, to which we would have added very ripe exotic fruits (dead pineapple, anemic banana, suicidal papaya), tobacco and honey. The whole is very harmonious and melted, resinous even, both gourmet (pastry) and classy (old varnished furniture). Added to this are roasted apricots, caramelized nuts and the famous orange zest; the whole is deliciously minty, chocolatey, with in the background the echo of a dirty and sticky molasses, a steaming liquorice. But where are the tannins? And how on earth can Appleton release a rum so little marked by wood and so old.

On the palate, the rum caresses the palate in a very fatty, balsamic and liquorice sweetness, all in freshness (eucalyptus). We expect to take wood in quantity when no: liquorice, burnt sugar (molasses), a little sea salt, tobacco, cinnamon and caramel. But also black tea and mint. The exoticism is not left out and contributes to giving gluttony and to brightening the darker notes, always with a background of saving acidity (citrus fruits). A lot of banana and coconut for a rum, which in the end, would almost chew. A superb presence in the mouth, a very beautiful balance and a unique presence! The finish is not extraordinarily long but will impregnate memories of molasses and old tobacco, without forgetting a little caramelized sweetness and exoticism.

This rum has a terrible aura, a biblical presence; and even if it may have been helped by Mrs. Joy, it remains monstrously good, like other very old Jamaicans. Note: 88

(measured just below the 5 g/L mark (43.9 instead of 45), the change in density could be explained by the extraction of the wood and the extended aging time)

To help you (and me) find your way around, regarding the notes:

90 and + : exceptional and unique rum, it is the best of the best
between 85 and 89 : highly recommended rum, with that little something that makes the difference
between 80 and 84 : recommendable rum
75-79 POINTS : above average
70-74 POINTS : in the low average
less than 70 : not very good

Review courtesy of DuRhum.com.

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