Head to Jamaica with old bottlings and very different profiles, often of unknown origin but recognizable for some. Welcome to the 40s, 60s, 70s and 80s with a non-exhaustive panel of vintage rums.

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Private Stock Wray & Nephew 1970's / 43°

A rum from a "private stock" of Wray & Nephew "of great age and very mature", this is what the label tells us; the rum, bottled in 75cl was imported into Italy by P. Soffiantino. To go further, know that there are 2 other versions of this rum: one from 1967 (cork stopper), and a version from 1969 with a screw cap this time. This is bottle 319 / 70 (the 70 referring to the year of bottling).

In the glass, the rum has a cola/coffee color that is quite unusual for a Jamaican rum; the color is very oily and even greasy, very bright.
On the nose, it actually has very little to do with a Jamaican rum of today: candied prunes (and well beyond candied), tobacco, licorice, worn leather, with a big balsamic aspect, heavy and very black, but also sweet (chocolate) and even fresh (menthol). Surprising, because instead of being black and falling into excess, the chocolate-mint side gives a refreshing dimension that is quite pleasant, even if somewhat disconcerting mixed with animal notes (leather, musk). With rest, the nose takes on stormy and black horizons, but this time with a humid vegetal note, of undergrowth and mushroom, and always chocolatey. Despite all this black, the rum is evolving, rich and even becomes complex with time.

On the palate, the attack is soft and oily, gripping and warm on a sweet/tangy profile (candied prunes with vinaigrette/iodized) and quite quickly tannic and very liquorice: wet oak, tobacco, leather, burnt spices (cinnamon), big molasses. The rum becomes fat and the aromas line your cavities, increase in power but with class; the liquorice thus takes all the space and goes crescendo on a background of bitterness and burnt notes; beautiful evolution, a lively rum that seems to come and go, and come back… always in this dark register and ultimately very liquorice, but which knows not to cross the line of excess, but approaches it strongly, flirting with danger.

The finish is quite long, and especially persistent and rather dry on this over-present liquorice, once again accompanied by woody and spicy notes, tobacco. An animal and bestial rum, which delivers a long and surely painful story, but with a certain humility.

A Jamaican from yesterday that doesn't look like a Jamaican from today; or else that we would have mixed with a noble wood juice and liquorice sticks (as in quite a few very old Jamaicans from Wray & Nephew by the way). It still remains an imposing rum, black and with a strong identity that only time can forge. A beautiful experience that commands respect. Note: 87

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Alfred Lamb's 1949 Special Consignment / 40°

Another Jamaican rum, this time distilled on September 9, 1949 and limited to 510 units (here the bottle bears the #155). From the "oldest rums ever produced by Alfred Lamb" bottled in the town of Dumbarton in Scotland in the 90s. There is another bottling of the same kind but distilled this time in 1939 and marketed in the 80s/90s (at 918 bottles).

Very bright amber color tending towards bronze, very oily.
On the nose, it is Jamaican, no doubt: on herbs (hay) and rotten fruits (banana), freshly cut wood chips and steamed vegetables, with a heavy and swollen smell (cauliflower). Rest assured it is melted in the whole so not bothersome for a penny; on the contrary, it works together, it is complex and well balanced, vegetal tending towards animal notes. Stinky rum is therefore not an empty word! Next to that, the batch of fruits (even very mature) gives a more accessible dimension, just like the vanilla. This rum with a higher degree would surely have stuck to the nose given the result at 40.

On the palate, the attack is soft and slightly oily, on anise, herbs and this freshly cut and incisive wood that gradually warms the palate, with peppery and mentholated (iodized) notes. The fruits, with always this banana, bring sweetness to the whole and give it a nice balance; the rum becomes even more present, almost sticky; it is pleasant and quite rich for 40°, with a nice presence in the mouth but it surely lacks more watts to really shine (and explode). The oak is quite present and brings bitterness in the mouth. The rum offers a nice length and heads towards rather dry, spicy and iodized notes (olive, brine), with the fruits in the background, always mature.

A fine and rather delicate rum despite a rather (very) disconcerting nose at first with this opulent "vegetable" and vegetal side. For 40° it does very well and shows great potential. Note: 83

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John CAONOE 15 years old / 74°

A 15 year old Jamaican rum from the 60s named after a historical figure with the beautiful story that goes with it. There is also a "Fine Old" version in addition to this one catalogued as "Deluxe Quality" and with an impressive 74°! No information on the origin but the rum was imported for the Italian market (Whiskyteca Giaccone Salo).

A straw color for this rum, very light, and a slightly oily dress. It would almost be too calm..
On the nose it wakes up quickly, a real wild beast… but who can doubt it with 74°? No need, therefore, to get too close, it could be fatal. The alcohol dominates, and with it heavy vegetal smells, glue, exotic fruits (banana peel), nuts, and more vegetal galore (grass, cane), notes of earth, olive, licorice, and varnish; all arrives on the nose brutally. It will take a lot of rest to calm the flame, and to reveal a slightly fruitier, sweeter profile, with a licorice that encompasses everything.

On the palate (and undiluted), it is unsurprisingly powerful and stripping, but surely less than imagined; creamy and rich with the notes previously described, in a thick mixture that sticks to the gums, very oily. It is full of herbs, olive, tar, acrid, citrus and exotic fruits. And full of alcohol. A tenacious rum! The finish is long, dry on alcohol and citrus, vegetal.

With water, it is clearly more tenable, on dried fruits and with lots of citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit), nuts, herbs and always liquorice. And despite the dilution, the finish is still as long, on a final note of oak and liquorice (zan).

A wild and brutal beast, but too alcoholic, unless you are surely a talented master of rum dilution, which is not really my case. Rating: 81

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Original Jamaica Black Joe / 40°

This bottle of Black Joe, which is believed to date back to the 80s, was imported and bottled by the Italian Industria Lombarda Liquori Vini Affini SPA (Saronno). A product of The Rum Company (a Swiss company created in 1943 by Compania Rum Basel and which was bought by Wray & Nephew Group in 1965 to focus on exporting Jamaican rum/blend brands) also at the origin of Coruba and Sugar Mills rums.

This Black Joe has a fairly light color, a light amber/gold with an oily appearance.
On the nose, it is very light but Jamaica is already within reach of the first scent: glue, olive, melted plastic and crushed banana dominate in a fairly pleasant and very easy ensemble. The plastic notes fade away in favor of fruits and honey, with this time pineapple full of sugar accompanying the banana, in an atmosphere of fruits in syrup, fat. An iodized and fresh side follows in a nose that goes from the beach to the orchard in the blink of an eye (apple, white-fleshed fruits).

On the palate, very light, too much so; we expected fat and power, and we come across a rum without relief and very soft on the palate, diluted to the point of death. A briny, iodized and fruity mouth (fruit in syrup) but quite flat, even if soft and still very easy to access. Anise, olive and cinnamon but without the spark necessary to confirm the pretty things perceived on the nose, too bad. The finish is average, dry, phenolic and fruity, simple.

We go from a simple and pretty nose, quite seductive, to a disappointing and very flat mouth. The degree literally kills the rum. Note: 74

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Berry Bros 1977 Jamaican overproof / 60.3°

From the 'Exceptional Casks' series from the Berry Bros bottler, this Jamaican rum was distilled in 1977 and bottled after 37 years of aging (most of which in Europe). Cask #23, bottle #204/220.

The color here is a strong amber, tending towards a classy bronze; very beautiful color, fat and luminous.
On the nose, it is superb, rich and concentrated, magnetic. On a very classy tobacco, with dried banana and coconut grilled to perfection and a melted and resinous, vanilla-flavored candied fruit. More empyreumatic than usual, and very deep! There is a lot going on on the nose, with dried fruits (raisins but also red fruits), citrus fruits, chocolate, blotting paper and a fresh vegetable (mushroom?), cumin. And I can tell you that rest does not scare it, quite the contrary, this rum has several lives.

On the palate, the rum is resinous, enough to make some Demerara pale (for the fatty/resinous side), extremely rich and tasty: a controlled woodiness, a very well integrated alcohol, an assumed complexity; we oscillate between oak, citrus and candied fruits, licorice and grilled molasses, olive and fresh herbs/earth, in a very melted and melting whole held perfectly by spices, tobacco and more chocolate. The finish is of the same caliber, infinitely long and exquisite, between sweet and salty notes, and always concentrated with this worn charm (tobacco) old-fashioned but refreshing.

A dash of water will not take anything away from the quality of this rum, whether on the nose or in the mouth, it takes it and even better, it sublimates (with superb citrus fruits).

A superb rum that certainly falls outside Jamaican standards, but so enjoyable that it will stand out among the very best. A slap in the face. Rating: 90

This latest vintage brings back memories of other Long Pond rums, with its characteristic notes of tobacco and toasted coconut, fresh herbs with its usual fat on the palate. The opportunity for a next session to take a closer look at this distillery, this 1977 vintage, but also at others in a new overview. Wait & see…

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.

From the folks behind DuRhum, Velier, and more, comes a premium online marketplace for rum enthusiasts by rum enthusiasts! Do check out www.rowspirits.fr for more great content and iconic rums!