Today we've got quite the Japanese crossover - we're talking the highly regarded Bar Lamp from Nara, along with Kinko, a reputable retailer and bottler from Japan, and then of course Kingsbury, the well established spirits independent bottler. Japan has always had a serious love for its rums, which in turn spawns some serious independent bottlings for the country - today we're going to try one that snuck its way out of Japan and found itself in the new Bar Madame that just opened in Singapore - a rum, Bourbon and wine bar that's helmed by some very beloved folks from the island's drinks community.

So what rum have they all landed upon this time? It's a rum from Fiji.

Now who could it be, when Fiji only has one distillery?

It's always rather humorous when we find rums from Fiji - you'll be hardpressed to find a bottling where the distillery who produced the rum is actually outrightly named (you might get "Fiji", "Undisclosed Fiji", "Secret Fiji", "SPD"), and yet when it comes to Fiji's rums, there's almost no hiding who it is considering that the island only has 1 rum distillery. It's funny then that the distillery has always sought to avoid identification when it's entirely apparent who it is - it's the South Pacific Distillery! It's like playing Who's That Pokemon - when Gengar's silhouette is pretty obvious.

Of course, this is most likely due to trade issues, legal contracts, and all those boring stuff, but what isn't boring is the rum it produces.

It's the South Pacific Distillery! (Image Source: Single Cask Rum)

The South Pacific Distillery from Fiji has been something of an insider's rum for quite some time, and I'll tell you why right now - think of a rum that sports the funkiness of Jamaican rums, the industrial qualities of Trinidad's Caroni, the tropical coconut and cola flavours from Barbados, and finally the sweet herbal richness of rhum agricoles from Martinique. It's the rum world's version of a Best Of... album, like one of those compilations of 90's hit music. It's got hallmarks of everything we love from the rum world - all the classics included. And yet, in an ironic sense of it, because of its marketing (or really the lack thereof), it's not really made much of a brand name for itself. Which again goes back to it being an insider's rum for the rum community, and I suppose plenty of folks would like to keep it that way.

Thanks to the work of Single Cask Rum, we know that Fiji has always had trouble sustaining its sugar industry (sugar-making produces molasses which is used to make rum). In numerous instances, the local government had stepped in to intervene and bolster the sugar industry to no avail. At one point, a British colonial official had sought to bring Australian investment over to Fiji, and this would hence establish a relationship between the two countries insofar as the sugar industry went. Eventually the Fijian government took over, and the South Pacific Distillery (sometimes abbreviated as "SPD") was born shortly thereafter in 1980 in Lautoka, northwest of the main island of Fiji.

Sugarcane grown organically on Fiji's volcanic soils.

The South Pacific Distillery would uniquely operate both port and column stills, working off on locally produced molasses which comes from Fijian sugarcane grown on the island's rich volcanic soils. Because of the special richness of the soils, it was natural for the cane to be grown completely organically without much intervention. The soils are also firm and thus allows for the cane to be cut and harvested by hand as opposed to machine, which in turn reduces the bruising and oxidation of the cane, allowing for sweeter and purer cane juice to be produced. The distillery says that it's this higher base sweetness that accounts for its unique flavours, along with the higher ambient heat and humidity of the island which supports faster maturation of the rums. It's rums have been incredibly popular in Europe and thus much of the distillery's production tends to be sent there.

Willowbank Distillery - one of the whisky world's fascinating little niches.

Another very interesting and intriguing aspect of the distillery that should pique the interest of rum (and maybe even whisky) geeks is that the distillery uses a stainless steel pot still that was once part of New Zealand's now-defunct Willowbank Distillery (a distillery that produced some incredible whiskies but was perhaps too early for its time, and by extension of the fact that it had belonged to the once-giant Seagram, which sort of marked it for doom when the conglomerate started doing poorly). The Willowbank Distillery had shuttered in 1995 (preceding the whisky boom) and was subsequently acquired by the Australian brewer Fosters in 1997. Fosters would acquired the South Pacific Distillery around the same time in 1997-1998, and would thus shift Willowbank's pot still over to Fiji where it remains in use.

And so with all that said, it should be pretty clear now that this Fiji rum has alot more than meets the eye - and all that's left to do is taste it! This is a 16 Year Old Fiji Rum, distilled in 2004, and as mentioned earlier, was bottled for the illustrious Japanese Bar Lamp's 18th Anniversary. The bottling was supported by retailer and bottler Kinko, and the bottling was done by Kingsbury (who is responsible for some legendary whiskies).

Let's go!

PS. Shout out to the Hampden Pirate for lugging back this treasure.

Rum Review: Fiji Rum 2004, 16 Years Old, bottled for Bar Lamp 18th Anniversary, Supported by Kinko, bottled by Kingsbury, 64.5% ABV

フィジー ラム 2004 16年 for Bar Lamp 18周年記念 supported by KINKO

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Gold

Aroma: Incredibly aromatic, it opens up sweet and confectionary of honey and vanilla cream, with cane juice as its body. It's also big on white florals, and with time the cane juice scent only becomes more prominent. It's very appealing, this full cup of honey, vanilla cream and cane juice. In time, it settles on cola syrup.

Taste: Good richness here, we take a turn to green bananas, flambeed bananas, all on a bed of caramel and vanilla cream, with some cola syrup on the side. Medium-bodied, with a fuller flavour. It's got good intensity and punchiness that gives it that presence. Alittle bit of tar and burnt rubber into the back. This gives just that slight dirtiness for a more rugged island feel.

Finish: More savouriness here with servings of black olives, and then we're back to the caramel and cola syrup, even some herbal cough syrup here that gets a slight bit medicinal with this root-y dryness of dried angelica herbs. Long finis

My Thoughts

You can always count of Fiji's (only) rum to deliver - I find that it's always very complex with alot going on, and certainly always bold and flavour forward, yet whilst maintaining this almost idyllic tropical getaway vibe. Close your eyes and it almost feels like a fever dream of some sort of island adventure.

And that's no puff talk - here it's no different, it draws you in with this alluring confectionary aroma, and then on the palate you're taking on one turn after another, each with such depth - the pace, intensity and cadence just steals your breath, really. It's big and bold yet somehow uncomplicated and idyllic. Simple and easy flavours that are delivered with intensity is I guess the best way to put it.

Here it leans towards a slightly dirtier profile, which I really enjoy, and yet at the same time it's not overly acetone or synthetically high toned, always backed with a good amount of richness. The finish offers some balance in the way of a more medicinal dryness that wraps up the sweeter flavours before to give a clean and long finish. Lots of power, boldness and yet somehow remarkably approachable.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot