New Arrival of the Week: House of Rum single cask bottlings
As well as being Master of Malt we are also Masters of Molasses so we were very excited to learn about a new independent rum bottler with some very exciting single casks from Barbados, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic which have just hit our shelves. It’s called House of Rum, no messing about with the name there, and it was founded by David Howarth. He’s a businessman who fell in love with rum on a trip to Antigua but rather than just bringing back a bottle and a silly hat like most of us do, he decided to start a bottling firm.
“Would you like me to explain to you what a retort does?”
He explained: “I’ve spent the last three decades accumulating rum experiences, from different styles, geographical locations, and producers, and learning how these differences translate into each liquid. This is what I wanted to share through House of Rum; great, single-cask, cask-strength rum with nothing added. No sugar for sweetness, no caramel for colour and no other additives or flavours, so you can really taste its personality and origins”.
House of Rum launched in November and we had a few bottles in already but now we’ve got some truly breathtaking single cask bottlings to sell, it’s time to start shouting.
Right, let’s taste these bloody rums!
Foursquare 12 Year Old 2010 Barbados Single Cask
From the famous Foursquare distillery in Barbados, this comes from a single cask distilled in 2010 from both pot and column stills. It spent five years of tropical ageing in Barbados in bourbon casks followed by eight years of ageing in the UK in ex-Scotch whisky casks. It was bottled in 2023 at 60.5% ABV by House of Rum.
We have never tried a single cask release from this distillery that has been anything less than sensational and this is no exception. They are highly in demand from rum collectors so we expect this to disappear very soon.
Nose: Super spicy nose with aromatic tobacco notes.
Palate: Intensely aromatic with cardamon, ginger, menthol, cinnamon and camphor with sweeter chocolate, toffee, and peach notes. Sensational!
Finish: Finishes dry, long and very spicy.
T.D.L. 11 Year Old 2012 Trinidad Single Cask
This comes from Trinidad Distillers Ltd., the company behind Angostura rum and since the closure of Caroni in 2003, the only distillery in Trinidad & Tobago. It was distilled from molasses in a column still in 2012 and spent nine years of tropical ageing in Trinidad in bourbon barrels followed by three years of ageing in the UK in bourbon casks before bottling in 2023 at 64.3% ABV.
This rum is an absolute fruit cocktail of a drink, it’s just bursting with flavour. If you like a high ester Jamaican rum, then you’ll absolutely love this, though it’s all fruit and no funk. This might sound a bit extravagant but it would be incredible in a Mai Tai.
Nose: Stone fruit and pineapple with vanilla, toffee, and spice.
Palate: Exuberantly fruity on the palate: apricots, pineapples and a little green banana. Lovely freshness and vibrancy here.
Finish: Bittersweet apricots and almonds.
Oliver & Oliver 23 Year Old 2000 Dominican Single Cask
This was distilled from molasses using a column still by Oliver y Oliver, a producer with a Cuban heritage which moved to the Dominican Republic after the revolution. It spent eight years tropical ageing in the Caribbean in a bourbon cask followed by 11 years of ageing in the UK in rum casks. It was bottled by House of Rum in 2023 at 55.5% ABV.
23 years is extremely old for a rum, they say one year in the tropics is worth three in Europe, or more in the coldest parts of Scotland, so this is beautifully mature. If you love the Cognac and sherry flavours of a classic Latin American rum, then this bottling is the one for you.
Nose: Sweet smelling, toffee with orange peel, cinnamon, tobacco and almonds.
Palate: Sweet and fruity and then salty and tangy, like an amontillado sherry, with baking spices and black pepper. Quite subtle initially but there’s amazing depth here.
Finish: Long and nutty with aromatic tobacco notes returning.
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