By
George Brozowski
Rum
is made all over the world; however, the best rums
seem to come from the Caribbean. And of those rums, the best
seem to be the ones that are aged in repurposed bourbon and/or
brandy casks. Well, the good folks at Maison Ferrand in France,
one of the great cognac houses, has been selling their used
casks to distillers in the Caribbean forever. Somewhere along
the line those Frenchmen discovered caches of prized rums,
available in tiny quantities and usually reserved for the
personal consumption of the distillery's cellar master or
used sparingly to give style to other rum blends. So of course,
they got their hands on them and featuring them, launched
the Plantation Rum Brand, a full range of 7 vintage rums and
3 blended rums made by Ferrand's cellar master.
Let's start with Plantation 3 Stars Rum,
a white rum that is called 3 stars because it is a blend of
rums from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. Each of these rums
has its own characteristics or terroir produced by their different
locations' weather, soil, and of course, sugar cane. These
are all blended by the cellar masters at Ferrand and should
be pretty good considering those guys have been blending fine
old cognacs for hundreds of years. Let's see if they got this
one right!
The
nose is a combination of fruity sweetness leaning toward banana
with almost no trace of ethanol. The palate highlights the
banana followed by the sweet undertones of fruit and ends
with a bit of vanilla and is very smooth with a slight peppery
tingle. The finish is, of course, sweet and smooth and medium
in length, leaving a taste of sweet vanilla and ginger. This
is really a very good tasting white rum, and at 41% ABV and
only around $20.00 per 750ml bottle, it's a great mixing white
rum for your favorite cocktail.
Next
up is the Plantation Original Dark rum. This
rum is a blend of Trinidad and Tobago brown rums that is matured
in young bourbon casks for 3-5 years and then blended with
a heavier 8 year old rum and finally aged a second time for
12 to 18 months in French Cognac oak barrels. The nose is
a sugar cane sweet, smoky chocolate layered with over ripe
bananas and citrus. On the palate, I can sense the traces
of bourbon and smoky oak and, of course, the chocolate and
banana and even some vanilla and candied citrus. The finish
leaves a sweet smoky after taste that lasts just a short time.
With as much care and detail that goes into this dark rum,
and as tasty and smooth as it is, I am surprised it too only
costs around $20.00 per 750ml bottle. This really should become
your go to dark rum for mixed drinks.
Finally,
we have the Plantation Barbados Grande Reserve
aged 5 years rum. This one is a blend of different rums all
from Barbados that are blended and then aged for 5 years in
bourbon casks in the Caribbean and then refined in old French
oak casks at Chateau de Bonbonnet. The nose of this particular
rum is lighter than the last one but just as complex, with
traces of sugar cane sweetness and oak and vanilla. The palate,
however, reveals a hint of chocolate and an even more intense
vanilla followed by the sugar cane sweetness. I don't get
much of the bourbon, but I do get a good sense of the French
oak and brandy. The finish is certainly sweet but not too
sweet and slightly fruity and crisper than the other two.
I could sip this one straight up or even mix it up in a favorite
cocktail. I simply can't believe that this one is also priced
around $20.00 per 750ml bottle. All three of these are very
good, with this last Grand Reserve being my favorite of the
three, but all of them are certainly welcome in my bar.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
http://plantationrhum.com/en/
