Suggestions for commercial rums?

[distiller_dresden]

Ah, okay! I went to the Hampden's website and then to their distributor website, there is an Indiana distributor. Since Monday is a holiday here, on Tuesday I'm going to call the number there and ask where I can find Hampden's or the Fire rum to buy near me because apparently in America, or at least in Indiana for certain, I cannot buy and ship hard alcohol to me. I could get wine, but fat lot of good that does me. Stupid Indiana and their stupid conservative views.

[Shine0n]

I'd like to try the white one, but from what I've read the high ester rums are more for cocktails and blending other rums. I wouldn't know from experience but I make rum to be complete opposite of what I've drank in the past commercial wise.

[der wo]

Aren't all white Rums more for mixing?
Why I did buy it? I was curious about a Forsyths Rum. And the white one is cheaper of course than an aged one. And it was a good offer. But anyway I think it's way more extravagant to buy a mixing Rum for 50€ than an aged one for drinking pure for 100€. But to use such an expensive aged high ester Rum for mixing? This is decadent IMO. Same like to using a 100€ 20yo single malt for mixing with coke.

That high ester Rums are for blending is only true for something like 1600g esters per hectoliter absolute alcohol. For something like 300-600g not I think. Where you draw the line is up to you of course. And of course if you can buy it in bottles it's meant for drinking not for the blending industry.

[distiller_dresden]

Well I'm not an experienced rum drinker, but the Appleton 12 has qualities I like; the long caramel finish is nice, as is the very fruity nose. As well I very much enjoy the deep brown molasses/panela and vanilla flavors of the Ron rum in the leather bag that I've talked about. Neither one is as good, in my opinion, as the rum I have on hand that I made myself and oaked, then took over a month after wood aging time to macerate pineapple, black cherries, blueberries, apricots, prunes, dark and gold raisins, orange peel, panela sugar, vanilla bean, cloves, peppercorn, peach slices, and pineapple slice all at various lengths in. That took a lot of time and care, each day I tasted and each thing was once at a time to very carefully control what it was adding to the rum, until I had this incredibly complex and fruity full-bodied rum that held itself down with three types of oak tying into the panela and vanilla to meld with the molasses flavor of the base rum in order to hold it all down and together well. You smell it and you get all these fruity notes at first together, it's fruity, tropical, and spicy, but then immediately the rich and brown smells come together and wrap everything up.

I'm not saying at all I knew what I was doing! LMAO. Nope. I was experimenting my ass off. But I got lucky and what I came out with really came together and I'm so happy with it that I've stopped sharing it with people, and only am offering my maple bourbon which I have finished that is really nice. This is another one I made a happy accident-- I baked some port barrel chips I got to toast them and the port caramelized in the wood, then I nuclear aged a 32oz jar of it, I had a gallon total of this that had finished aging, but I wanted to add a little something and thought the port barrel chips toasted would do it. What happened was the port had caramelized a LOT and not quite burnt, but was dark dark caramelized, this went into the bourbon. When the jar cooled and I popped top, it took on a red hue from the port! I added it back to the rest of the bourbon, it had a stronger smoky port and burnt sugar flavor. This spread, diluted some in the full gallon, and now it's just slightly smoky maple bourbon with a little caramelized sugar/port wine finish and great oak notes.

Irony is, I made a bourbon for myself, and I like it, but I still just am not a bourbon drinker lol. I was making corn spirits for the experience with AG and malt process. I'll make more AG too, maybe I'll develop a taste for bourbon/whisky as I do more of them, maybe when I make my first batch of HBB? We'll see.

But I started this thread to learn more about GOOD commercial rums, so I can buy and try some of them. I want to learn what I like and don't in commercial rums, so then I can duplicate what I do like in my own rums. Or even amplify what I like, just like you do Shine, or like Otis, der wo, and butterpants do with the esters. Since I'm not a wide-ranged experienced spirits expert, I'm hoping this and the malt whisky threads will give me options to expand my horizons, since rum and malt whisky are the two things I love most to drink.

[distiller_dresden]

using a 100€ 20yo single malt for mixing with coke

Someone doing this should be dragged into the street and beaten to death. Literally, immediately, and with extreme prejudice. This person has no taste and is uncouth. They are an animal. They are foul, unclean, and unholy.

[Shine0n]

der wo, I would suppose it's up to the drinker. 2 of my 3 rums I make I prefer white on the rocks.

But if it doesn't taste good no matter the price or what it is I'd mix it just to be able to consume it if I bought it.

That's why I make me own

[butterpants]

I made Pina Coladas last weekend with Appleton 12...used about 500ml, had a bunch of people over and wasn't leaving to go get Bacardi white. They were friken delicious.

4oz Pineapple Juice
4oz Coco Loco Coconut goo
4oz Pineapple Sherbert
4oz Rum
2 cups ice cubes

Hit the blender on crush. Heaven + calories

[distiller_dresden]

OH man, hell yes. Whenever people say when you're making a mixed drink it doesn't matter what you use, they're heathens. It most certainly matters! I may have to reproduce that one butterpants

[butterpants]

It turned out well just cost like 2x as.much...nbd

[zapata]

I personally like both signature and reserve over appletons 12 year. Did a blind taste test more than once and picked the signature over the 12 each time.

There are things that I like about the 12, but I do think it's the chips that get to me. 12 years is just too long to sit on chips. It's just a flash of flavor, sandwiched between the fruity nose and the caramel finish, but it jumps out at me and I dont like it.

Now, it's not a BAD rum by any means. I would never turn down a glass or a bottle. But I'm pretty sure I'm done buying it. Suits my wallet just fine.

[distiller_dresden]

This week I picked up Appleton's reserve, and some Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black.

The Reserve is like the aged, but without the oakiness, and less tails and not as long/much of a long/drawn caramel finish after I swallow.

The Hamilton. Man, what do I say about that. I don't know about that stuff. It tastes a lot like dunder. Like rum and dunder. I need to try and drink some more to get a better feel/taste for it, I guess. But it was a LOT of dunder to me, tasted like one of my dunders after cooking, and a bit like my funky dunder did. There's a lot of... Licorice to it?? Weird maybe, but that's probably the molasses/dunder. I need to give it more tasting, but honestly it was rough on my palate, it is not a rum for the weak, I think this is what Jack Sparrow would drink once he is deep, deep, deep into his cups.

Anyone have experience with this Hamilton stuff?

[distiller_dresden]

Hoping somebody chimes in with experience(s) with Hamilton pot still black. I've read some people's reviews online and they say 'grassy' and 'olives' or 'savory' and all I taste is dunder, which explains their 'licorice' tastes, but I guess they maybe don't know 'rum' process, because there is molasses in dunder, and it's been 'cooked'. There's cooked molasses in licorice, voila. But man, that stuff. Is that what all Jamaican or high ester rums are?

Thinking of popping $48 on a bottle of Ron Zacapa 23 year Solera. I know there's added sugar, and it's not 23 years, but solera process. Still I am very interested in tasting that rum. Anybody experienced it?