A new rum website has appeared, the All Star Cask (link). We welcome "Sniss" to the wacky world of rum.
Of course - and as a friendly curmudgeon - I felt obligated to add a little perspective to the usual backslapping...
Yes indeed, RvanD (aka Lance), is quite right. What we desperately need are more truly independent and talented rum reviewers, although it will be hard to improve upon the likes of Dave Broom, F. Paul Pacult, the Beverate Tasting Institute and The Rum Project (one of those is a complete farce of course, sorry Dave).
What we don’t need is more “I tasted it, I think this is what I experienced, and I liked it so try it..” reviews. Reviews – as we have learned by experience – are more than just a list of dubious descriptors and personal preferences. For rum to become anything more important than say Canadian whisky, independent sites would do well to note and demand purity and quality.
To date rum is more a fun, piratey liquid that often contains unlabeled additives, as admitted by the MOR and lamented by distiller Richard Seale who really knows.
Otherwise all we’ll get is more Batrum Dingleberry Supreme. There are precious few truly pure and high quality rums but they do exist and are properly held in high esteem. But instead the trend is toward ever more spiced and flavored products which more and more dominate the shelves.
This doesn’t bother the commercial and quasi-commercial sites of course, so it is left to sites like yours, ours and RvanD’s to grow a few pairs and stand firm for improved, pure and well-made offerings.
Strength!
