Thus he posted in the Whisky section and sought answers in the aging of bourbon.
http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?t=1166
He didn't get any because there is really no way for a very young rum to achieve a dark mahogany color (despite Lost Spirit's claim of light-induced "fast aging"). We've been down this road way too many times and it is now a given that small barrels, wood staves, loud rock music and specially "light-treated" wood simply don't work, despite the wide eyed claims of the ADI. No way.
But I like to be fair, so I finally found two ways to contact the distiller, first on Inu a Kena with this straightforward question:
Although he's held forth in great but inconsequential detail at least twice on that Inu' thread, he ignored these simple and direct questions. Next, I found his website solicited inquires from potential distributors (of course), via which system I sent this..."1. You speak of fast aging that “doesn’t take years”. What size barrels do you use, and just how long is the rum aged in them? How many months or years? Just how “fast” is your “fast aging”?
2. You speak of establishing “target esters and acids” that you achieved. How many esters was that and how many of these are present in the bottled rum?
3. You state that “bananas and jack fruit are used in Jamaica”. By which distiller and for which products? In addition to leftovers from their 30 year old open dunder pits?
Thanks in advance…"
Now mind you Lost Spirits is unique in its rather uninformative site - a few marketing bullets but really no details. Most small distillers love to post pictures of the stills, process, history, goals and the like. You'd think that a distiller who is claiming new and unusual processes to explain and highlight them. Thus my letter is completely justified and properly does not ask for proprietary information."Dear sirs:
I'm quite a rum afficianado and reviewer of rums - with a particular love for the original Navy rum, Pussers., but I love finding new rums in this style. Unfortunately your website is not very descriptive in terms of how this rum is produced. Some questions:
1. Is it pot or column stilled? If pot-stilled is it a classic, simple copper pot or one of the modern modified pots (copper with a short column with plates)?
2. How many runs to produce, one or two?
3. Regarding your banana dunder, forgive me but I have the image of a banana peel being added to the ferment (which may not be all that bad), but please do correct me as to how this works. Are you concerned about wild yeast contaminating your ferment?
4. I have rarely heard of new oak being seasoned with sherry (rather the use of ex-sherry barrels). How is the sherry applied, for how long, and how is it then prepared for aging? Since I assume the "seasoning" is short, how do you prevent the sherry from directly altering the flavor of the rum?
5. What size barrels, and for how long is this rum aged in months or years? I assume you are adding slabs for a time to increase the wood area? Does this really work?
6. Do you believe that the usual processes of wood aging - which are non-linear and occur at different rates and which accordingly take years can be replaced with what you call "fast" aging? How do you know that?
7. The color of your rum is extremely dark (in Navy fashion). Since you don't use caramel in any form, just how is that achieved so quickly?
8. In an interview you recently stated that you had set a target of the esters you desired to achieve through your fast aging. How many was that, and how many different esters are there in your bottled rum?
Again, thanks..."
But it does ask the distiller to justify his process. And again, no response. Now I've contacted many a distiller, small and large and almost all of them will respond in some way, if not informatively. When even simple questions like "How old is it?" are avoided, it's hard not to be skeptical.
Stay tuned...
