Ran across yet another Shillery alumni who has decided his own forum is a good idea. And it is! Rum Victoria. Really a nice effort by an energetic newbie. Let's hope he keeps it honest, independent and pure, unlike at least one of his hairy and frozen Canookie brethren.
Rum Victoria, aka Scott, recently traveled to Seattle, where he copped a few bottles to take across the border, namely Ron de Jeremy (spiced and bare naked), Chairman's Reserve, Cruzan 2 Year, and Rhum JM (a gold). He seemed excited 'bout his find, and no doubt parted with a notable number of pesos, or moosie's to obtain them.
In a word, only the JM has any real value or quality. This my fellow idiots is exactly why the less time we spend at the commercial and wannabee sites, the better. The Shillery is simply overflowing with typical "...it's all good, ya gotta try it" comments, and Victoria's predator buddy sports a Hyper Taster's bitter palate.Moi: "Your trip reminds us of our early explorations, wherein I’d pick up any interesting bottle in a mad search to discover something new and really well done. All of us seem to start this way. We see a comment somewhere, or just run across something we’ve never found before, and voila! Out comes the credit card.
Sometimes we are greatly rewarded – I’m reminded of a very inexpensive bottle of Ron Viejo de Caldas (maybe $10) – but more often than not (and being fully aware that most rums are altered in some fashion) we are disappointed.
I’d love to know how you experience these five, but frankly there is only one that we found worth much more than the bottle in which it comes. That rum: the JM, of course. We found a white JM on closeout for a measly $8 (I’m not kidding), and it was simply terrific. As far as Ron de Jeremy – as far as this “Ron” is concerned it’s just another unremarkable oral experience. Cruzan too has gone downhill ever since the Estate Diamond was d/c’d. And the Chairman’s Reserve is worhy of neither chairmen or of reserves – a very, very choppy young rum.
So how should we proceed? Other than The Rum Project where we’ve done our best to identify truly worthwhile sippers of the five basic styles, you can do no better than to count on Dave Broom’s book “Rum”, or the Beverage Tasting Institute (those scoring 90 or higher). Even the famous Ralfy has done some great video rum reviews and knows his stuff.
Buying rums based on forum opinions can and usually is misleading, and can lead us all into building a huge collection of mediocre rums. It is so important to learn to appreciate well reviewed and widely accepted reference rums of each style. Once you learn to appreciate a fine example of each style, you will then be so much better equipped to compare and contrast others.
But until and unless “rum” can be redefined and regulated in the manner of single malts and say bourbon – with clear and unequivocal standards of purity and freedom from non-rum additives (like sugar, glycerol, wine and flavorings), we are sadly left with offerings like all of these save the JM. Pity, I’d say…
Basing decisions on resources like these is not a good idea. Wanna do better? Much better? Check on the Reviewer's Reviews at the top of this section and find out which ones really are unbiased and possess prudent palates. A few do - most don't. Which are the best...
You decide...
