Rum Review: Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum

The second standard reference style: aromatic, robust and full flavored - it's absolutely dunderful. To our ships at sea! May they sink very slowly!
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How do you rate Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum (5 is best)?

5
5
63%
4
3
38%
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1
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No votes
 
Total votes: 8

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Capn Jimbo
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Rum Review: Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum: "Pussers on Steroids"

You can count on one hand the number of truly traditional and authentic rums in the marketplace, including rums like Pussers Blue Label, Mount Gay Extra Old, Wray & Nephews Overproof, Barbancourt Five Star and perhaps Appleton Extra. You might even want to strike Mount Gay or Appleton from the list.

But there's no doubt about Smith & Cross.

This is a real Jamaican rum in every sense of the word. Jamaica style - pungent and aromatic, and with the label quietly proclaiming its constituent Plummer rums (150-200 esters) and Wedderburns (200 plus). Compare to ordinary pussified rums that typically contain but 30-50 esters.

No contest.

The Plummer component tends to contribute floral and fruity elements, while the more potent Wedderburns add the really deep fruit, heavy body and pungency. And all at a "navy strength" of 57% (114 proof). By the way, Smith & Cross make clear that this is not a "navy rum", rather "navy strength".

Do not confuse with a real navy rum, namely Pussers! Got it?

Furthermore, and like a good single malt this spirit is pot stilled and notably not chill filtered, again to create and retain as much flavor as possible. Smith & Cross is historically accurate to the genre.

But I digress. The reviews:

Sue Sea:
Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Pussers, and to a lesser degree of Sea Wynde, Mount Gay Extra Old and Seales. Smith & Cross more than stands up to these. The bottle is simple and traditional, classically quiet with a deep navy blue label and understated gold leaf lettering, suggestive of the sea. The Ralph Lauren look.

Smith & Cross' aroma is simply overwhelming. Vanilla, molasses, nuts (pecan), honey/toffee, ginger, clove and cinnamon, and a complete array of fruit from high to a luscious baked orange marmalade, to deep raisins and prunes. All over a background of leather and dunder. This is a rum to savor and nose, everytime I went back I kept discovering new aromas. Overall the Smith & Cross could best be described as having a baked gingerbread, rumcake, candy and fruitcake effect, buttery and cooked. Honestly, this is perhaps the most aromatic rum I have ever nosed.

Tasting was different. We'd started at the full overproof strength of 114 proof and you knew it. Nosing was careful as was the early sipping which seemed dominated by the high alcohol content which unfortunately seemed to overpower all the lovely aroma. This rum began hot, and got glowingly hotter with clove, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. The finish was quite long, and again reflected the aromas, and with a consistent long aftertaste.

As an experiment, Jim added one, three and six milliters of water (representing just a touch of water, 98 proof and 80 proof. Even a touch of water brought out more flavors and put the alcohol burn back in its place and revealed more of the original aromas. At 98 proof, the Smith & Cross was actually quite pleasant, but when diluted to 80 proof it began to resemble a Mount Gay Extra Old, still complex, but much more drinkable and retaining a striking peppery finish.

I'd also like to suggest that you try a very small, single ice cube for tasting purposes. It was quite interesting to note the changes as the cube slowly melted. Drinking Smith & Cross on the rocks might be just perfect.

A great rum.
Me:

Warning: this is not your mommie's rum. Smith & Cross is a serious and authentic offering that you simply must experience once. It presented with dunder, and a full array of fruit - high, medium and deep, with a background leather sourness, pruney and tarry. Serious rum.

The early palate is actually sweet, but an early heat comes on fast and ever stronger. Dilution delays this effect and allows the fruit to come through. The finish is a hot cinnamon and white pepper, long and with a completely consistent aftertaste.

In retrospect, it became clear that dilution definitely opened up this rum. Even though Sue Sea has implied that full dilution (to 80 proof) caused the Smith and Cross to "fade", this is only in comparison to its original and almost overpowering strength. Truly dilution is an art, and should only be done conservatively and only after your intial tasting is done. Start with literally a couple or three drops, then you may add water gradually. We found it extemely valuable to have several drams at the ready for a ready comparison.

Note: a handy formula for dilution is (here).

In sum, Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum does not disappoint. A truly great rum that is entirely authentic, real and lives up to both its name and intent in every way. For the sophisticated rum drinker.

If you fail to buy this rum, you are not just an idiot - you are a fool. Seriously.

Score (ten is best): 9.
RT
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Post by RT »

I finally had the opportunity to purchase & taste this rum. I may have to go back and rethink all of my other rum evaluations.

Yes, its that good!

Do you happen to know what is the length of aging for this rum? I suspect it may lead even more credence to the idea that older is not necessarily better.
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
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Surprisingly...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

How old is Smith & Cross? The envelope please...

S&C is distilled at the Hampton estate and is made entirely of pot-stilled rums. The consensus seems to be that it is 50% of Wedderburn (aged 6 months) and 50% Plummer (aged 1-1/2 to 3 years). Unfortunately, the many sources seem to use exactly the same descriptive phrases, so it seemed entirely possible that the same description is getting passed around.

Not.

The importer Haus Alpenz provides copious and reliable notes on their product:
"Here we offer a blend of approximately equal parts Wedderburn and Plummer, the former aged for less than a year, and the latter split between 18 months and 3 years on white oak. It is not a style that necessarily benefits from further aging, as the oak can dominate the fruit and spice notes within and in time dampen the aromas."
Your witness.
RT
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Post by RT »

Should be a real eye-opener for the "Z" crowd.
Students of the cask, reject naught but water. -Charles Gonoud, Faust Act 2
da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

Here's a great dilution calculator, that would work well for over proofs.

http://homedistiller.org/calcs/dilute

So to dilute 1 oz/30ml of 57%/114 proof to normal drinking strength of 40%/80 proof one must add 13ml of water.

Of course I'd follow the advice above and add 5 ml taste then another 5ml and taste. I think the sweet spot for nearly everyone would be slightly different.

Don't forget one ml water weighs one gram so if you don't have syringes or small liquid measures laying about then maybe you have a small scale.

This of course means for the bargain price if 20 odd monopoly monies for a 700ml bottle at 57% you get 1 litre of great rum at about 40%.
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Post by da'rum »

Had a little play with dilution ratios today with Smith and Cross. I could almost sip slowly on the full strength 57% and be content but would know that I am probably missing out on a few aspects of the rum that water would bring out.

So with a 10 ml syringe I added water at 1 ml intervals with sips of water between each taste and a pause of a few minutes.

I don't think I got it exactly where I would like it but after adding the whole 10ml so reducing my 30 ml portion of rum to 43% alcohol it was pretty close to the sweet spot. However by the time I got there I'd lost faith in my palate so decided to give it up for the day.

Smith and Cross is a fantastic rum and wonderfully made. A real craftsman rum. This will be permanently in my shopping list. As the poster before me said 'It's really that good'


*******
Capn's Log: Thanks for sharing, and well done! It's amazing how many faux-reviews I've come across where an overproof is tasted and reviewed with not a drop of flavor-releasing water addeded. Typically, these reviewers then exclaim about what a hair-raising dram it was. Fools.
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da'rum
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Post by da'rum »

So after a bit of mucking about I've pretty much got it where I think it releases its flavours with out being over diluted and that is 11-12 ml so approx 42%abv I did this with a syringe to get accurate measurements but then pulled out a tea spoon and correlated the 12 ml with teaspoons and it is two of the latter. Easy peesy. Two teaspoons water to 30 ml dram and about a ten minute sit and this is for my palate spot on.

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Dai
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Post by Dai »

As an experiment, Jim added one, three and six milliters of water (representing just a touch of water, 98 proof and 80 proof.
To what amount of rum jimbo?

Should of read the full thread before asking the question.




*******
Capn's Log: per ounce (about 30 ml). Natch. And of course, remember you can always add more.
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Hassouni
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Post by Hassouni »

Dai, this rum is a real corker. One of the realest, in fact.

Just add a few drops of water, you don't need to be too precise, I've found. Also, try it neat while letting it air out for at least 10 minutes in the glass.
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Post by sleepy »

I LOVE this rum.

What has gone unmentioned in the above reviews is the aromatic power that is released when water is added to dilute to drinking alcohol level. I pour it in a standard whiskey tasting glass, add about 1/4 water and the leather, dunder and, especially anise/licorice fills the room. Just amazing!

For tasting notes, see above, but I also get a strong bit of licorice in the delightfully lingering aftertaste.
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Post by da'rum »

I couldn't agree more! It is a world class top rum.

Good to see you are still around Sleepy.
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Post by edgarallanpoe »

Just bought a bottle of this today...can't wait to crack it open.
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Post by JaRiMi »

After all the Z rums all claiming 15+ years of aging, this is an eye-opener hopefully to many on the fact that in tropical conditions and with the right rum, it don't have to be aged long (or advertise being so, lying) to be good. Glad to see it was properly reviewed now after my hasty notes trying to describe this "beauty and the beast" :-)
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