Rum time again. I'm running a day behind schedule, but you'll just have to lump it. There's nothing I can do but try to catch up and I'm sleepy so I'm not going to promise to do that. If you're offended by that then you can make a time machine and skip ahead a day or two to where I've written the next one, but then you'll meet your future self and create all kinds of paradoxical havoc. I hope you're proud of yourself, you've ruined the space time continuum.
Bit of an intro
Can't find much out about this one. I found what appears to be their website but half of it is down for maintenance and the rest is about other products and is in Spanish. I did find a little blurb about a 7 year old rum which I think is the one I have, but I'm not certain. The distillery is called Zhumir distillery and they produce a variety of products from rum, to a different kind of rum that appears to be marketed towards nightclub patrons. It appears they use Ecuadorean sugar cane grown at over 700 meters above sea level which they claim gives it an intense flavour but mellow aroma, which carries through into the rum. It's distilled in copper pot stills and then aged for seven years in barrels made from white oak. White oak is quercus alba in latin and is the same thing I usually refer to as American oak. It's used for bourbon barrels, but it doesn't say they're using ex-bourbon barrels to mature this rum, just that it's white oak. We can expect vanilla to be present in the flavour profile.
They don't give much other information about the content of the bottle. They have a little info page about it, but it just gives information that doesn't tell us anything useful, like that it comes in a glass bottle with a cork, goes well with "black soda" which I assume is coke, a case contains six bottles etc. They give the alcohol strength too, which is 40% ABV. No information about colouring, chill filtering, previous cask contents. Another reviewer wrote that it's made from molasses. I'm willing to believe that, I have no reason to doubt it, but I don't know where that information came from or how reliable it is. No tasting notes, so I won't compare mine to theirs. Best just to get on with it.
Packaging
A tiny bottle of course. The label's alright. Black background with slightly fancy writing giving the name of the brand and that it's a highland rum.
Highland rum? Glen Shivermetimbers?
Not like a highland whisky. They're referring to the altitude of the sugar cane planation and possibly of the distillery and/or aging warehouse or cellars or whatever. I feel like they're trying a bit too hard to seem like their product is a bit posh, but it has a Ferrero Rocher feel. Gold paper wrapping and a little paper cup for it to sit in, but it's just a wafer ball with Nutella in it and quite disappointing. I'm not saying this rum is going to be disappointing, just that the label makes me feel like they're going for a particular image with their branding that doesn't massively appeal to me. It's just a label though, the rum's the main thing.
Smell in the bottle
On opening
Banana, but kind of fake smelling.
Vanilla.
Caramel.
Appearance
You'll never guess what it looks like. Go on have a try, try to guess what it looks like. Yes, that's right, it's almost the same as all the rest.
Would you believe it?
There's no information about whether it has caramel in it, but I suspect it does. It's mostly brown, but has a little bit of an orange hint. Not much though.
Neat
Nose
Bonfire smoke. Surprising.
Bit of banana in there.
Touch of burning plastic.
Toffee.
Sappy wood.
Arrival
Sweet.
Toffee.
Hot plastic.
Butterscotch.
Development
Vanilla.
Banana.
Maybe pineapple boiled sweets.
Finish
Cola cubes.
Woody tannins.
A little sugary.
Deep bitterness, nearly dark chocolate but not quite.
Deep treacle.
Bitter-sweet.
Water - just a bit
The viscometric lines created by adding water suggest a sugary liquid, as do the taste and mouthfeel
Nose
Fresh banana.
Vanilla.
Caramel.
Bonfire and burning plastic.
Inflatable toys, I think PVC.
Arrival
A little sweet.
Banana.
Brown sugar.
Burnt sugar.
Bitter orange, reminiscent of Cointreau.
Development
Bit of butterscotch.
Faint burning plastic.
Touch or orange peel.
Wood smoke.
Finish
Bit vegetal, leafy, maybe parsley.
Deep bitter-sweet molasses.
Faint black liquorice.
Faint marmalade.
Conclusion
I'm a bit undecided. Mostly pretty nice. Lots of banana, which when combined with the brown sugar notes reminds me of banana an brown sugar. That shouldn't be surprising, but allow me to elaborate: I have some quite strong opinions about bananas and always have had. Bananas should be eaten by simply unzipping them and eating them. Just put it in you mouth, bite, chew, swallow, repeat until no banana remains. The only other acceptable thing to do with a banana is to dip it in an egg cup of crunchy demerara sugar. Doing so is delicious and I have pleasant memories of having it as part of my lunch when I was three. As an adult I'm broadening my horizons significantly, and I will now tolerate banana bread. Every other iteration of banana is filthy and immoral. This rum had a pleasant bonfire smokiness, but it also had a rather off-putting burns plastic note, which eventually evolved into PVC. I'm not a fan of the smell of burning plastic or the smell of PVC and this is one of the very rare occasions when I find a smell or flavour note unpleasant rather interesting. I'm not certain if it's supposed to be there, but if it is then maybe someone ought to rethink their rum blending strategy. It reminded me a bit of being in a hot car as a kid. On the standard scale from one to ten I both liked and disliked this rum. Nice childhood memories and less nice ones combine to create an internal conflict a deep existential crisis. It's possible that this was a sample from a bad batch. No one else's tasting notes mention burning plastic, but most mention almond which I didn't get at all. Would I buy a bottle? No, for several reasons: it's not available here in Norway, I'm not keen on the burning plastic and PVC notes, it's a bit too sweet for my palate. I'd prefer to spend my money on whisky or the previous rum than this one.
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