Whenever I try things at the NY rum club bottlesharing events, I always write all of my feelings down for each rum. That said, I usually only actually write reviews for the first few rums that I try. For one, I usually go for the ones that I am most excited about first. Also, I tend to be the most sober at the start, and by the end of the tasting, my notes start to be less and less... useful. For instance, towards the end of the April tasting, my notes for Perennia Caroni 27 Year from Raising Glasses were "Very fruity, contact cement, Gigabyte. It's a roller coaster and I am not tall enough to ride." But finally, I will occasionally taste a palate killer. After this sort of rum, I am basically no longer able to feel the subtler nuances of a rum, as it completely dominates my palate for a while. This is one such rum. > Note: It is aged 13 years in ex-bourbon, then finished for 4 years in 2nd fill French oak barrique. The say "we transferred this rum", so that implies the last 4 years were definitely in the UK. Unknown if any of the prior 13 years were in Guyana or also in the UK. Review Smell Overwhelming nose. The name said glue, and I definitely get that. Perhaps even contact cement. But then it opens up into fruity notes, something earthy like prunes or dried fruit, and finally the oak and vanilla. The smell is kind of sweet, perhaps molasses or brown sugar. Taste Of course I took a sip the way that it is, and it's overwhelming. Definitely begs for ice or water. Contact cement, intensely earthy, sour, and bitter. Completely overwhelming to my palate. It burns like a shot of 151 all the way down my throat. After adding a few drops of water, to what's left at the bottom of my cup, it opens up to something very dry and not nearly as fruity as the nose suggests, but back to familiar territory, the classic El Dorado flavors: prunes, raisins, those types of dried fruits. Someone brought some El Dorado PM/DHE, and I tried it right after, and it's not exactly the same, there's some difference, but it's not a large one, and I don't quite know how to articulate the difference. Both are in the same ballpark. Verdict {rating}/10 This rum is definitely complex and challenging. I hope to some day better appreciate it, and to someone who is really into high octane Demerara rums, this might be your 9/10. To me, it was a fun experience, and I am glad to have tried it, but if I had this in my liquor cabinet, it would sit for a while, hopefully waiting for a time that I can better appreciate it. It's good, perhaps even great, but kind of like a full strength Hampden rum, I just am overwhelmed and it's not something I would relax with, and the industrial and cement flavors just are kind of harsh and off-putting for me right now.

This is a bit of an interesting one. The only Panamanian rum that I have had is Ron Abuelo, and that's from Varela Hermanos. Another distillery in Panama is Las Cabras, with Don Pancho as the master distiller. I've heard a lot about them, but I have never had the chance to actually give his rum a try until now. > Note: It says it's aged 21 years in ex-bourbon. Everything online pours about how it's made in the Cuban style, but I could not find any evidence that they actually age and rectify it before aging it again, so I am going to assume that it's probably a marketing gimmick to appeal to Americans, for whom Cuban rum is this mysterious forbidden fruit. Review Smell: Strong and rich, with notes of vanilla and oak, but also a surprisingly harsh hit of alcohol. For instance, Zacapa 23 and Ron Abuelo XII Two Oaks are similarly rich and oaky, but with less of a harsh alcohol hit. Taste: A little more harsh and sour than I was expecting, but it's totally sippable. It's harsher than Zacapa 23, but knowing that Zacapa uses glycerin to smooth itself out, this is probably to be expected. Zacapa has more of a wine and honey flavor, which I quite enjoy, while Zafra 21, while also noticably sweet, has clearly never seen a wine cask, as it's more of the typical long-aged Spanish-style rum flavor. The finish is medium, and has the floral notes that I get a lot from Cuban rum and some of the better Dominican rums. Of course, HC Seleccion de Maestros is a lot more flavorful (and that's just Havana Club. Imo Ron Santiago de Cuba is even better). There's way more bold floral notes there that I feel immediately, while Zafra is more of a bold oak and vanilla that fades into these mild floral notes at the end. I would say that the rum it's most similar to is Ron Abuelo XII Two Oaks, as they both are quite sweet and start with a bold woody taste, and finish with mild floral notes, but I would say that the vanilla and oak flavor from Ron Abuelo is stronger, and is almost smoky. Verdict {rating}/10 At first I was worried if I had anything to compare Zafra 21 to, since I don't have any other super long aged Spanish-style rums, and honestly, the deep, rich, smoky, complex notes of El Dorado 21 just sort of blew it away. But interestingly, Zacapa 23, HC Seleccion de Maestros, and Ron Abuelo XII Two Oaks turned out to be very comparable. And Zafra 21 just sort of comes close to all of them, but just a bit short. It is not quite as rich in wine and honey flavor as Zacapa, it's not as floral as an actual Cuban rum, and it's not as oaky and vanilla-rich and smoky as Abuelo XII. But it's close. All of those are 6.5/10 rums, so before giving it a 6/10, I tried one last test: how does it compare to Havana Club 7Yr, which I gave a 6/10? Well, it is definitely smoother and oakier, and they share the same weird sourness, but Havana Club 7Yr just is a nicer, lighter, slightly more floral rum, so I feel confident in making it a tie. 6/10 it is.

I want to combo break from the Dominican Republic again, because I think I may have found a rum competing to be my favorite, again. I have two variants of Doctor Bird. The original one you can get anywhere, and the blend exclusive to The Inferno Room, a tiki bar in Indianapolis. > Note: It carries NAS, but The Fat Rum Pirate says that Zan Kong (marketing manager at WP) told them that Doctor Bird is a blend of rums, some of which are aged 6 years. Two James then finishes the blend in Detroit in Moscatel casks. Review Smell This thing is fantastic. You take the cap off, and the rum fills the room. Very strong pineapple, banana, sweet, fruity, tropical. Taste Pineapple, banana, blueberry, and it melts into a caramel and buttered popcorn. It's such a nice pure Jamaican funk, with none of the industrial notes that I get from some of the more complex Hampden marks like C\H, but it's not as oaky and vanilla as Smith & Cross, it's actually very light and crisp. Is it the perfect daiquiri rum? I made myself several daiquiris. Doctor Bird, Inferno Room, Smith & Cross, and DOKTOK split base 1:1 with Diplo Planas as DOK tends to overwhelm. Well, maybe I am just becoming a dunderhead, but DOKTOK split with Planas was my favorite daiquiri of the bunch. But it was veeery close. Honestly I should have also split base for Inferno Room because it's challenging to drink a daiquiri that is 2 parts rum, 1 part lime, and 1 part syrup, when the rum is a 60% ABV funk bomb. But they are all delicious. I can't emphasize enough what a fantastic break this is from so much Dominican rum. I would put Smith & Cross and Doctor Bird tied for 2nd to DOKTOK in the daiquiri tasting, and honestly, I feel like I still need to find the right cocktail for Doctor Bird Inferno Room, because the sherry flavor doesn't really work quite as well in a daiquiri, even after compensating for the overwhelming ABV and funk. Verdict {rating}/10 When I was trying it, I was convinced that it was a hampden. I pulled out my 8 marks and was tasting them... maybe it's a blend of LFCH and \H? It's so hard to tell because it's also definitely aged and my marks are all unaged! But dead on, it gave me hampden vibes. I was stunned when I read that it was Worthy Park, because I associated Worthy Park with that really grassy weird flavor like in Worthy Park Overproof, 109, and Hamilton Pot Still blends. Not that I don't like Worthy Park, but I always assumed that it had this one specific profile, but that might just be a particular mark that they use in those rums but they don't use in Doctor Bird, because this blows every other WP I've had out of the water. But regardless, my conviction that this was a Hampden just goes to show how good this rum is. Crazy fruity, crazy funky, and it's incredible that it goes for the same price as Smith & Cross. For $30 I now have a choice of two 8.5/10 rums that are quite different but fantastic in their own way. It's an insane daiquiri.

I want to combo break from the Dominican Republic again, because I think I may have found a rum competing to be my favorite, again. I have two variants of Doctor Bird. The original one you can get anywhere, and the blend exclusive to The Inferno Room, a tiki bar in Indianapolis. > Note: It carries NAS, apparently it's aged in the US in ex-bourbon barrels (not in Jamaica?) and finished in PX sherry casks. Review Smell This thing is fantastic. You take the cap off, and the rum fills the room. Very strong pineapple, banana, sweet, fruity, tropical. Basically the same as the classic Doctor Bird, but even stronger! Makes sense, it's the same base rum, but this is higher proof. Taste It reminds me more of Stolen Rum Overproof (7 year aged HLCF iirc?) because of the higher proof and the more pronounced aging. But the base flavor is still very similar to Doctor Bird, just noticably amped up and with a sherry finish. I made myself several daiquiris. Doctor Bird, Inferno Room, Smith & Cross, and DOKTOK split base 1:1 with Diplo Planas as DOK tends to overwhelm. Well, maybe I am just becoming a dunderhead, but DOKTOK split with Planas was my favorite daiquiri of the bunch. But it was veeery close. Honestly I should have also split base for Inferno Room because it's challenging to drink a daiquiri that is 2 parts rum, 1 part lime, and 1 part syrup, when the rum is a 60% ABV funk bomb. But they are all delicious. I can't emphasize enough what a fantastic break this is from so much Dominican rum. I would put Smith & Cross and Doctor Bird tied for 2nd to DOKTOK in the daiquiri tasting, and honestly, I feel like I still need to find the right cocktail for Doctor Bird Inferno Room, because the sherry flavor doesn't really work quite as well in a daiquiri, even after compensating for the overwhelming ABV and funk. Verdict {rating}/10 I have very similar feelings as the original Doctor Bird, but of course, there's some key differences. It's higher ABV, which makes it harder to drink neat or in a daiquiri, so this rum is well and truly intended to be mixed deep like in a jungle bird. And also, it's a sherry finish, which I definitely think can work in some cases, but a daiquiri just might not be it. I tried what remains of it in a pepsi, and of course, I could barely taste the pepsi— it just takes over. I only ordered a sample of it, so unfortunately I don't have enough to try in a Jungle Bird, Mai Tai, Jet Pilot, etc. to see where it really fits in. As such, I am giving it somewhat of a soft 8/10 because I can see myself being convinced either way, but just the fact that I'd have to go to Indianapolis and pay $43 for a bottle sort of makes me think that I won't be trying more any time soon. I've heard some people comparing this one to Hampden Pagos (and that Pagos is also a bit of a weird one for Hampden).

There's a lot of people with very sophisticated palates. Just like there's wine and coffee reviewers who will tell you that a wine or coffee has "notes of cherry with a hint of Argentinian oak ", and then you try it for yourself, and it just tastes like wine or coffee. I really only discovered my love for rum last year, and to be honest, I've only had a handful, so I would like to share my uneducated opinions on the several rums that I have tried. As soon as I turned 21, I went to the grocery store and bought myself the absolute cheapest vodka they had. It was undrinkable and I poured it out. True, I was a college student, and a year earlier I'd probably power through it because alcohol is alcohol, but now I was legal, so I went back to the store and bought something a bit more expensive, but still quite cheap: Kraken. The fact that it was overproof also added value, because it's more debauchery per drink. I bought a 1.75L bottle because it was the best value, and that bottle has followed me after every move, until today, I finally finished off the last bit on the bottom. I don't know if I was waiting for a special occasion or something, but writing a review seems as good an occasion as any. Plus, at this point, I have better drinks for "special occasions". Review Smell: smells pretty strongly like vanilla extract Taste: Hits you with the strong alcohol taste. The spices are bold. I can discern cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla, as well as a bitter aftertaste. There's probably a bunch of other spices in there, but I feel like I can really only strongly make out vanilla and cinnamon, and that's good enough for me. I never drank this straight anyway. Who does that? Verdict {rating}/10 Unfortunately, I don't think that I will ever purchase this again, because I won't be 21 again. This rum is cheap, it's in every store, and it gets you drunk easily, and that's what I cared about. I am using the sodafry soda rating scale for these values. Drinking it chilled, I give it a 3. It's not an easy thing to drink and it's not enjoyable. But that's also not how anyone drinks it. Mixed with pepsi zero, I give it a 5. Actually not half bad. It's like a vanilla coke. I'd never buy it; I'd never order it. But, if I go to a room party and they have the typical spread of random spirits, I would be actually excited if they had kraken and a diet cola.