Smith & Cross London Traditional Jamaica Rum

Smith & Cross can trace their heritage back as far as 1788, producing of sugar and spirits.  Importing vast quantities of rum and sugar from Jamaica.  At one point they had a Sugar Distillery at 203 Thames Street at the old London docks. on the banks of the River Thames.

Smith & Cross is a 100% Jamaican pot still rum.  It is distilled in Jamaica at the famous Hampden Estate, who still produce their own line of rums.  The rum is produced from molasses, cane juice and syrup from freshly pressed sugar cane.  It is a mixture of heavy Wedderburn pot still rum (aged for only six months) and the more medium bodied Plummer, which is aged for up to 3 years in our old friend the bourbon barrel.  For further detailed information try http://www.alpenz.com/images/poftfolio/smithcross114rum.htm they will explain things far better than I ever could!

Smith & Cross comes in a typical bartender friendly bottle.  Having said that the bottle does have a slightly thicker more bulbous rounded neck and unlike most bottles similar to this, you don’t get a metallic strip screw top.  You get an authentic quality cork stopper.  The rum retails at around the £30 mark in the UK per 70cl bottle.  The labelling is simple, clear and unfussed.  Gold lettering with navy backdrop is easy to read and the information on the bottle is sufficiently detailed to let you know exactly what is contained within.  It is simple and gives the rum an authentic and slightly nautical feel.

Bottled at 57% the rum is navy strength.  This means it is (in old money) 100 proof.  This simply means that if any of the spirit was spilt on board a British Royal Navy vessel, it would not affect the lighting of gunpowder.  BOOOOOOOMMMMM!  This is not to be confused with Navy Rum.  Navy rum is traditionally more of a sweeter heavier  mostly Demerara based rum, such as Lambs.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be bottled at navy strength, though examples such as Pussers and Woods are.  This is very definitely a Navy Strength Jamaican only style rum.

For anyone who has sampled a Jamaican rum, many will have tried an Appleton you know that they are quite pungent.  For many rum drinkers this can be quite off putting.  I have to say I have found this style of rum takes quite some getting used to.  However, that is the beauty I find in rum.  So much variation and difference in the “one” spirit.

The cork produced a lovely pop upon opening the bottle and seals the bottle nice and tightly when re-applied.  The rum immediately releases its pungent heavy odour.  It invokes a picture in my mind of fruit punch laden with oranges, apples and pineapple.  It reminds me a little of taking those fruit pieces out of the punch and sucking the alcohol which has absorbed.  The smell is rich, sugary, heavy molasses.  It is reminiscent of an Appleton but also has that extra alcohol feel, which reminds me a little of Pussers.  On pouring, the rum seems to lighten considerably.  Smith & Cross is a light golden amber colour.  In the bottle it did look a lot more orange coloured.  This may be due to the dark label?

Upon sipping, the rum offers a considerable and quite rough alcohol burn.  You need a few sips before you can even begin to detect the flavours .  It leaves a long lasting tingle on the tongue and in the roof of your mouth.  It isn’t aged long so it is still a young quite rough rum.  It is heavy with caramel tones and  there is an element of fruitiness to the overall flavour but not one which I can immediately pick out.  Perhaps a little pineapple and banana.  When mixed 50/50 with cola I find that the rum becomes more oaked and a slightly tart.

On the rear of the bottle there are two cocktail suggestions.  One is called “Million” and calls for lemon juice and Angostura bitters, the other is “The Doctor” and calls for Swedish Punsch and lime.  I don’t even know what Swedish Punsch is (I’ll look later) but I do have bitters and lemon juice.

The “Million” was interesting to say the least.  My effort ended up looking like a bloody mary.  In some respects the spiciness reminded me a little of the peppery vodka concoction as well.  It was a very strange drink indeed.  It pretty much disguised the taste of the rum, which I really didn’t think was possible!  To be honest the drink was pretty vile, thought that might be partly due to my inept cocktail making skills.

The rum is steeped in tradition it is an old fashioned rum (similar to the also UK produced Old Salt Rum – see my review).  It is not a rum which I found particularly pleasant to sip or in my more familiar territory, mixed with coke at first.  It would seem that the rum is really for mixing in tiki cocktails and other long drinks requiring a bit of oomph.   It might even prove useful in getting rid of the old troublesome guest or at least helping them have some time out…..

However, first impressions are often deceiving.  As I have continued my rum journey I have discovered and tried other Jamaican rums and began to appreciate them more and more.

Smith & Cross is definitely not the sweeter newer style of rum which have been more prevalent since the 50’s and 60’s.  It is no Ron Zacapa or Diplomatico. It is a million miles away from that.  It is in many ways like Ronseal – it does exactly what it say on the tin (bottle).  Smith & Cross make no allusions or false claims about their product.

As a rum to recommend its a difficult one you either like dunder heavy Jamaican rum or you don’t!  I’ve had around 100ml of the stuff during this review and I can certainly feel it!  The ABV obviously attributes to this!

This is a good rum – well made and constructed and has no pretences about being anything other than an old fashioned hard hitting Jamaican pot still. It might well go great with a bit Ting – jammin!

 

 

 

 

 

Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum

Yet another Demerara rum with a very British twist to it. Along with brands such as Lambs, OVD and Skipper us Brit’s certainly do seem to enjoy importing dark Guyanese rums and bottling them up for public consumption.

The rum comes in normal bar style bottle with a label which is old fashioned and in similar ilk to that of Skipper. The makers of these rum’s certainly don’t seem to be going for the younger sexy end of the market.

As with a lot of imported dark Demerara rums this is quite readily available in UK supermarkets. It was in one such establishment (Morrisons this time) that I purchased a bottle for £18.99. Yes you’ve guessed it once I again I was seduced by the £5 discount. At around the £25 mark for a 70cl bottle this is quite expensive when you consider you can get a litre of OVD for around the same price and a litre of Lambs for about £20. Even Skipper is available for around £20 for a 70cl. However, the label on the Wood’s bottle reveals you are in fact getting an overproof rum for your money. At 57% ABV this is quite potent stuff. Stronger even than Pussers 54.5% ABV. Its actually pretty cheap for an Overproof rum.

As mentioned already the rum is a thick dark almost treacly style of Demerara. It is a navy rum in the style of Lambs. However the extra potency gives the rum a bit more of a kick. The rum is still quite sweet and is very similar in taste to Skipper and Lambs. Its probably between the two in terms of sweetness. The extra alcohol does give it a little bitterness.

The rum is a very “English” style of Demerara. El Dorado or Banks it certainly isn’t. Nor is it (in my opinion) a substitute for Pussers. It has little in common with these rums other than demographic.

If you’re after a Lambs style navy rum with a bit extra oomph then Woods will fit the bill. However, if you are after a cheaper substitute for Pussers then I would look elsewhere (if you find one let me know!).

Enjoyable stuff at a reasonable price. However go easy as it is strong stuff! I personally would buy this over Lambs or Skipper. Definitely worth having a bottle kicking around and I would imagine this would go well in tiki cocktails such as a Zombie.

 

Plantation Original Dark Rum – Overproof

I was originally going to get a bottle of Goslings Black Seal 151 rum (I’ve seen tried it in a miniature) but I noticed that one of the online stockists seemed to have made a mistake in pricing this (getting it mixed up with the Underpoof version I suspect) and thus I picked this up for £20 rather than around £33.  I love a bargain me!

I’d tried an Overproof rum before, Coruba 74 so I kind of knew what to expect.  I ordered this in the hope of adding it to Zombie cocktails.  However, as you can see from the bottle it’s found other uses (such as getting people very drunk on their stag parties).

The rum comes in the standard bar bottle, however rather than a metal screw top you get a nice corked closure, which is always something I like.  The pop of the cork and the aroma of the rum is always a nice little touch I find.  Except maybe not this time……..

If your experience of Overproof rum is a Woods or a Pussers then you may not be prepared for the smell of this rum.  Even Wray and Nephew’s White Overproof doesn’t smell the way this does.  It’s not a pleasant smell, I guess its just pure alcohol.  It literally has fumes coming off it as you pour it.  It’s telling you in no uncertain terms to be careful and respect it.

I tried it neat (I poked my tongue in it – which went numb).  I’m sorry to say this but you can’t drink this neat unless you are a tramp, a pirate or a lunatic.  It’s just horrible.  I will liken this rum’s strength to a curry.  If Pussers and Woods are Vindaloo’s then this is a Phaal.  I don’t believe anyone who eats Phaal actually enjoys it and I find it difficult to believe anyone could enjoy this rum straight.  Sorry that may sound harsh but its not for sipping!

It’s difficult to determine the taste as I think your taste buds retreat due to the smell.  It’s just very boozy.  Even when diluted with a pint of cola to just one 25ml shot it still smells of alcohol.  I’m sorry but I just cannot get past the smell.

As a Zombie topper this is fine, as a sipper you would have to be lacking a sense of smell and taste, even as a mixing rum it must be used very liberally.

Beyond the novelty value of a 73% I see no reason why I’ll bother with another so potent Overproof rum.  Definitely not for me.  I would imagine an Overproof rum drinker would have one eye, a beard and a parrot on their shoulder.

The other Plantation rum’s in the range are excellent, however. I will be posting some more reviews of their Underproof offerings soon.

Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum

The infamous Wray and Nephew White Overproof rum which has been available in the UK via Tesco for some years now.  I can only imagine this is due to its huge popularity in Jamaica This rum apparently counts for 90% of all rum sales in Jamaica.

At 63% its not for the faint hearted, mind you neither is the packaging! Although I’m not overly keen on the packaging it does have a plastic diffuser rather than a metal screw top which is slightly better than I expected. The bottle does catch the eye I’ll give it that.

Onto the rum it is predominantly a mixing rum.  I wouldn’t sip a white rum at the best of times and I’m certainly not going to start with 63% firewater!  Despite its high ABV it doesn’t actually smell too bad.  It is a bit whiffy but you also get some citrus and vegetal aromas.  To be honest I was expecting this to be a lot worse.  This seems a decent rum despite the potency.

I mixed a 25ml shot with a liberal dose of cola, as I wasn’t expecting the taste (and mostly the smell) to be drowned out.  To be fair when mixed the rum doesn’t smell to bad and its tastes (for a white rum) pretty good.  In all fairness this rum is quite well made with quite a lot of fruity flavour adding to the cola.

I’m really quite surprised by this rum.  I’m not a huge white rum lover but this is pretty nice.  It will give a massive kick to tiki style cocktails.

The danger in this drink maybe that at 63% its very drinkable and quite easy going.  I best be careful!

Pussers British Navy Rum

Pusser’s Rum (I do wish they’d called it Pursers instead) is as near to the rum issued to sailors in the British Navy as you will get.  The “tot” was abolished in 1970.  Black Tot Day as it was called being 31 July 1970.

The rum is steeped in tradition and the website is very “naval” as is the packaging.  It’s very distinctive and slightly (IMO) gaudy.  However you do get a nice corked closure, which I always prefer.  You don’t get any fancy cardboard packaging with this rum just the bottle.  The rum hasn’t hit the supermarkets over here as yet.  This surprises me somewhat but it has found its way into most independent retailers.  The rum retails at around the £30 mark.  This seems a little expensive for a Navy Rum but it is 54.5% abv so it sould last a bit longer.

I could bore you all with more of the heritage etc of the rum but they have a very informative site (it also attests that different territories get differing strengths in the blue bottle!) http://www.pussers.com/

I’m not acquainted with anyone who served in the Navy at the time of the rum ration so I do not know how authentic the rum is.  Some say it is very close, however I note that many say  Woods is as well.  As both taste differently its difficult to tell how is right!

In keeping with most Navy rums this is blend of many different rums from different carribbean islands.  Upon pouring the rum it is quite dark and very fragrant.  It’s not sickly and overly spiced like some navy rums.  There is a real complexity about this rum with a lot of flavour.  It’s very different to most rums.  It is fruity, hints of smokiness, strong (though not overpowering).

I got a bottle of the Pussers Grog Mix with this as a freebie (that retails at around £5 a bottle and contains no alcohol).  The grog mix is basically a rich thick concentrated lime based drink.  It works quite well mixed with the rum though I did prefer it with cola.

The rum can be sipped neat or enjoyed over cola or even in fruity cocktails (Pussers Painkiller).  Considering this rum hasn’t been aged too long (they reckon around 3 years) it more than justifies the £30 price tag.

To me this is heads and shoulders above the other Navy Rum’s I have tried.  It won’t be to everyone’s taste but it certainly was to mine.  The bottle didn’t last long unfortunately!