BIG RUMS that rock your world?

@newreverie sounds interesting! Thank you !) I may give it a try

@Georgy If you've had Zacapa 23 before, I'd say Plantation 20 is sweeter and smoother. Zacapa 23 has more spice and isn't quite as smooth (although it is plenty easy to sip on all night). There is also less oak in Zacapa 23 despite having a bigger spice profile. Plantation 20 has a better nose and finish. Zacapa 23 has a better overall taste profile. I'd score Zacapa 23 an 89/100.

Plantation XO is a favorite for after dinner Rum. If I had to pick 3 it would be Berry Bros. & Rudd Caribbean XO (Caroni Distillery) 46%, found nicely discounted at the LCBO , Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros 45% and Rum Nation Panama 21 years, few others like Ron Cartivio XO, ED 21 work as well.

Caroni.

Man it really can be great. I have a couple of independent bottles from Ratray (17 year old at 67% Abv - no added sugar) and they are just great. It's hard to describe the smoky tropical fruity sweet petroleum bliss. Damn Serge for turning me onto them, now they are hard to come by! The standard Caroni 12 yr old bottling was great too (and cheap).

I like the El Dorado 12 as well (better than the 21), even if it is pimped with sugar. Of course you should try the 75% Abv Pussers for fun too.

@Nozinan As usual there is a ton of it in NS for $45.

Thank you all for sharing your best picks when it comes to rum! I'd love to give some of them a try some day. Unfortunately, some big rums aren't available in Moscow, but I'll keep at it and, maybe, will find some of them

@Georgy Well, I know you like Rum. I would like to refer to Hampden again. You can read about some Hampden Rums on the site Wisky Fun of april the ninth of 2017. He compares Hampden with the Ardbeg of the seventies. . Maybe you should give one of those Hampden rums mentioned in the article a try. Maybe some other rum affectionados on Connosr should do tthe same. I know I will.

The owner of Whisky Fun is Serge Valentin. He writes about whisky almost on a daily basis . He also write about malternatives such as rum. I am pretty fond of his site Whisky Fun. I recommand his site Whisky Fun to everyone on Connosr www.whiskyfun.com

I want to thank everyone for their insight and suggestions. I have been wanting to explore good sipping rums but few establishments by me that sell such for sampling. So I rely on my Connsr friends. After consideration, and mostly based on availability, I recently purchased bottles of Mount Gay XO and Diplimatico Reserva Exclusiva. Already have bottle of Zacapa 23. Looking forward to adding Plantation Anniversario, Lemon Hart 151, and perhaps something from Appleton, El Dorado, and Clement in future too.

Has anybody tried the recently released Bacardi 1873 Solera Rum? I bought a bottle of the earlier version at the distillery in Catano, Puerto Rico in 1995. It impressed me then and now as being very very different from most of the rums out there by virtue of its being extremely dry. I recently had a "celebrity" bartender (who now tours the world as an ambassador for Remy Cointreau) get very excited when I told him that I even owned a (now 21 years opened) bottle of 1873. That was before the re-issue of the product. 1873 was discontinued for a number of years and I see that they have re-instated the product recently. If the current 1873 tastes as good as the earlier version, then Bacardi 1873 is a great sipping rum for those who want a dry rum. I don't like to taste sugar added in rum. For me, with rum as with whisky, sugars contributed to the spirit via oak aging taste much different than sugars added to the product...or added in a cocktail. I like the oak sugars, but I don't like added refined sugars.

...mixed and mediocre recent onlline reviews of the newer Bacardi 1873 I see. I also see that it is currently produced in Mexico and not in Puerto Rico, so it is now from a different distillery. Guess I'll have to try some of the new stuff for myself, by the glass, not the bottle.

@Victor I've had some good experiences with the rums out of Mexico. The Moccambo 20yr single barrel is very good.

Nozinan replied @Victor Out of curiosity... if someone were looking to buy some Lemon Hart....where would one look?

@Nozinan: I know you usually have no reason to travel to Michigan, but Lemon Hart 151 was added to Michigan state's liquor price book back in July. Enough to lure you across either Blue Water or Ambassador Bridges?

@cherylnifer, I've been buying my Lemon Hart & Sons 151 Rum in Washington, D.C. If I were not shopping locally I'd be checking out the vendors who sell it listed on wine-searcher.com, assuming that you live somewhere to which it is legal to have the liquor shipped. Sigh! It seems like only yesterday when I was carrying 750 ml bottles of Don Quixote 151 Rum and a case of Presidente Beer right onto the airplane back with me from Puerto Rico. It was 1984.

@cherylnifer I am very happy that @Victor brought over a Lemon Hart 151 when he came to Ontario. And if things go the way I would like them to, I may end up with a couple mre well before this one is empty...

Heading to the US for a sports trip in October and fully intend to bring back a Lemon Hart Rum and re-stock a top shelf tequila.

Thanks for the recommendation...jr

@JayRain You can get Lemon Hart in Ontario. I recommend getting Lemon Hart 151

Understood - pardon my laziness for not distinguishing and thanks for the follow-up.

Pursuant to a thread from 9ish months ago, I no longer frequent the LCBO and only purchase abroad. With 45 closed bottles (and 5 or 6 open), have chipped away nicely this year and yet still have a number of years left to share and enjoy the stash.

@JayRain I have been in debating organizations during and since high school and that's more than half my life. It has made me a stickler for detail and as at least one person has described me on this site (you know who you are but I've forgotten) as pedantic.

But in my defence, there are 3 Lemon Harts. I am very enthusiastic about the 151, the one I have tried. I don't know if the other ones are good or not but I feel anyone I respect should have an opportunity to try the 151. It is exceptional.

@Nozinan Thanks and duly noted

Rums are in a good price point here in Australia to be a serious alternative, (or malternative as Serge says), to single malt. I recently tried Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum and am interested to check out some of the suggestions on here.

No rum has passed my lips since first year university when I puked up a whole lot of cheap Bacardi and the rest of my stomach contents all over my shoes. Amazingly, I did that several times before I swore off the stuff forever and switched to beer and cheap rye and ginger ale.

From what I'm reading here, I may have to rethink my rum moratorium.

@Frost here is a site forum that listed the sugar/sweetening in Rums if that is of interest. May help you with your selection process.

rumproject.com/rumforum/viewtopic.php/…

@Astroke Not sure that's a reliable resource. Looks like guesswork to me.

Or I could jut be reading it wrong...

@Astroke, A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Cap'n Jimbo is not quite on the level with his whisky info.

@Nozinan There are multiple sources that are testing and the Rum world seems to agree with these numbers. Whether they are completely accurate and how accurate those meters are I don't know. I have had many of the Rums tested and there is no doubt in my mind they have additives to sweeten them.

@paddockjudge Other than the CC they all came up empty as they should. The CC noted 7 grams of sugar is not accurate IMO. They probably chose Canadian Whisky for antiquated idea that Canadian Whisky has these unknown additives added to the blend.

@Astroke I'm well aware that there are things added to some rums, cognacs, Canadian whiskies... What I'm not confident in is the accuracy of the ol' Cap'n. Nor do I understand the numbers. But I still have a lot to learn.

I find it difficult to believe that that exhaustive list of rums was available to these "testers" and even if it were that they had some sort of definitive test for sugar and additive content.

@Astroke thank you

My rum knowledge is very basic. I just know I like dark rum aged in a cask with nothing added.