The day before christmas

Santa came with some early christmas gifts this year - a whole box full with bottles of rum. I also managed to visit the swedish "Systembolaget" today and bought myself one of their news for december - a bottle of "J. Bally Millesime 2000".

I'm having a cold for the moment and therefore I'm not really in the shape for sipping rum and write reviews. But I know that I've some nice moments in the future waiting for me.

The following bottles are unopened and standing in line...

• J. Bally Millesime 2000
• El Dorado 15 Y.O
• Rum Plantation Trinidad 2000
• Barcelo Imperial
• Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva 12 Anos
• Mount Gay Extra Old Barbados
• Malecon 18 Y.O

La Caracol Saxo Bio

Saxo Bio is an belgian strong ale at 7.5%. It's a blonde ale marketed as a ecological product.

Eye: Light color, golden yellow and foggy. It's has a large white foam and the look indicates a lot of bubbles.

Nose: Fresh summer ale, mango, lemon and pineapple. Sweet.

Taste: A fruity taste that comes out rather sweet. The mango, lemon, pineapple-taste. Pretty much bubbles and then some hops.

Aftertaste: A sweet aftertaste sticks in your mouth. Some lemon notes is left with the hops. Sweet but also a dry sticky feeling.

Fits for summer and should be served really cold. I prefer to drink ale that are not icecold, but this one just got too sweet when it got a little warmer. Not that much taste of the alcohol, a fruity taste that stays intact through the whole drink. Too sweet.

Grade:

4/10

Rum Plantation Guyana 1990 Old Reserve

Rum Plantation have several different rums on the market. This one comes from Guyana and is a 1990 Old Reserve. Other Rum Planations are for example the Jamaica from 2000 and the Barbados Grande Reserve.

The bootle is at 45 % and matured in french limousin oak barrels.

Eye: Medium dark, golden and looks a little oily in the glas.

Nose: Raisin and druit figs. Some nuts and arrak.

Taste: A complex taste hard to identify. We have some figs, earth/gras. It has a dry taste and some citrus.

Aftertaste: It leaves a complex aftertaste and it really don't hold it together as the aftertaste suddenly dips and switches to new tastes. From grass and figs we get some dry, citrus taste instead.

This ain't a bad rum. It's one of the older Rum Plantations that's easy to find - still I can't say that it's better than the other Plantations I've tried. A complex taste that's not really kept together trough the whole drink - eye to aftertaste.

The grade has to come out of comparing to other rums and this one ain't really my favorite as both the Jamican and Barbados taste better than this. If you enjoy a complex and dry rum this might be something for you.

Grade:

5/10

Innis & Gunn Rum Cask

Innis & Gunn introduced 2007 a ale finished in barrels which previosly contained rum - Rum Cask!

Well this is bottle that have been laying for over two years I'm reviewing and I've 7 or 8 more of them laying around. A lot of people seemed to dislike this brew, with the motivation too sweet, to strange...

Well, it's a odd brew. The fact remains - I like sweeter ales and I'm fan of rum! A perfect drink for me?

Eye: Dark brown/redish in color.

Nose: Dried fruits, light spicies, some oak and leather.

Taste: Sweeter then the average beer, but what to expect from ale aged in rum caskes? A lot of taste, but the body ain't that heavy. Still I taste dried fruits, some wood and a rum taste. The carbonation is medium, still maybe a little to much for my taste.

Aftertaste: At the end a lot happens! A heavy, spicy taste. It's oak, fruits, sweet, leather and also some associations to old cellar/cigar-like taste that some rums have. But in this case it's not too much. It mixes good with the rest! This is nice!

Fits really good to food that are a little more heavy. Not sweet chili-kind of spicy but dark & wild meat for example.

I also belive that the Innis & Gunn Rum Cask has aged really good during those 2 years in the cellar. A lot of taste, but still really smooth. Still! Remember that this is a odd brew and not for everyone ;)

Grade:

8/10

Hoegaarden - Rosée

Hoegaarden - Rosée is a weise/wheat beer and a lambic with taste of raspberry. Really odd, yes... I've read a lot about this on the net and most people find it to be really bad. Well, I didn't expected it to taste like a regular belgian ale and I know that - if you do... you will most certainly be disappointed.

This one came in 25cl cans - the same size and shape as Red Bull. I drank it in regular a wineglass and I've opened another can a few days after the first one. Not bad, but should more be compared with a cider (not the dry ones, but the sweet ones).

Eye: Pink? Well, a pinkish color that tints to orange. It's not clear but rather murky as many wiese beers are.

Nose: It's sweet, but with hints of orange. Some regular notes of hops can be found, so it's possible to part the Hoegaarden from a sweet raspberry cider.

Taste: Raspberry and surprisingly not an overly strong feeling of artificially produced tastes. Actually taste more real than many softdrinks. Oranges can also be found - balancing the taste a little. But mainly this is a sweet drink... if you don't like that - skip this one!

Aftertaste: Not much new... the taste leaves pretty fast and only leaves the sweetness left.

Grade:

6/10

Urthel - Hibernus Quentum Tripel

My first review is a strong belgian ale from Urthel, a pretty new brewery that started in 2000. One of the owners - Bas van Ostaden - has written a modern fairytale where the gnomes in the fairytale drinks a special beverage - Urthel!

I drank this in a wineglass with some bolongese and macaronis. I found the Urthel - Hibernus Quentum Tripel to be a nice experience. I'm more used to dark, strong ales that are a lot sweeter and not as bitter. This one was different in many ways.

Eye: Much lighter color than I expected. A clear golden color.

Nose: Notes of citrus - not lemonish more like oranges. Some sweeter notes of honey and flowers. Some scent perfume, but not too strong. The smell reminds me of many IPAs.

Taste: Well balanced from the beginning to the aftertaste. It's more bitter then most belgian ales I'm used to, but not as bitter as Punk IPA or other overly bitter beers. Well, it's sweet with some notes of honey, but not as sweet as many other belgians.

Aftertaste: At the end I feel that this is a strong tripple ale - not that much pure alcoholic taste, but the ale becomes quite spicy with hints of burn sugar and leaves with a strong aftertaste. More bitter then I expected.

Rating:

7/10

Ratings & reviews

I've been thinking about how to handle my reviews and ratings for some time. My main questions is the following ones:

How can I set up a good system for reviewing and rate beverages and still retain a system so it can be comparable to old ratings over time?

How should a review be like? How do I want a review to look like?

Well... to be able to retain the same level of seriousity of time I can't aim too high. It has to be fun and kept simple, but still be informative and the reviews must have substance. My goal is to review everything in four steps:

• Eye
• Nose
• Taste
• Aftertaste

I intend to find 2-3 characteristics in each of those steps above and also give a brief summary of the beverage reviewed.

The ratings will be be on a scale from 1 to 10, where a higher rating indicates a better tasting drink.

Introduction

At Rumspot I'll mainly write about beverages - trying to make reviews from my point of view. The idea is to build up a registry about my own thoughts about rums, whiskys, beers etc. that I've tasted.

This is for myself - not only because I've a bad memory, but it's a hobby and I belive it may also help me develop my senses for tasting and appreciating what I drink. My reviews is also for other people interested in finding those extra tasteful drinks - no matter if it's a whisky aged in oak barrels for a longer time then anyone can remember, if it's the worlds most peaty whisky to be found, if it's a rum from one of those many exotic islands or if it's just a nice beer found at the local pub.

I will write about and review things that revolve around this subject. As everyone have a different taste for those things, my reviews will most certainly not be the absolute truth.

Important to mention is that I find myself being extra fond of rum - aged rum to be precise. Tried a lot of different brands from all around the world... and the trip to discover more and more continues.

When it comes to beer - I must say that I've never really been a big fan of "beer" in particular - but during the years I've discovered that my "branch" is belgian ales that often are sweeter then most others beers.

When it comes to whisky I'm more into the peaty-side, but can enjoy regular whisky as well. Islay and Higlands are my main districts.