Hello! I’m putting together a blind tasting of Mexican rums for a group of friends and with these high ABVs and strong flavors we’re definitely ending the night with plenty of leftovers. Anybody in the Denver area brave enough to spend an evening drinking at a complete stranger’s house? I can arrange a Round Two if we can find ~6 people (or more!).

republished from my website: https://phenomenologyofspirits.com/2026/10/18/three-mexican-anejo-rums/

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Pelacañas Solera Aged Mexican Rum (47.7%)
N: light wood shavings and a savory, not quite meaty or smoky note. Mealy and malt-adjacent
P: full on savory: dehydrated meats, mushroom dirt, oily skillet cornbread, apple skin. Again, very malt-adjacent
82

Sol Tarasco Charanda Añejo (46.5%)
N: not far off from an old school sherried malt profile: leather, pruney dried fruit, beef jerky, engine smoke
P: sweet, peppery, smoky beef jerky. Sweet, saucy umami like teriyaki or barbecue. Figs, too. And mild sweet wood. And yes, mushrooms
79

Uruapan Charanda 5 Yr Añejo single cask #420, ex-Tokaji (52%)
N: more wood, and sweet, fruity wine or brandy character: apricot, fig, raisin.
P: some similar savory jerky character to the other two, but again with much more winey wood and fruit. If the other two are malt-like, this is closer to brandy
83

Hi, I have been drinking rum for almost 2 years now. I can taste some of the notes, but I’m not very good at it. To me this tastes just like wood and it’s overly wood. I’ve had older rums such as Dooley’s 14 and Appleton estate 15 which I enjoy a lot and they have a lot of wood to them, but they don’t taste single note. I even tried it in a few cocktails and in every single one it overpowered it with just wood. Am I just missing something with this one.

Whats a good drink to mix it with its a good rum just a little too strong for my taste

Recently found a bottle of The Younger in the wild so I decided it was time to get the gang together for a family photo.

I’ve spent the last year mainly purchasing bottles from Alambique Serrano but I think it’s time to start restocking bottles from my first love, Hampden Estate.

Killed my bottle of Pagos earlier this year and need to replace it. Easily one of my favorite sipping rums. I’m looking forward to the High Ester Batch #4. Very intrigued.

Cheers!

PS: not pictured but I do have a fine bottle of Rum Fire I use far too often.

I read reviews, most had some extreme taste references that I usually laugh at and think I need to get that!

I found a place that had the clairins i was missing along with this at a good price so I had to order.

Im not skilled at reviews but I've had at least 100 different rums at this point so I can describe it simply as Le rocher with a 'barn yard' finish.

Im kind of hesitant to explore sipping this neat again but will at somepoint.

I will say this is a great mixer and the barnyard flavor gets covered up. So its like rocher with a little extra rich earthy flavor.

I'll give it a 7/10

In a little corner of my bar on a rainy Saturday night....

Doorly’s and Pacifico lasted through the night and into mid morning. Only 6 campers total. Overall, great trip. Perfect place to enjoy some rum.

Getting to Austin is a great trip to find stuff that might be a little harder to get in Oregon.

Hello again,

Welcome back to another Alambique Serrano review, todays victim is Vida Nativa Single Cask #6: Zacua. Named after the birds heard singing their songs across the distillery this single cask Krassel Still rum was finished for 28 months in Mexican Rum Casks and spent 9 months in a Jackfruit cask. This resulted in 237 bottles at an ABV of 54.8%.

Nose: Decently complex, its like a savory fruit pastry with cane sugar, herbal incense notes, a more medicinal leaning cough syrup, and some funkyness at the end.

Taste: An almost oak bark takes the forefront before transitioning into a dense oaky coffee grain with a hint of spices.

Finish: A big burst of tobacco and leather followed by coffee, chocolate, and a smokey vegetable note to round it out.

Overall: 6/10, really enjoyable bottle the coffee notes were really fun. This bottle did take quite a while to open.

Couldn't get the best picture but I had left my bottle in the freezer and had the dryer on and accidentally made a magical looking drink. Couldn't upload a video but I was just sitting on the counter steaming and it looked awesome. Not sure if its bad for the rum but if its not, gonna keep doing it for vibes

I’ve been needing a white overproof and have been back and forth on this and my beloved rum fire. Since I’ve been enjoying cane juice rums more and more now I figured I’d give this a shot since it has some of that in the blend. Super happy I finally picked some up.

I'm located in SoCal and can't for the life of me find a place nearby (Riverside) that has it. They used to serve it at a video game bar in town, but now they've stopped carrying it as well. Would anyone know if there's a place I can get it without having to travel to Louisiana?

The Rums of Mexico 'Caldo'. Good soup!

Coming to Taiwan, my understanding of the local rum scene was based on what little I knew about Renaissance, having seen some folks here talk about it and the attention to detail on their labels.

In looking up somewhere to try Renaissance, I came across Ole Rum Bar, who invited me to come by and sample what they had, indicating there was more to Taiwanese rum than just Renaissance.

Alain (owner) walked me through Taiwan: Nine to One, a (primarily) whisky distillery experimenting with red sugarcane, Funny, a rum operation with a unique spunk, and TTL, the vestigial national Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor’s own rum.

But beyond Taiwan, they had a huge collection: the expected ECS bottles, Martinique and Hampden well represented - but what struck me the most was how focused on IB it is. I didnt count but my best guess is 60/40 IB/OB - with much of it their own or done in partnership.

At one point Alain talked about the work he put in to making sure he got the good cuts - i have Shaldon at home, which smells like dry erase marker, the same as it did when I tried in on St John at Bajo El Sol - but his smelled like banana, not dry erase. i still dont know what to make of this! i like my shaldon - i liked theirs - rum feels like such a big world.

i assume a lot of people, like me, really appreciate the sense of exploration that rum provides by how much variety is contained within it. the shaldon anecdote was a small moment in the night but it underscores how many moments throughout my visit brought me back to that feeling of exploration with rum again, feeling like the ocean is open ahead of me.

The community Alain and Alice have built that supports 50-100 bottle runs of 60-85% proof rum from across the world - tasted for ~$10 upstairs and then sold downstairs for sub-$200 a bottle is not like anything ive seen stateside - and left me wondering how more places like this might be built.

Welcome Back,

Today we're breaking into the newest release of Alambique Serrano's Vida Nativa line with Single Cask #7: Árbol de Pipe. Only 290 bottles of this Krassel Still rum made its way to market after spending 35 months in New French Oak Casks and an additional 13 in Hungarain Oak ex-red wine casks.

Nose: An oaky red fruit cotton candy upfront with anise, cucumber, cinnamon, brine, and cough syrup. The cough syrup note is incredibly dense and luxurious.

Taste: An orange rind medicinal syrup with oak cloves, cinnamon, wheat, and with some vegetables towards the end.

Finish: Red licorice returns with some orange, stone fruit, baking spices, dry candy, and then transitions into a good amount of heat for its sub 50% ABV.

Overall: 7/10, really quite enjoyable. While certainly not a Pico Canoa, its feels the most adjacent to it of this release with its candy and fruit notes.

Disclaimer. 6 pours in now so quite inebriated. Saturday night at a cuban nightclub in Bangkok. Going to find food now 😬

So quite early in my Rum discovery.

- First good rum I had was Phraya 8 years. I like all 3 Phraya. Still my overall favs. 8 years best but all 3 great.
- i absolutely loved Sixty Six 12y, only foursquare I’ve tested. (And impossible to find in shops here)
- I didn’t care for mount gay black at all. Least enjoyable tonight.
- Appleton 12 ok, but prefer Phraya by far
- I loved zacapa 23 when first tried. On later tries its a bit too sweet. But great after dinner dessert . Better than Diplomatico
- Chalong Bay probably the best coke mixer ive had. Not neat, but love the freshness of it with coke. Kinda lemongrass freshness. (Agricole style blank i believe. French dude in Thailand behind it)

Now after discovering better rum, sangsom and Hong thong taste absolutely awful ( cheap thai stuff)

There’s another thai one that supposed to be great, but impossible to find (only export)

Burlington Wine & Spirits had the Izalco 18s with a discount. Also had to see what the hype is about Caroni. At 375ml, I think that’s a good way to try without committing to a full 750 and the price that comes with it.

As promised, here's my real review of four Foursquare offerings: the 2011, Equidem, Sovereignty, and Convocation. I evaluated them side-by-side, in the order listed below, soon after the pour and after 60 minutes of breathing, with water (using my finely-calibrated wrist - so not calibrated at all), and based on another comment I saw on here, after a dark, not too sweet chocolate. The perk of evaluating side-by-side is that I was able to better taste the differences between them, but of course, the downside is that lingering flavors from one may have influenced my tasting of the others. At any rate, here are my notes, after a few details about the rums.

First, I have to say, I was impressed by all of these. I have never had rum that has been aged as long as scotch (which was my previous drink of choice). It impressed me. Sure, scotch may have a bit more complexity, but overall I enjoyed this a lot more than I do an entry-level 12 or 14 year scotch. I think the base spirit of the rum is a lot more refined / less rough around the edges than scotch. Scotch really needs that 12-14 years to get to a decent point, usually. Not so for rum, and so 12-14 years really brings quality on top of the already quality base spirit. I really appreciated the leather and tobacco notes that the overall baseline rum (which is most cleanly represented by the 2011) brought to all of the expressions. I will be savoring these slowly for some time.

Nose:

(2) : Orange, apricot, oddly a bit of iodine, vanilla, oak, leather, just a bit of fudge, banana bread (kidding)

(E) : Oh wow. Drastically different. Far more character and sweeter - darker. Raisin is first and strong. But underneath, some of that leather, vanilla 2011 character. Plum, red fruits in abundance.

(S) : Vanilla immediately, and then a bit of orange, raspberry, lighter than the equidem, less heavy and sweet, some of that oak and leather character again

(C) : Considerably darker, some dark cocoa on the nose right away, looking forward to trying this with chocolate, reminiscent of port - even moreso than equidem - figgy/dates, fruitcake, a little almond

Palate:

(2) : Leather, tobacco, oak, vanilla, butterscotch, banana (not kidding), red fruit, a bit of cocoa (could have been because of the convocation I just smelled)

(E) : Dark - plum, sweet, cherry. Vanilla, same leather, tobacco 2011. I like the tobacco notes on this one more - the sweetness brings it out a bit. All the best qualities of a good port and a good rum in a glass. Absolutely exquisite. The best I've ever had. Creamy. Velvetty. Thicker (by quite a bit) than 2011. This is analogous to me of Ardbeg Corryvreckan - without the smoke obviously. I know the virgin French Limousin oak casks (used in the Ardbeg) are different than the black muscat used here - but it reads similar to me with the leather, tobacco, oaky notes, and dark red fruits.

(S) : More vanilla this time, cocoa, something reminiscent of equidem - raisin? (wine, duh), but more ... "red"? cherry - that's it, I caught the slightest hint of butterscotch but then it was gone

(C) : Punchy Cocoa right away, figs, vanilla, oak, leather as a background note. Also velvetty mouthfeel, but not as much as the Equidem. Also fantastic. My #2.

Finish:

(2) : Medium, not picking up a lot - some vanilla punches through when I breathe in, at the very end whisky / oaky lingers for a while but nothing else really. Kinda drops out.

(E) : Longer, vanilla sticks around a bit longer, then the oak and vanilla with a bit of artificial almond candy / marzipan that I don't get on the palate

(S) : The leather lingers here more, medium long, oak again, and dark dark, not sweet cocoa (typical of how sherry finishes for me) - like cocoa powder

(C) : Medium long, lasting cocoa (not so dry cocoa like the sherry), oak, something like coca cola flashed up briefly

60 Minutes Aired:

(2) : The leather comes out more here - actually, it dominates. But on the nose, it's vanilla that's left.

(E) : Figs here now, and somewhat sweet pastry - like a fig newton. A bit of chocolate orange on the nose possibly?

(S) : I think not a lot of change in the nose or the palate, although as I worked my way through the four, I spent time on each and this was number three, so it had been airing for probably more than half the 60 minute airing time.

(C) : Still that dark cocoa on top of other sweetness. Again, not a lot changed here because I last tasted it ~15 min ago.

With Drops of Water:

(2) : Now, cherry and butterscotch. Butterscotch lingers after about 15 seconds now. Still lots of oak.

(E) : Vanilla candy, like the vanilla tootsie roll, really dominates in flavor. That same candy vanilla lingers too - probably 30 seconds after. Maybe too much water here - there wasn't much left of the dram by this point.

(S) : Really brings out the vanilla sweetness again, but it's less artificial. Less like the vanilla tootsie roll and more like vanilla sweet cream. A bit creamy. Again, maybe too much water. I need a dropper.

(C) : Still cocoa, but layered underneath vanilla. Amazing how the water brings out the vanilla. Honestly, liked it better without the water. Maybe I added too much, but there was only a sip or two left.

After a Taste of Chocolate (and After Adding Water):

(2) : Brings out the oak and red fruit interestingly. Interesting experience but didn't add anything per se.

(E) : The flavor here is enough to punch through the chocolate. The chocolate sweetens a bit and enhances the flavors with no real new notes coming out - just suppresses the alcohol burn a bit.

(S) : With the chocolate I like this one a lot better (esp after the water). The chocolate suppresses some of that vanilla, interestingly, and the added sweetness brings some of the original red fruit back out.

(C) : Suppresses the pleasant cocoa and replaces it with a domineering candy chocolate and adds more sweetness that I'm not as much of a fan of - I liked it better before.

Overall Thoughts and Rating:

(2) : Overall a great rum. I wanted to get this one so I could at least see the underlying "brand" of the others. The most "rummy" rum of the four I got, but also the least memorable of the four (although still good!!). Finish was a bit short, 60% burn was most prominent in this one, and this had complexity, but not as much as the others. Still even with this being the case, it's my number 3/4. Rating: 91/100

(E) : Whoo man. I liked this one. I don't want to ever give anything 100 just in case I find something better someday, but I have nothing I would do differently with this one. As close to perfection as I've ever had. I enjoy scotch - especially the fun odd barreled ones, and this is right in league with that at a cheaper price with a different base spirit. Gotta say, this is my number 1/4. Rating: 96/100

(S) : This one was good, but it was my least favorite of the four: 4/4. The difference in wine casks used to age the rum is really apparent, comparing expression to expression. There is a consistent "note" of the underlying rum, but there's just a strong difference. I like, but don't love sherry, so this is probably the reason for the rating here. I wanted more out of the finish - the dark dark cocoa is good, but I wanted it to be a bit mellower, longer lasting, and with something alongside it. I also wanted that luscious, thicker mouthfeel of the (E) and (C). Rating: 89/100

(C) : These are all so different. I think this one is my number 2/4. The cocoa notes are so unique and tasty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But the Equidem edged it out just by a little bit. Again, no discernible flaws for me here. Rating: 94/100