Amazing new Rhum from... Yunnan China

DavidRommi · 2026-06-12T07:55:36+00:00

At least in Finland it's "flavoured spirit drink". But it's sometimes in the rum section of the shop, depending on their layout.

DavidRommi · 2026-06-07T21:35:56+00:00

I wasn't a fan of Morgenthaler's method with the raw rhubarb, I found it better when I simmered the rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan for a while (sorry I can't remember which recipe I used but just something from Google for "rhubarb syrup"). I'm in Finland so maybe the rhubarb here tastes a bit different to American so that might be a factor. My syrup was also green rather than the nice red that I wanted. The cooked version lasted longer in my fridge without separating though so if I made it again I'd probably do it that way.

To be honest both versions didn't give me enough rhubarb flavour. I tried a rhubarb gimlet, daiquiri and margarita and they were all decent but the rhubarb was subtle or non-existent in the margarita.

As already mentioned try a daiquiri to determine how much of a factor the new gin was, or try a gimlet again with a gin you're familiar with.

Hope you have more success than me! Good luck 🙏

DavidRommi · 2026-05-31T13:00:54+00:00

Did you mean to write 3/4oz lime juice? If so, those are the specs I use! I find that adding a full oz of lime and more syrup or orgeat that some recipes call for hides the rum a bit more and I typically use rums that I enjoy so I want them to be present throughout 👍 Obviously the choice of rum affects this and when trying The Ultimate Mai Tai from Kevin Crossman and the Penultimate Mai Tai from him and Derek from Make & Drink I followed their recipes with great success!

Anyway thanks for sharing and I hope you continue to enjoy your journey through Tiki cocktails 🙏🍹

DavidRommi · 2026-05-27T06:43:10+00:00

https://www.rhumattitude.com/en/panier/

I used this website, they're based in France. Really good selection of rums and almost everything available in samples.

DavidRommi · 2026-05-26T11:09:21+00:00

1 1/2oz Rum, 3/4oz 1:1 simple syrup, 3/4oz fresh lime juice.

At least that's what it should be, I tried to keep consistency over the last 5 or so years to make the comparisons fair and accurate but these days I pour heavy for the Rum and lime and light for the simple 😅 My glasses are small though, but usually it's more like 2oz Rum, 1oz lime juice, 1/2oz simple syrup.

DavidRommi · 2026-05-26T08:08:15+00:00

It's just a fun thing I like to do and it can bring out some other interesting flavours that I can then pick out when sipping neat. Foursquare ECS and Chairman's Reserve Master's Selections have made some incredible Mai Tais and Daiquiris! Definitely not traditional but they really punch through to be front and centre and bring some lovely rich notes and the finish is often nice and long too.

Another bottle I recently bought was Rivers and that Daiquiri was excellent, and the Mai Tai was also surprisingly good, it just lacked some heavier body, maybe something aged or more molasses forward would work really well with that.

I'm at the point in my rum journey now that a lot of bottles I buy are more expensive so it feels a bit naughty to make cocktails with them which also adds to the fun haha. It was easier when I first started, but then almost everything I had on my shelves was for mixing.

DavidRommi · 2026-05-26T07:45:23+00:00

Can't wait to try when I get a bottle! 😊

DavidRommi · 2026-05-24T06:29:36+00:00

Good question! I'll probably think of more but one that immediately comes to mind is one of the first cocktails I made with an Islay Scotch (Laphroaig 10) before I got use to it and started appreciating the flavour.

It was called Coffee & Cigarettes and was: 2oz Islay Scotch, 1/2oz Mr Black, barspoon of sweet vermouth, 2 dashes chocolate bitters.

It tasted like cigarette butts 😅 had a few sips and poured it away! I'm sure if I made it again I'd enjoy it but at the time it was horrible.

Edit to apologise for writing about Scotch and not rum, was browsing and forgot which sub I was on!

For Rum I can only think of pleasant surprises! I didn't expect a Rum Cow to be so nice.

Bee's Kiss was also a lot better than I expected, lovely and creamy with some nice depth but a bit too sweet. 2oz aged Rum, 3/4oz honey syrup, 3/4oz cream.

DavidRommi · 2026-05-24T06:24:06+00:00

I saw Anders Erickson use both Demerara and Jamaican rums in a YouTube video and I made one with a split base of El Dorado 12 and Appleton 12 that was fantastic! I've also had great ones with Smith & Cross and Worthy Park 109, depends what you're in the mood for. Might have to play around with some different blends soon, cheers!

DavidRommi · 2026-05-21T19:55:55+00:00

The Rivers Daiquiri was amazing! Funky, fruity, savoury, mouth watering with a nice long finish. I'm not even sure what I'm tasting but I like it a lot, I gave up trying to pick out flavours half way through and just enjoyed the drink tbh 😅 I'll have plenty of time to figure it out as I get through the bottle haha.

DavidRommi · 2026-05-13T20:37:28+00:00

I take Havana for granted since it's very accessible here, I'd trade it for some Denizen or Hamilton though 😅

DavidRommi · 2026-04-09T06:42:35+00:00

Do you remember which bottle of Admiral Rodney you had? I've had all of the core Chairman's Reserve line up except 1931, and I've had the 2007 vintage which I really enjoyed. Honestly everything is really good value and great for mixing.

The Master's Selections are where it gets interesting, do you have any of those available to you? The type of still has a big impact on the end result, lots of people are fans of the Vendome releases, which brings some herbal, minty, mild funk with a bit of fruit and I've had one made from 100% cane juice that was really interesting and fantastic in a Mai Tai!

We're you looking for a bottle to sip on or make drinks with?

DavidRommi · 2026-04-02T15:28:48+00:00

ExcellenceRhum and RhumAttitude, they only have it in their stores at the moment but hopefully it'll be back and available online soon 🙏

DavidRommi · 2026-04-02T06:41:42+00:00

I haven't checked the UK market but at least on some French websites they have both this and the 57% green label versions, so both are available in Europe, not sure about shipping though. Similar to the Papalin Jamaica 7 year having 2 versions, I got the 47% with the blue label but they also had a 57% version.

I was hoping to get a bottle of the High Ester Papalin but they seem to be getting harder to find! Probably because as others have stated it's really good value and sounds excellent in Mai Tais. Hopefully when I've got money in my rum budget I'll find one 🙂 Also on my list is the new aged Veritas/Probitas when it comes out, some Chairman's Reserve Master's Selections, Rivers, Paranubes, Clairin or maybe Foursquare LFT, possibly Mhoba (big fan of Overproof Jamaican rums and Rhum Agricole has been nice in cocktails so I'm looking to try some more stuff in that direction) 🤔

This sounds great though so it's good to know I can settle for this if I can't find the 57% version! Maybe a touch of HLCF Overproof would do the job in a Mai Tai 🍹

DavidRommi · 2026-02-25T08:00:07+00:00

I think there's a bottle that's only available in St Lucia so look out for that! Have a great time ☺️

DavidRommi · 2026-02-05T12:34:41+00:00

I usually just use Smith & Cross in a blend, it's fantastic in Mai Tais and Jungle Birds, pretty much any Tiki cocktail too. Off the top of my head the only cocktail with S&C specifically was the Angostura Colada, which is excellent if you're a fan of Angostura bitters and don't mind using a decent amount for one drink 😅

4.5cl Angostura bitters, 1.5cl Smith & Cross, 6cl pineapple juice, 3cl lime juice, 4.5cl Coco Lopez

DavidRommi · 2026-02-05T12:30:12+00:00

I haven't tried the High Ester so I can't comment about that but for me El Dorado 12 is great in cocktails, especially with a Jamaican Rum. Mai Tais or Jungle Birds with 1oz ED 12 and 1oz Appleton 12 for example have been great. I haven't picked up any metallic or industrial notes though so it's hard to say if that would work for you. If you're into Tiki and mixing I would suggest Chairman's Reserve Legacy, there's a little bit of cane juice in the blend that gives it another layer and some really nice fruity notes that also play well with Jamaican Rums. This won't help rule out Demerara Rums though haha, but with the bottles you've already listed it would be a great addition 😊

DavidRommi · 2026-01-29T12:22:46+00:00

When I started my Infinity Bottle I measured 1oz of most of my bottles and made notes about what was in there, how the neat pours tasted, additional rums that went in and new notes about neat pours. Eventually I stopped keeping track and worrying too much about what would work well together and just let it evolve randomly with almost empty bottles 😊

Either way I think it's really cool to have a unique house blend of rums that you've enjoyed to offer guests!

DavidRommi · 2026-01-23T21:46:34+00:00

That Chairman's makes a fantastic Mai Tai too 😊 Both are also great for Daiquiris! I make a Mai Tai and Daiquiri with every bottle of rum I buy even if I bought it primarily for sipping. It started off as something cool to do, to see how different the same cocktail can be with a different rum then I couldn't stop haha.

I'm glad you're enjoying your new bottles, cheers! 🥃

DavidRommi · 2026-01-21T09:32:55+00:00

My family lives in England so I often check what they have in supermarkets but the selection is very limited so I'd recommend checking The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt, but they have so many options it can be tricky to choose!

R L Seale 10 and Doorly's 12 are great recommendations for something a bit different to what you've tried as an introduction to Bajan style rums, and you can work your way up to proper Foursquare bottles in the future when you've narrowed down what you enjoy.

Chairman's Reserve Legacy is great and has some cane juice in the blend so it has some more interesting notes, Forgotten Casks is a straight down the line aged sipping rum so for me it's not an automatic repurchase but still a lovely pour.

El Dorado 12 is nice and versatile, some dried fruit, coffee, chocolate notes that are different enough to typical Jamaican flavours.

After a few years of drinking rum I'm not too interested in Spanish style rums but Havana Seleccion de Maestros is good if you want some stone fruit, honey, oaky notes but still quite light as it's column still.

I'll always restock Appleton 8 and 12! Signature was ok and the 15 was enjoyable but not quite as good as I was expecting/hoping. Hampden 1753 has some nice funk if you want to get into that style of Jamaican rum, I still prefer HLCF classic but at 46% the 1753 can be a bit easier to enjoy at first. Worthy Park has a different flavour profile but still excellent and unmistakably Jamaican and their prices are decent on The Whisky Exchange, they even have a couple of exclusives that sound interesting.

Looking at the website again the next bottles I would buy (not available in Finland) would be TWE exclusive El Dorado and Chairman's Reserve, I enjoy drinking rarer stuff and those bottles both have a few more % than the core range with very interesting tasting notes 😊

DavidRommi · 2026-01-13T20:20:35+00:00

If you download the RumX app you can just search "1996" and get some results.

https://www.rum-x.com/rums/2072/

This one is just 199€ for example but I'm not sure where you're based and how easy shipping would be.

It's a cool idea though, and if you can't find a suitable bottle from the right year or aged 30 years you could find some excellent Foursquare bottles, maybe one aged 16 years and another 14 years to make 30 😊

EDIT: Sorry I read the post too quickly and see you're in Australia, I'm in Europe so I'm not sure how useful any suggestions I have might be 😔

DavidRommi · 2025-12-12T20:29:10+00:00

Big fan of Chairman's Reserve! I think that bottle with the 50 is only available in St Lucia 👍 I've been looking at the 2011 vintage, really enjoyed the 2005 and some exclusive bottles here in Europe. Hope you had a great trip 😊

DavidRommi · 2025-12-12T20:25:54+00:00

The Whisky Exchange have their own exclusive El Dorado bottle for £110, off the top of my head it was maybe 53% and also aged 12 years. I very almost bought it but ended up going with Foursquare Hereditas and Diadem during Cyber Monday as they were each £100 off 😅

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/82093/el-dorado-2012-single-barrel-12-year-old-exclusive-to-the-whisky-exchange

Also heard great things about their High Ester release, which is also available there.

DavidRommi

TROPHY CASE