Did i mention it’s big backlog of rums yet? And few others…
What — Notes — Score
Brandy
1985 Domaine de Baraillon 38 Year Old Armagnac, K&L SP, 47% — Fruits and oak and everything nice. This is *really good*. Really-really good — Score: A
1990 Domaine du Cardinat 32 Year Old Bar-Armagnac, 56% — Dark fruits and lots of wood. Spices, wood varnish, light mint. Fans of oak-forward brandies are welcome — Score: A-
1975 Marcillac 38 Year Old Armagnac, 42% — Lots of wood here, dark fruits and spices, strong tannins even at low proof. Somewhat drying, tannic palate and aftertaste — Score: B
1973 Bhakta 49 Year Old Armagnac, 50.3% — Sweet dried dark fruits, oak forward but not tannic. Well balanced, dark and woody armagnac. — Score: A-
Mezcal
2022 Real Minero: Espadin, Largo, Batch DRMM2-15 50.1% — Extremely clean, little sweet and mineral-forward, slightly smoky with notable cigarette tobacco notes — Score: B+
Rum
Flor De Cana 20 Years Old, 130th anniversary, Nicaragua, 45% — Dark color; caramel and deep wood notes on the nose. Oak, dark fruits, a bit of spice on the palate. Well balanced and sippable but not a standout for me. Perhaps a touch too much oak for perfect balance. — Score: B-
2007 Jamaica ITP 15, Long Pond, Holmes Cay, 56% — Viscous, minty, woody, sweet, vanilla, ripe tropical fruits, lightly funky. ITP is ‘low ether mark’. Ridiculous flavor bomb, bordering on ‘too much’. Drinks hotter than it should be, oddly enough. Really-really good. — Score: A-
2012 Guyana 10, Smuggler’s Cove SP, Holmes Cay, 55% — Tropical custard full of light fruits, nicely spiced in a liquid form. Deliciously tropical pineapple and chili cake. — Score: A-
2012 Australia 10, Rapid Liquors SP, Beenleigh, Holmes Cay, 61% — Somewhat yeasty nose, funky, vanilla-forward, sweet, with very light mint on the palate. Well balanced and excellent experience nose-to-aftertaste. — Score: B+
2009 Holmes Cay Foursquare, Premier Crue, 55% — Less wine-y than I expected. More of toasted cask spice. Fairly typical, lighter version of foursquare profile somewhat reminding me of 2004 with warming chili heat. — Score: A-
2004 Foursquare 11, ECS 3, 59% — Light foursquare profile, none of the dark ex-bourbon stuff compared to more recent vintages. A touch of ginger or chili spice in the aftertaste. Excellent, even if somewhat ‘light’ compared to later versions. — Score: B+
Foursquare Criterion, ECS 5, 56% — Ex-bourbon + madeira casks. Rum and wine. Dark fruits and rum. Surprisingly gentle on alcohol, but somewhat wine-forward and spicy. Sweet mulled wine is a good summary here. This one is wildly experimental in a good way. — Score: B+
Foursquare Sovereignty, ECS 19, 62% — Ex-bourbon + sherry cask. A much more modern foursquare now. Again, typical foursquare profile, sweeter and woodier due to sherry. Drinks like a very sweet, very sherried malt. Quite oaky and borderline too sweet to balance that out. — Score: B+
Foursquare Nobiliary, ECS 12, 62% — Ex-bourbon foursquare here. Still typical wood and oak and sweet vanilla notes, but this one leans a slightly hot & funky in an odd twist. Somewhat of an interesting bridge between 2004 (ECS 3) and modern ECS bottles. — Score: B+
More to come!
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown