Jamaican Rum (Selected by RumX) VRW

What a board! 😍💣🇯🇲 Nose: sage fried in olive oil? Plus fresh mint, lots of toasted coconut chips but also dark chocolate and various tropical fruits such as papaya and passion fruit, as well as some sandalwood and Virginia tobacco. Taste: Dark chocolate, sandalwood, passion fruit, cinnamon, mint and, again, subtle sage fried crisp in butter (nut butter/beurre noisette), as well as the coconut and some cinnamon. But there is also an almost meaty note that makes the whole thing umami. But it's also often part of the tropically matured long ponds and I love it! 😃 Finish: Menthol, orange peel, blossom honey and intense but pleasant, slightly bitter tannins from the oak barrel, as well as light, minimally burnt caramel notes. Very, very cool. Chapeau for this barrel selection Oli, Jakob & Rob! 👏🏼❤️😍 A real firework of aromas!

Wonderful Long Pond with proper tropical maturation. It has that NRJ feeling and that's exactly my thing. Great nose with lots of vanilla, tropical (partly overripe) fruits, roasted notes, leather, barrel, nut, candied and the delicious LP umami note with curry leaf. The palate is pleasantly dry when sipped but still very similar and a fine tannin / bitter note develops which fades out with the umami, vanilla, beurre noisette and candied spice notes (and comes back wonderfully with every sip). Super bottling and exactly what I was hoping for. TOP.

Schöne Nase mit einer tollen Balance aus tropischen Früchten, Vanille und Gewürzen. Am Gaumen dann ebenfalls schön rund, tolle Balance aus tropischen Früchten, Gewürzen und etwas Holz. Der Alkohol ist ziemlich gut eingebunden, etwas Wasser schadet ihm jedoch nicht. Im Abgang dann mittellang und lecker mit Karamell. Für mich eine sehr leckere Sache und gelungene erste RumX Abfüllung. Bin froh, eine Flasche bekommen zu haben. Mal sehen, wie er sich an der Luft entwickelt, dann ist bei der Wertung ggf. noch Luft nach oben. Edit: OK, mit etwas mehr Zeit an der Luft ist der schon echt nice und ähnelt für mich einem schönen 94er New Yarmouth. Ich erhöhe daher meine Wertung auf 8.9

I was particularly looking forward to the tasting, as tropically matured long ponds - especially the 2005 VRWs - are among my absolute favorites. A little crosstasting straight away. Vale Royal: Although low ester, in direct comparison the Vale Royal has the most ester markers in the form of solvent and glue. Everything is subtle and cannot be compared with the high ester representatives. There is also a lot of tropical fruit, spices and some chocolate. -> 9.0 V&M: Light esters and some solvent on the nose, lots of floral/perfumed aromas, but also lots of fruit and spices. Perhaps the most complex nose of the round. The whole thing continues on the palate, slightly soapy (not disturbing) and lots of fruit here too. Less intense than the other representatives, but just as much fun :) -> 9.0 Romdeluxe 2005 68.5%: I've had this in my glass quite often by now and it continues to delight. I can hardly believe that this is supposed to be a continental matured LP2005. For me, the best nose in crosstasting together with the V&M. Probably has the most cask aromas overall. -> 9.1 Romdeluxe 2005 68.4%: Here, too, supposedly purely continental maturation...? In addition to tropical fruits, I detected perfumed aromas on both the nose and the palate, as well as mint/menthol, almost reminiscent of TDL. Super exciting and also very intense. Definitely stands out from the other bottlings. -> 9.1 About the RumX bottling: After about 1 hour of breathing, lots of fruity notes on the nose, especially tropical fruits (mango). Plus vanilla, lots of spices, caramel, some wood and coconut and something slightly fermented. On the palate, the usual intensity. Again tropical fruit in the form of dried mango, caramel and vanilla and a hint of solvent. A very good 2005 VRW with a super PLV! Conclusion: The VRW Mark is simply fun :) All the bottlings are of high quality and are convincing. The rating is probably decided by the form of the day. All bottlings have a similar spectrum of aromas, whereby these are differently pronounced depending on the bottling.

Profil étonnamment sucré et caramélisé pour un Long Pond. C'est d'abord des notes vanillées qui se font sentir. Puis de l'ananas, des fruits bien mûrs. Du bois, léger. Ça donne envie. En bouche, on retrouve quelque chose de plus connu : fruits bien mûrs, esters, des épices piquantes. Puis de nouveau du caramel, de la vanille et un étonnante noix de coco. Le boisé arrive ensuite, bien plus marqué qu'au nez. Beaucoup de gourmandise. Belle complexité. Finale longue et boisée. Un petit côté rôti salé. Belle longueur. PS : l'oxydation amène un profil plus fruité à cette bouteille. C'est vraiment très bon. Les 64% sont bien là. Bien intégrés, mais là ! Pas pour les palais faibles 😁

Very nice Long Pond. I will compare it again with the other 2005 VRWs. But I think it's on the same level as the NRJ bottlings. A great cask.

An exciting Long Pond, but also not quite typical, as it is unusually sweet. Vanilla, toffee and nougat make the rum creamy. Plus roasted aromas and fruit. I find peach iced tea and cotton candy. The rum remains in the mouth for a very long time and then herbs and very light menthol are added. The rum finishes very well and invites you to continue drinking. The alcohol is perfectly integrated. The tropical ageing is very noticeable here. It tingles wonderfully on the tongue. A very successful bottling, even if I had hoped for a little more fruit. I'm curious to see how the rum develops. But it's definitely fun. The complexity is there and there is a lot to discover.

So the nose of this colleague is not lacking. Very nice notes with a sweetish vanilla aroma. Dominance of pineapple. A real stunner on the palate with a wow effect and a long finish. Really lingers for a while. What I particularly like is the buttery finish. A certain ester punch gives it the character that remains in the memory. Really great cinema and a successful bottling.

A truly outstanding cask selection. A really successful RumX bottling. Excellent nose of vanilla, roasted notes, coconut and light sweetness, which is also reflected in the finish. Tannins are also clearly perceptible. Alcohol well integrated.

8,9:On the nose, the first impression we get is a coconut, toasted, vanilla and glue, as a wood is roasted with toffee, candied, caramelized fruits and sweet. On aeration roasted notes like pastry, nougat, continue, the wood is spicier, we notice a molasses, herbaceous and flowery.Very tempting fruits express themselves like passion fruit, pineapple, banana and yellow fruits...I found a hint of petrol note also. 9,2:On the palate, the attack is extremely delicious, round and full-bodied with variety of fruits like tropical(mango, passion fruit, coconut, later banana), yellow with juicy peaches and dried fruits like raisins, apricots, roasted wood notes like pastry, toffee, chocolate, caramel, spicy with vanilla and cinnamon, after resting the rum, with umami and herbaceous, slightly flowery molasses. 8,8:The finish is long, dry and tannic, a bit smoky, but less expressive, round as on the palate.

On the nose I have a lot of nuts and especially coconut, some toffee, vanilla, wood and a slight roasted note. On the palate it gets really cool. The coconut is accompanied by a very subtle menthol note. Nuts and toffee are confirmed and rounded off with a nice spiciness. The alcohol is perfectly integrated. Without this menthol note it would be a super 8, but thanks to this aroma it is a 9. super stuff! Try it again tomorrow...let's see if it stays with this ranking.

Mega! It was clear that the guys from RumX would come up with something special for the bottling, but this drop exceeds my expectations. From the color, nose and palate to the finish, you can tell that the rum has undergone a lot of tropical maturation. Beautiful, fruity nose, with a little bit of glue, nougat and coconut. On the palate, the fruit recedes somewhat into the background, replaced by wood and a pleasant sweetness. Beautiful, long finish, with a very light menthol note.

#5252 16.04.2025 Tasting in Blåvand with Fabian. Nose Fresh, fruity, sweet, light wood, faint roasted, light pineapple, light ester, faint glue, spice. Palate Naturally sweet, oily, light wood, light roasted, fruits, light mango, light ester, faint coconut, spice, faint coffee. Finish Long, naturally sweet, oily, fruity, light pineapple, faint dried fruit, spice, faint coffee, light chocolate. .

Thanks to Serge for sharing the bottle. A truly delicious rum. First of all, what comes next is by no means to be taken negatively. Personally, I think it's a little too hyped and overrated. Still a high 8 for me. You can look forward to the bottling from Bottleshop.

I'm not a fan of Jamaica. But I at least wanted to try the RumX 20k bottling. Fortunately 🍀. Really very balanced and versatile. After the sample, I would have liked a bottle of it 😅. I'm happy to be able to try this one. Thank you Serge for the split 💚