Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific – July 2021

After the complete sell out and rave reviews that was the first release of the Dead Reckoning Rum, we are so excited to deliver the worldwide launch of Dead Reckoning’s second release to The Tribe: Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific, and what a rum it is!

Aged for nearly 12 years (11 in ex-Bourbon barrels the South Pacific and 6 months in Cream Apera barrels in Australia) and a single cask limited release of only 400 bottles that will sell out! If you are a rum lover you will want this rum!

The second rum release for the ‘Dead Reckoning’ Rum label from The Rum Tribe rum geek and all-round expert on distilled sugar, Justin Boseley and yet another exclusive release to The Rum Tribe.

Now what we 100% know is that Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific was aged initially in ‘the Tropics’ for 11 years in an ex-Bourbon Barrel. The South Pacific is known for its tropical warm climate and high humidity which ages spirits in what is called tropical maturation. The tropical ageing is a harsh mistress, however. During that time, a whopping 62% was lost to the Angels.

Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific

It was then brought to Adelaide and transferred to a Cream Apera (Australian ‘sherry’ style fortified wine) barrel where it was finished for 6 months and here is where something very peculiar happened. After 6 months of finishing in Adelaide, the ABV actually increased by 4%, which means more water escaped the cask than alcohol did.

So in some parts of Adelaide, it seems, is one of the very few locations in Australia where the ABV in the barrel increases over time as opposed to the tropics where the ABV decreases. This is said to be caused by humidity levels – high humidly = loss or evaporation of the alcohol molecule, low humidity = the water molecule evaporation leaving more of the alcohol molecules. Or so the current and much debated (around many bottles of rum) theory goes.

The Dead Reckoning Online Tasting

In mid July we will be hosting an Dead Reckoning online tasting and cocktail session via Zoom. We will have The Rum Tribe Team, Justin Boseley and other special rum lovers chatting about the Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific. Keep an eye on our Facebook Page for dates and further information.

Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: WOW – first thing that hits is that unmistakable funk! Man that is pure banana, papaya and pineapple left to go off (just a bit) in the sun! Deliciously over-ripe fruit and some star anise there as well.

Palate: It’s a deliciously thick and rich – almost syrupy – mouthfeel. An instant hit of raisins then some spice warms the mouth. Waves of tropical fruit alternate with rich spices – very reminiscent of Arnott’s Spicy Fruit Roll biscuits.

Finish: With rolling spiced fruit, mild warmth and lolly-sweet fruit notes that you can chew on for minutes afterwards!

Man this is just sooo good. So many rolling flavours and notes creating a delightfully complex rum that really satisfies from the first sniff to the very end of that huge finish!

  • PRICE : $149


  • ABV : 52%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: South Pacific

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


Dead Reckoning Mutiny – South Pacific

FROM DEAD RECKONING

As soon as this bottle is opened, it’s as if you’re taken to a familiar and rewarding back street called funky town. Without the knowledge of its origins your aware you’re in the trewlawny region of Jamaica engulfed by the smells of Hampden and Worthy Park.

A hint of industrial fumes, freshly laid bitumen and engine oil can be smelt – and believe me all is in a good industrial funk kind of way. When poured into a glass it opens up to reveal fresh pastries and croissant, nannas fresh cooked apple and cinnamon pie sitting on a window seal waiting to cool.  

After a few minutes in the glass more subtle notes of stewed pear and apple can be found with traces of ginger and raisins

On the palate were back to a familiar Jamaican style of funk although its sucker punch smell has been subdued and it’s a tamer smoother and gentle experience. The sherry barrel ageing influence can now be found with raisins and sultanas and hot roaster macadamia nuts.

Nannas apple pie is on the back of the palate with a long finish of fresh cooked still warm banana cake and ginger Bread. The finish is long with oak and a hint of last night’s smoky campfire coals.

A Mutiny Cocktail? Let’s Make the Treacle @ Hains & Co

  • 60ml Dead Reckoning Mutiny
  • 7.5ml Demerara sugar syrup
  • 22.5ml apple juice
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 1dash orange bitters
  • 1 bar spoon fresh pressed ginger

ABOUT DEAD RECKONING

JUSTIN BOSELEY

Justin, has immersed himself in rum for the past 20 years; a journey starting as a deck scrubbing lad with a thirst for Rum and adventure culminated in him becoming a Chief Officer; driving billionaire’s mega yachts around the world. This life of salty seadog adventure took him to Rum’s heartland, the Caribbean islands for 6 months a year, every year.

When he wasn’t at the helm of a yacht he could be found hanging off a bar or at a distillery sampling the best the Caribbean rum scene had to offer. Upon ending his days at sea there was only one thing he knew better that navigating around the world’s oceans- that was Rum. For 10 years Justin has scoured the globe discovering & importing the world’s best rums into Australia.

Dead Reckoning is Australia’s first independent rum bottler, and this is the second expression from Justin’s brand. We know there’s more in the works from Dead Reckoning and we can’t wait to try more and more of these fabulous independent bottling from a true rum legend.

MUTINY

The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship’s open launch. The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on Pitcairn Island. Bligh navigated more than 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) in the launch to reach safety and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.

Bounty had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. A five-month layover in Tahiti, during which many of the men lived ashore and formed relationships with native Polynesians, led many men to be less amenable to military discipline. Relations between Bligh and his crew deteriorated after he began handing out increasingly harsh punishments, criticism and abuse, Christian being a particular target. After three weeks back at sea, Christian and others forced Bligh from the ship. Twenty-five men remained on board afterwards, including loyalists held against their will and others for whom there was no room in the launch.

The area known as the Bligh Water is the body of water (approximately 9500 km² in extent) surrounding the western Fiji islands.

Privateer North East Trade Wind – June 2021

Shiver me timbers! This month we launch the second of our two month series of rums. The Privateer North East Trade Wind.

  • Rums that are exclusive, limited and private release cask strength perfection
  • Rums that are some of the most sought after investment bottles in the world
  • Rums that can directly trace their origins to the swashbuckling mercenaries of the American Revolution – the Privateers
  • Rums that are only available in Australia via the Tribe!

Get ready for a Privateer Rum that is truly unique in the way it is created. A rum that is made using the best and richest distillation process from Privateer – The private cask ‘Privateer North East Trade Wind’!  PLUS 9 lucky members will receive a signed bottle from legendary Head Distiller, Maggie Campbell. Ahoy there!

As good as the ‘1776’ was (and it was EPIC!) this months ‘Rum of the Month’ is even better. This month we see another ‘Letter of Marque’ (i.e. privately commissioned) release, a single cask, cask strength rum distilled from the very richest portion of the heart cuts of many separate distillations.

The Privateer North East Trade Wind is a single cask maturation of the Privateer ‘Queens Share’ method, bottled straight out of the cask and with no chill filtering, colouring or added sugar. Just as it comes out of the cask (well… without the splintery bits of charred oak of course) bottled at a cracking 110 proof (55% ABV). To understand how this is made, you need a little background.

Essentially, when you distil a spirit from a fermented sugar/yeast you get three distinct parts (or ‘cuts) of the distillation process.  Known as the Head, Heart and Tail cuts.

The ‘Head’ cut is the first part of the distillation process and is comprised of mainly the smaller/ lighter alcohol (methyl alcohol – the one that blinds you if you don’t get your distillation right) plus some of the lighter, more volatile aldehydes and other chemicals. Now the ‘Heart’ cut is the part of the distillation that is kept as is. This is the part of the distillation that would go into barrels for aging.

After the ‘Heart’ is done, the ‘Tail’ cut is then distilled out of the wash. This part of the distillation has lots of the ’heavy’ molecules – oils etc. The heads and tails are traditionally added to the next batch and re-distilled once more.

The Queens Share method is slightly different. An extra ‘cut’ is made to the distillation – towards the end of the Heart (middle) cut and just into the tail cut. So essentially you’re left with the ‘heavier’ parts of the Heart cut. This is collected, blended with the other Queens cuts and finally re-distilled and those Hearts collected. This is the ‘Queens Share’ – the best and richest distillation from Privateer. And the Privateer North East Trade Wind is a privately bottled cask of this.

Privateer North East Trade Wind

Privateer International share the Rum Tribe’s philosophy when it comes to what a rum should be – as they put it – “Best Ingredients. Best Practices. Never Sweetened. Never Filtered” Like us, Privateer fervently believe that well made, carefully aged rum can easily stand on it’s own without the need for [mostly undeclared] additives to prop it up. This is a company that is all about the rum!

Now the privateer ‘Letter of Marque’ (LOM) series rums, are personally selected by ‘rum people’ (international buyers etc) – in this case our partner in crime, Justin Boselely – and are single cask rums.

To say they’re a collector’s items is an understatement. Fast becoming one of the most sought after and collectable rums around the globe, recent sales in Europe of the LOM series have resulted in it being sold out in days – only to be put back online buy these rum investors are selling their bottles at 5 times their original purchase price.

In case you don’t know – a privateer is a sort of ‘deputised’ pirate.  During the War of Independence, America gave ‘letters of marque’ to ships who wished to hunt the British ships. These ‘Letters of Marque’ effectively made the ship an official military vessel. Well, somewhere in between military and pirate to be accurate.

This strategy has been used a number of times throughout history to increase a countries naval presence with little outlay.  The reward for their ‘service’ was whatever they could plunder from the British ships they captured or destroyed.  Commonly, the ships owner took half the booty and the rest was divided between captain and crew.

This month’s rum – the Privateer North East Trade Wind – is not only made by the direct descendant of privateer, Andrew Cabot – the company that produces it also embraces all the history, drama and passion of the era when American merchants were their emerging country’s navy. Even the brands logo pays homage to those swashbuckling buccaneers of the revolution with a stylisation of the American Privateers flag.

The Rum Tribe Privateer Online Masterclass

The culmination of the Privateer Rum releases will be an online Zoom tasting session with the team from Privateer. We’ll learn more about the processes and techniques used to make ‘our’ rums, and what the differences mean to each expression. There is an incredibly knowledgeable team at work behind the scenes at Privateer, and we can’t wait to hear what secrets they’ve got to pass on to our member! Stay tuned for the announcement of the details for that Zoom tasting.

Privateer North East Trade Wind

Our Tasting Notes:

Colour: Coppery gold.

Nose: Aniseed and strong Dutch licorice, 1920s Red and white striped hard boiled sweets

Palate: Aniseed & caramel, A hint of the Circus has just come to town fairy floss, pepper & rich molasses in a duo of flavours

Finish: A looooooong finish . Those flavours just keep dancing on the back of the tongue not willing to let go!

  • PRICE : $159


  • ABV : 55%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: America (New England)

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


Privateer North East Trade Wind

FROM PRIVATEER

Hand selected for the Rum Tribe, North East Trade Wind is a unique cask of privateer rum’s Queen Share.

Queens Share Rum is made form the richest cuts of our rum distillation. In every distillation there are three main cuts. The Heads (harsh alcohols not wanted in the final spirit cut) come off of the still first. The hearts follow, this is the flavourful rum that is collected and bottled as our New England White Rum, New England Reserve Rum and Navy Yard. Lastly, the tails cut is made to separate the hearts form the bitter alcohols at the end of the still run.

However, as the hearts run is approaching the tails cut, the spirit becomes more powerful and flavourful. Even once these tails have overpowered the hearts and we’ve made our cut, some of these rich hearts are still intertwined with the bitter tails.

At this stage, our distillers collect a fourth cut – a blend of rich hearts mixed with some tails. These small amounts are collected over many runs and then redistilled together – liberating the hearts. This creates a single batch, single barrel expression of Queens Share Rum.

Distilled in the Spring of 2018 by Maggie Campbell herself, North East Trade Wind was aged in a used rum barrel for 2 years, 7 months. ‘North East Trade Wind’ was harvested in Winter 2020 and bottled at a cask strength of 110 Proof (55% ABV).

ABOUT PRIVATEER

The original Andrew Cabot (1750–1791) – privateer and entrepreneur  – not only amassed a flotilla of 25 ships to aid his countries bid for independence, he was also the owner of a rum distillery in Massachusetts.  6 generations later – his direct descendant of the same name, discovered his ancestor as well as the ‘family business’ whilst doing genealogical research.  Already a keen and accomplished sailor, [the current] Andrew Cabot – on finding documents and advertisements pertaining to his ancestor’s distillery was immediately “drawn to the alchemy of distilling”.   

As an American history nut, Andrew well knew the importance and significance of sugar and rum in the American war of independence. After discovering his family place in this very history – Andrew decided that his legacy would be the re-birth of the Cabot name in American rum production. The first requirement was a location for the distillery, and to Andrew, there was no other option but to locate in the new distillery in the same Essex County that the late Andrew Cabot had his distillery.

Whilst Andrew had an interesting and varied resume – including 20 years software development, and a genomics research position at Harvard Business School to name a couple – one skill he did not possess was how to distil rum – and so he did. It was not his intention to carry out the job of distiller at Privateer, but he felt it was a skill he needed to have a more than basic grasp of to successfully run a distillery.

In 2011 the Privateer distillery was operational and production of white rums started immediately. The ‘business end’ of the distillery is two stills. A steam-coil heated, 1,000 gallon Vendome pot still from Kentucky separates the low wines.  The spirit still is a 200-gallon copper eau de vie still (a pot/column hybrid), made in Germany by CARL GmbH. It’s named “Baldwin,” after the writer James Baldwin, and handles all final distillation tasks.

Privateer Letter of Marque ‘True Spirit of 1776’ – May 2021

Avast Ye Buccaneer! This month we launch the first of a two month series of rums. The Privateer Letter of Marque

  • Rums that are exclusive, limited and private release cask strength perfection
  • Rums that are the most sought after investment bottles in the world
  • Rums that have just so much story, and are so sought after, we hardly know where to start!
  • Rums that are only available in Australia via the Tribe!

So grab your eye patches…This month we’ll premier to the world, the Privateer Letter of Marque ‘True Spirit of 1776’ and next month The Privateer Letter of Marque ‘North East Trade Winds’, with two masterclasses to compare them and 10 lucky members will receive a signed bottle from legendary Head Distiller, Maggie Campbell, each month. Ahoy there!

Firstly – the Privateer rum company can directly trace it’s origins to the swashbuckling mercenaries of the American Revolution – the Privateers. The Privateer ‘True Spirit of 1776’ is steeped in history being made by a direct descendant of the Privateer Andrew Cabot. The spirit is made from a distilled, 100% molasses wash, aged in a single virgin American Oak barrel with a #3 level char for 3 years. This distillation gives detailed aromas, a tight and linear structure, a pliant texture and a long finish. The rum was harvested in Autumn 2020 and the result, The True Spirit of 1776 was bottled at a cask strength at a cracking 109.8 proof (54.9% ABV).

Privateer Letter of Marque

Privateer International share the Rum Tribe’s philosophy when it comes to what a rum should be – as they put it – “Best Ingredients. Best Practices. Never Sweetened. Never Filtered” Like us, Privateer fervently believe that well made, carefully aged rum can easily stand on it’s own without the need for [mostly undeclared] additives to prop it up. This is a company that is all about the rum!

Now the privateer ‘Letter of Marque’ (LOM) series rums, are personally selected by ‘rum people’ (international buyers etc) – in this case our partner in crime, Justin Boselely – and are single cask rums.

To say they’re a collector’s items is an understatement. As with Whisky, punters are now buying rums for investment, foursquare and privateer are leading the pack on investment bottles. Fast becoming one of the most sought after and collectable rums around the globe, recent sales in Europe of the LOM series have resulted in it being sold out in days – only to be put back online buy these rum investors are selling their bottles at 5 times their original purchase price.

In case you don’t know – a privateer is a sort of ‘deputised’ pirate.  During the War of Independence, America gave ‘letters of marque’ to ships who wished to hunt the British ships. These ‘Letters of Marque’ effectively made the ship an official military vessel. Well, somewhere in between military and pirate to be accurate.

This strategy has been used a number of times throughout history to increase a countries naval presence with little outlay.  The reward for their ‘service’ was whatever they could plunder from the British ships they captured or destroyed.  Commonly, the ships owner took half the booty and the rest was divided between captain and crew.

This month’s rum is not only made by the direct descendant of privateer, Andrew Cabot – the company that produces it also embraces all the history, drama and passion of the era when American merchants were their emerging country’s navy. Even the brands logo pays homage to those swashbuckling buccaneers of the revolution with a stylisation of the American Privateers flag.

The Rum Tribe Privateer Rum Series

Next month, we will once again premier to the world, The Privateer Letter of Marque ‘North East Trade Winds’ expression. This is made of privateers ‘Queens Share’ spirit (which we’ll learn more about next month) aged in an ex-rum barrel for 2 years, 7 months and bottled at cask strength of 55% ABV.

But of course The Privateers are more than just an investment item – they are exceptional rums. And over the next two months we’re going to do a ‘mini masterclass’ in what makes them different, and why. Using two exceptional rums from the same distillery, aged for roughly the same amount of time – BUT with differing distillation methods, and different casks.

The culmination of the  ’mini masterclass’ will be an online Zoom tasting session with the Privateer team talking about the Privateer Letter of Marque bottlings. We’ll learn more about the processes and techniques used to make ‘our’ rums, and what the differences mean to each expression. There is an incredibly knowledgeable team at work behind the scenes at Privateer, and we can’t wait to hear what secrets they’ve got to pass on to our member! Stay tuned for the announcement of the details for that Zoom tasting.

Privateer Letter of Marque

Our Tasting Notes:

Colour: Coppery gold.

Nose: Rich fruit salad with vanilla cream surrounded by blooming jasmin.

Palate: Warming, mildly spicey – but with very  little ‘burn’ at all on the palate. Caramel, coffee and vanilla on a base of sweet oakiness.

Finish: A satisfyingly long and sweet finish. Warm, cuddly and as long as you can resist another sip!

  • PRICE : $149


  • ABV : 54.9%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: America (New England)

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


Privateer Letter of Marque

FROM PRIVATEER

Hand selected by Justin Boseley, ‘True Spirit of 1776’ was made from a fermentation of real boiled brown sugar and 100% Grade A Molasses, producing a silky textured spirit.

 The ‘real boiled brown sugar’ is exciting because it gives a singed grapefruit marmalade character to our amber rum. It also gives complexity to the silver rum palate. It has a savory complexity (tobacco, leather) and intense depth of flavour even if it is lower in sugar concentration for fermentation

A blend of yeasts were selected to ferment alongside the natural yeast of the distillery, and yeast present in the molasses, to coax out complex flavours.

This recipe elicits a perfume of singed grapefruit, charred pineapple, and savoury leather and earthy aromas with dried cherry, peach flesh and brioche notes on the dry palate.

ABOUT PRIVATEER

The original Andrew Cabot (1750–1791) – privateer and entrepreneur  – not only amassed a flotilla of 25 ships to aid his countries bid for independence, he was also the owner of a rum distillery in Massachusetts.  6 generations later – his direct descendant of the same name, discovered his ancestor as well as the ‘family business’ whilst doing genealogical research.  Already a keen and accomplished sailor, [the current] Andrew Cabot – on finding documents and advertisements pertaining to his ancestor’s distillery was immediately “drawn to the alchemy of distilling”.   

As an American history nut, Andrew well knew the importance and significance of sugar and rum in the American war of independence. After discovering his family place in this very history – Andrew decided that his legacy would be the re-birth of the Cabot name in American rum production. The first requirement was a location for the distillery, and to Andrew, there was no other option but to locate in the new distillery in the same Essex County that the late Andrew Cabot had his distillery.

Whilst Andrew had an interesting and varied resume – including 20 years software development, and a genomics research position at Harvard Business School to name a couple – one skill he did not possess was how to distil rum – and so he did. It was not his intention to carry out the job of distiller at Privateer, but he felt it was a skill he needed to have a more than basic grasp of to successfully run a distillery.

In 2011 the Privateer distillery was operational and production of white rums started immediately. The ‘business end’ of the distillery is two stills. A steam-coil heated, 1,000 gallon Vendome pot still from Kentucky separates the low wines.  The spirit still is a 200-gallon copper eau de vie still (a pot/column hybrid), made in Germany by CARL GmbH. It’s named “Baldwin,” after the writer James Baldwin, and handles all final distillation tasks.

Mezan XO – April 2021

After the enormous response to the Mezan Chiriquí in March it’s time to roll out the big guns! The flagship of the Mezan collection – The Mezan XO Jamaica.

A unique blend of four Jamaican pot and column still rums from Monymusk, Long Pond, Worthy Park and the fabled Hampden Jamaican distilleries and the Rum Tribe has the entire Australian allocation! That’s right you want the funk that is the Mezan XO, you gotta be in the Tribe!

The result is a homage to Jamaican rum by the folks at Mezan made up of rums aged from 4 to 23 years old! A glowing tribute to fruity funk and tropical tastes all wrapped up in a floral party shirt! Absolutely fantastic on its own – or in your favourite cocktail.

Having been tropical-aged in Jamaica the casks are then taken to the UK where they are married together and then re-casked in ex-bourbon casks for “a certain amount of time before being bottled to encourage the flavours to melt and to improve the rum’s structure and subtlety”.

For a flagship product, Mezan sure don’t make a lot of this, only 5000 bottles worldwide in this batch and we have all of it for down under!

Our Tasting Notes:

Was Gwen Stephani having a premonition about April’s rum when she said “Shit is BANANAS. B.A.NAN.A.S”?… Because on first open of the Mezan XO, you may well think exactly the same thing! (and apologies for the musical earworm I know many of you will be experiencing now).

The colour is much lighter than what some may expect from an aged Jamaican rum – but remember, this is ‘the unaltered rum’ – Mezan rums are proudly un-coloured. Don’t let it fool you, the mellow colour belies a huge flavour that comes out punching!

Nose:  Mashed banana in custard with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a mate eating banoffee pie in the seat next to you (just a smidge of caramel).

Palate: Rich and creamy mouthfeel with an explosion of esters… banana, papaya, mango, all the tropical favourites on a pastry crust base. A mild spice and faraway funk to remind you of where it came from.

Finish: Sweet and luxurious. More of that funky baked banana vibe rides out of sight on a pleasant spice unicycle. A delicious finish to savour!

Tasting Notes from Justin Boseley (Dead Reckoning):

Pouring a dram into a glass, the nose is wonderful and very representative of the Jamaican style – banana and sweeter fruit. Taking a sip, I immediately notice the light, round mouthfeel. After a few seconds the flavour intensifies with banana explosion, and a moderate alcohol burn comes into play. It’s readily apparent, as the label says, that this rum hasn’t been sweetened. It doesn’t need it – it’s thoroughly enjoyable the way it is!

Mezan XO

  • PRICE : $135


  • ABV : 40%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: Jamaica

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


Mezan XO Jamaica

FROM MEZAN

The Mezan XO Jamaica is a blend of rums from several distilleries. This blend allows the floral column’s distillate to marry with the higher richness and ester content of pot still rums.

Tasting Notes : Pungent and generous with aromas of fresh banana and sweet spices typical of great Jamaican rums.

How to taste? Mezan XO can be enjoyed neat, as well as in sophisticated cocktails. The powerful aromas will give your most refined cocktails excellent structure and a distinctive character

Mezan XO no added sugar, no added colour, non chill-filtered.

ABOUT MEZAN

The first thing to know about Mezan is that they aren’t a distillery. In fact they are not even involved in sugar cane or any aspect of rum production – other than ageing, blending and bottling.  Headed by Master Distiller Neil Mathieson, Mezan seeks out and buys single-origin rum casks from all over the Caribbean. Each cask is hand-selected and then shipped to the UK for further ageing.

Once in the UK, each cask of rum is then re-casked into ex-bourbon barrels. Mezan sources most of their bourbon casks through Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky. They age in the UK due to the lower temps causing less interaction with the wood. “The UK” says Neil, “gives a very slow development of the spirit in comparison to the Caribbean and lets us manage the cask influence to a greater degree.”

Neil says he looked to the Scotch, Armagnac and Cognac industries and felt he needed to begin aging rum in a similar way to see how its character developed. “We are targeting rum drinkers—not necessarily those who would turn to Bacardi—and also those who enjoy other brown spirits.”

Mezan XO is great in cocktails!

HUSK Pure Cane 50 – March 2021

For March we go completely left (sugar cane) field and have an amazing drop for the Tribe that defines ‘farm to bottle’ from one of Australia’s leading distilleries. A spirit that is as pure as it looks in the bottle and has to be made with only the freshest sugarcane, hence is only made and released once a year.

Be warned, the crystal clear nature of this belies the absolute flavour monster that it is. Once you crack the top, the nose will instantly let you know you’re in for something very special – even lifechanging! We are absolutely tickled pink to be offering the very latest release (Batch 3 – 2020 Cane Harvest) of Husk Distillers legendary ‘Pure Cane 50’ – even before the distillery itself does!

For those who haven’t tried a pure, unaged agricole before – be prepared to be amazed! This is a sweet, sweet treat that exudes funk and cane sweetness.

Husk Pure Cane 50

The Pure Cane 50 is the big (and I mean BIG) brother to Husk’s Pure Cane. The ‘standard’ Pure Cane is 40% – but the ‘Pure Cane 50’ is (as the name suggests) sold at 50% ABV giving the otherwise delightful ‘Pure Cane’ the kick in the pants it needs to really get that sweet and funky vibe!

The Agricole style of rum (based on the fermentation of fresh sugar cane juice rather than molasses) is the lesser known brother to most of the rums we Aussies tend to drink en masse. It must be made from fresh sugarcane juice and so is seasonal to produce. We’ve featured Agricole style before (the fabulous ‘Iridium X’ from Mt Uncle  is one example) but we’ve not released an un-aged agricole before. Apart from being rested for ‘several months’ – the Pure Cane 50 is pretty much as it comes out of the still (100% column still for this release). In this context, unaged means it has spent exactly zip, zero, nada time in a barrel.  No time in wood means no colour transferred to the spirit – hence it’s totally clear and without colour. The Pure Cane 50 is distilled, then left sit to ‘rest’ a month or so in totally inert containers before being diluted to the required strength and then bottled. SIMPLE!

Yep, unaged Agricole is definitely a blast right out of left field for those who have never experienced it before – and this Husk Pure Cane 50 is an absolutely brilliant example of the style.  What’s more – the Rum Tribe has got the scoop on yet another fantastic product – yes, we’re proud to be the first in Australia to offer this 2020 harvest Pure Cane 50. We’ve even got to market before the distillery itself! :)

Check out the HUSK Cocktail Booklet!

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: Fresh cut cane at first with a funky over-ripe tropical fruit note that really stands out. A touch of lipstick there as well in-behind it all plus a ‘mystery note’ that I cannot quite place! 

Palate: Sweet, fruity, with some spice. Coats the mouth nicely with a big sweet burst of tropical fruit, a little spice and a weirdly (in a good way) astringent note that really gets in behind the tongue. 

Finish: Sweet and long, rolling through a tropical orchard with older fruit left on the ground. 

Husk Pure Cane 50

  • PRICE : $86


  • ABV : 50%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: Australia

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


Husk Pure Cane 50

FROM HUSK

This paddock to bottle spirit was made from sugarcane harvested towards the end of the 2020 season.

Pete harvested the sugarcane from the paddocks behind Husk Distillery and brought it to our sugar mill where Anthony and the team were waiting to extract the first press juice.

The fresh, vibrant juice was pumped straight into the distillery where our yeast got to work turning the highly concentrated sugars into alcohol.

The rich aromas and complex flavour compounds that developed in the fermentation reflect our unique terroir and the specific growing conditions of 2020.

These flavours concentrate in the distillation – for this batch, Pure Cane 50 was column distilled in our Forsyth still.

The distilled spirit was collected and slowly reduced, rested and gently stirred for several months to marry and preserve those bold characteristics.

Rum lovers will best enjoy this full flavoured cultivated cane spirit in a punch, a daiquiri or a piña colada.

Those who enjoy the sweeter things in life can also mix Pure Cane 50 with ginger beer and a squeeze of lime.

We hope you enjoy Pure Cane 50 – the new taste of Australian rum.

Husk Pure Cane 50

ABOUT HUSK

Husk distillery is a little different from most distilleries in Australia in that it practices a ‘farm to bottle’ philosophy. Sugarcane is grown at the distillery specifically for their rums. It’s this attention to detail that makes Husk a truly exceptional producer of quality spirits (most importantly… RUM!).

In 2012, Paul and Harriet Messenger decided that diversifying their cattle and sugar farms income streams would be a sound business idea. The fact that both of them are in love with Caribbean rums, and they were already growing cane on the farm made the decision to move into distilling a pretty easy (although nerve-wracking I’m sure) one. And so they set up a small distillery in a farm shed to begin learning their new craft. (See pic of small green shed in pics form Husk)

Husk Stills

Only a few years later is was readily apparent that their distilling business had outgrown the tiny shed that started it all – and they decided to ‘well’ get on with expanding. Not only making rums at this stage – but also gins. In fact, their ‘Ink Gin’ has become a best seller in Australia (and with good reason). And so in 2016, construction of a whole new distillery (complete with cellar door, bar and barrel house) was begun.

After 2 and a half years construction – the new distillery centre was finally completed in 2019 and is not only a wonder of modern distilling – but an absolutely lovely building to boot. If you’re travelling anywhere near Byron bay – it’s definitely worth a detour!

Husk Distillery
Husk Distillers

Mezan Chiriquí – February 2021

What? Another fantastic rum making it’s Australian debut with the Rum Tribe this month? Yep…presenting the Mezan Chiriquí. This is the very first time Mezan has made it to our shores – and once again, only the ‘Tribe’ has it straight off the boat. And let me tell you – we didn’t leave one bottle in that container! Rum Tribe Gotta RUM!

All the way from Panama – this rum is crafted to an exacting standard. Distilled at an unnamed single distillery from molasses ‘beer’ in modern, multi-columned stills, aged in white oak ex-bourbon casks and finished in Moscatel Casks – the Mezan Chiriquí is a sensational rum to be enjoyed both neat, and in your favourite cocktails.

Mezan’s motto is ‘The Untouched Rum’ and they mean it! Unsweetened, uncoloured, un chill-filtered and aged in oak casks until they reach their optimal maturity. Mezan represents the purest and most authentic style of the Caribbean’s rums.

In fact, we are so impressed with the Mezan collection, we’ve got another from Mezan coming up in a couple of months as well. When I said we plundered that booty – I mean we really wiped it out! Apart from Rum Tribe members and a few of our favourite bars – the rest of Australia is going to have to wait and hope more Mezan makes it’s way here… someday!

The Mezan Chiriquí is single origin, small batch rum, distilled in multi-column stills in Panama. It is aged in ex-bourbon casks and finished in Moscatel casks. In case you’re wondering about the ‘Chiriquí’ name – it’s rather simple, Chiriquí is a province of Panama that features a variety of climates, from hot and humid lowlands to the cool and moist highlands. The district is home to the Fortuna Forest Reserve. The intricate design on the bottle label and box features art motifs and designs of the local rainforest tribes.

The Mezan Chiriquí label states a ‘tropical ageing’ time of 3yrs. This means that the rum was aged in ex-bourbon at the distillery in Panama (ie ‘the tropics’) for 3 years prior to it being shipped for further ageing and finishing in Mezan’s London bond-store. Once in London, it was re-casked into new ex-bourbon casks, aged some more and then transferred to moscatel casks for finishing.  They don’t specify how long it was aged or finished once out of Panama.

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: Alcohol up front on the nose, but pancakes with icecream and maple syrup not far behind!

Palate: Much gentler than I was expecting based on the nose – the alcohol certainly doesn’t upstage the delightfully creamy mouthfeel. Caramel milkshake notes with little if any pepper. And is that ‘Strawberry & Cream‘ lollies on the side – I think so!

Finish: Sees a mellow warming develop. Fruit notes (raspberries?) swirl in and out.

MEZAN Chiriquí

  • PRICE : $119


  • ABV : 40%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: Panama

  • No Added Sugar/ No Added Colour/Non-Chill Filtered


MEZAN Chiriquí

FROM MEZAN

The Chiriquí is a single-distillery, soft molasses-based rum. The distillery it comes from grows its own cane for the production of both aguardiente and rum and also cultivates historical yeast cultures which add character and individuality. The rum in this small batch have been aged twice in separate sets of white oak American Bourbon casks, to give added structure to the spirit.

MEZAN Chiriquí is a true Panamanian rum, luscious and round, finished in a moscatel cask adding depth to it. A must try! Chiriquí can be enjoyed neat, as well as in sophisticated cocktails. The powerful aromas will give your most refined cocktails excellent structure and a distinctive character.

A nice golden tint. An intense nose of spices, vanilla, pepper and light oak notes. Backed by stone fruits and coconut aromas. The palate is subtle, round and elegant, lightly woody which develops into spicy and refreshing peppery notes on the finish.

MEZAN Chiriquí

ABOUT MEZAN

The first thing to know about Mezan is that they aren’t a distillery. In fact they are not even involved in sugar cane or any aspect of rum production – other than ageing, blending and bottling.  Headed by Master Distiller Neil Mathieson, Mezan seeks out and buys single-origin rum casks from all over the Caribbean. Each cask is hand-selected and then shipped to the UK for further ageing.

Once in the UK, each cask of rum is then re-casked into ex-bourbon barrels. Mezan sources most of their bourbon casks through Heaven Hill distillery in Kentucky. They age in the UK due to the lower temps causing less interaction with the wood. “The UK” says Neil, “gives a very slow development of the spirit in comparison to the Caribbean and lets us manage the cask influence to a greater degree.”

Neil says he looked to the Scotch, Armagnac and Cognac industries and felt he needed to begin aging rum in a similar way to see how its character developed. “We are targeting rum drinkers—not necessarily those who would turn to Bacardi—and also those who enjoy other brown spirits.”

Oliver Exquisito 1985 – January 2021

Our first rum off the rank for 2021 is a rum we’ve all been waiting to hit our shores for a while now. The Oliver and Oliver Exquisito.

A 1985 vintage Solera rum from one of the world’s premium rum powerhouses, it’s only fitting ‘The Tribe’ kicks off the new year with such an exclusive Rum for Connoisseurs – Oliver Exquisito 1985.

The last release of the Exquisito to make it to Australia was waay back in 2016 – and sold for ten bucks shy of $300! Well, the power of the Tribe being what it is – we’ve not only bought some into the country – we’re able to offer it at half the price it previously sold for out here! This is an extremely limited release with only 1000 bottles produced in this release for the entire world market and we actually have more members than bottles available.

Oliver Exquisito 1985 Sistema Solera is an ultra-premium rum in typical Cuban / Spanish style from the family business Oliver & Oliver located in the Dominican Republic and who also owns other well known brands such as Quorhum, Opthimus, Cubaney and Presidente.

The ‘Ron Cubaney 21yo’ that our members loved so much earlier this year was from the same producer. That rum was made from rum distilled by Oliver and Oliver (from sugar cane juice – not molasses) whereas the ‘Exquisito 1985’ is aged and blended by Oliver & Oliver from molasses-based rums produced outside the distillery. The Exquisito 1985 is a blend of  rums from Guatemala, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago – aged in American Oak barrels in the Solera Method for 21 years. 

The Solera method used in the production of the Oliver Exquisito 1985 happens in 4 stages. All three stages use American oak barrels. Firstly each of the rums are aged alone in American oak. Once the blender is happy with their progress, they are blended and re-casked in ‘Layer 1’.  This layer (or ‘Criadera’ in Spanish) is then aged for around 4-5years. This layer of casks is then used to ‘top up’ what the ‘angels share’ removes from the second layer. The liquid in the second layer is known as ‘Ron Carta Solera’ and is aged for another few years. When ‘ready’ – this second layer is then used to top up the bottom or ‘Solera’ layer and aged a further year. This final stage is known as ‘the Mother Rum’ and this is what is bottled after around 4 years aging. Well – half of this is used to bottle – and then topped up with contents from the second layer. This continuous process of topping up older casks with younger rum slowly increases the average age of the rum in the solera layer.

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: Nutty Fruit Salad, vanilla, sweet black coffee and a musty oakiness.

Palate: Pleasantly warming (not too much) with rich fruit mince, school fete toffee and jaffa notes.

Finish: Fades out with more sweet fruit and hints of orange.

Oliver and Oliver Exquisito

  • PRICE : $149


  • ABV : 40%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: Aged in Dominican Republic – from rums from Guatemala and Ecuador , Trinidad & Tobago


Oliver and Oliver Exquisito

FROM THE PRODUCERS

Powerful notes of caramel, banana, vanilla, deep oak and a hint of black pepper on the nose.

It is smooth and full bodied on the palate, creamy yet  caramel and raisin characters, there is that black pepper again also a hint of vanilla & tobacco – you’re left with an after taste of Aged oak

Oliver and Oliver Exquisito

ABOUT OLIVER & OLIVER

Cuba has always enjoyed a reputation as one of the world’s foremost producers of rum. In the late nineteenth century some of the finest examples of Cuban rum were being produced by the Oliver family.

Juanillo Oliver, a Catalan and Mallorcan, arrived in Cuba in the mid-nineteenth century as a Spanish soldier, establishing his family on the island. After finishing his military service, Oliver decided to settle, in an area that later became known as Oliver, near the town of Las Placetas.

It was here that he and his family began to cultivate tobacco and sugar cane. The Oliver family soon began handling, storing and selling their traditionally grown products. They soon the built a mill to grind sugar cane for the production of sugars and alcohols, and Juanillo soon found himself creating local, artisanal rums and brandies.

The Oliver family’s name was soon synonymous with the finest central Cuban rums and cigars. That was to change as revolution gripped Cuba.

During the War of Independence, separatists attacked and burned farms and destroyed the famous Oliver family distillery.

After independence was achieved in Cuba, the Oliver family abandoned its sugar cane production business, instead focusing on the cultivation and production of tobacco and other businesses and agricultural activities. They continued peacefully until 1959, when revolution again struck Cuba.

In the years following 1959, many members of the Oliver family fled Cuba and their descendants spread throughout Europe and the Americas. It wasn’t until, in the late nineteen eighties, a member of the new generation of Oliver descendants returned to Cuba.  Pedro Ramon Lopez Oliver’s curiosity led him to explore his family’s history. While poring over the family archives and papers, Pedro discovered the original formulas developed by the Oliver’s for the production of unique, hand-crafted Cuban rum.

Encouraged by his discovery, the descendants of Juanillo Oliver committed themselves to reviving the rum brand that had disappeared in the violence of revolution. In the early nineteen nineties Pedro and the wider Oliver family began to develop their rums, this time in San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. It was here that Ron Cubaney – named after its rediscovered Cuban ancestry – was born.

The Dominican Republic shares many of the same characteristics of climate, topography, and geology as Cuba and was chosen as the ideal country in which to resume the manufacturing of this previously lost Cuban-style rum. The family operated distillery sought the advice of a group of Cuban Maestros Roneros who were living in exile in the Dominican Republic at the time. These Maestros Roneros Cubanos brought with them decades of experience in the production of Cuban rum, and became the ideal artisans to help reawaken the Ron Cubaney name.

Cuban experts were hired to help create the new plant for the production of rum in the pure, traditional Cuban style. The Oliver family had recreated the same process, heritage and formula used in the nineteenth century.  Those techniques are still used by the present Maestros Roneros Cubanos and technicians and go into making the Oliver and Oliver Exquisito.

The plant began by purchasing 100,000 litres of distillates and malts that had been aged for 15 years from a Demeraran source, forming the first stock produced under the new Cubaney name. This was the basis of their mother rum and the single point of origin for the rums being enjoyed today.

Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’ – December 2020

Welcome to the world launch of a new rum brand! Yes, this month we take on the world with the world-wide release of the ‘Dead Reckoning’ rum brand – and we are beyond stoked to be able to showcase it for the first time ever, anywhere!

As is only fitting – The Rum Tribe members will be the first IN THE WORLD to taste this new rum. With only 330 individually numbered bottles produced – we’ll be accounting for the vast majority of the entire world supply of this release! Bad luck, rest of the world – but the Rum Tribe gotta rum!

Blended from 4 major distilleries, Dead Reckoning is the baby of rum legend, Justin Boseley – ex- mega-yacht captain, and nowadays importer of high quality rums into Australia. ‘The Sextant’ adds yet another feather to Justin’s enviable cap – rum blender and brand owner!

‘The Sextant is a blend of 4 Caribbean rums from FourSquare (Barbados), Worthy Park (Jamaica), Angostura (of the ‘bitters’ fame) and Demerara (Guyana) all blended into the Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’ here in Australia.

Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’ is a 5 year old Column still rum from Trinidad (Angostura), a 3 year old Pot still rum from Jamaica (Worthy Park), a 5 year old pot and column still rum from Guyana (Diamond Distillers). To round out the palate Justin has selected a 3 year old pot and column still rum from Barbados (Foursquare).

All the rums used in The Sextant are 100% tropically aged, then bottled & blended in Australia at 49% ABV.

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: A huge funky fruit salad – bananas jump at me first, then sweet pineapple and pawpaw. All wrapped up in a creamy egg-nog envelope.

Taste: A deep velvety demerara rush coats the whole mouth at first then a warm spice hit cuts through… and the tropical fruits come through again! A very long finish with luscious stewed fruit with just enough spice to contrast, but not overpower, the delicious lingering sweetness.

Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’

  • PRICE : $139


  • ABV : 49%


  • BOTTLE: 700ml


  • REGION: Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados


Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’

FROM THE BOTTLERS

DEAD RECKONING, in navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, by using estimations of speed, heading direction and course over elapsed time

A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation.

Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’ Rum Release is a step back in maritime history, a masterful blend of four offerings from Justin’s favourite distilleries. A well balanced mix of rums from arguably some of the finest distilleries in the world.

It is well known the British royal navy’s daily rum ration or ‘Tot’ was a mainstay of life upon the seas. Rum sourced for the now legendary tot was often procured from the chain of British colonies around the world. Some of the rums selected for Dead Reckoning releases have been loved and recognised for 3 centuries and have fortified many a thirsty mariner.

Dead Reckoning ‘The Sextant’

ABOUT THE BLENDER AND DISTILLERIES

Justin Boseley

Justin, has immersed himself in rum for the past 20 years; a journey starting as a deck scrubbing lad with a thirst for Rum and adventure culminated in him becoming a Chief Officer; driving billionaire’s mega yachts around the world. This life of salty seadog adventure took him to Rum’s heartland, the Caribbean islands for 6 months a year, every year.

When he wasn’t at the helm of a yacht he could be found hanging off a bar or at a distillery sampling the best the Caribbean rum scene had to offer. Upon ending his days at sea there was only one thing he knew better that navigating around the world’s oceans- that was Rum. For 10 years Justin has scoured the globe discovering & importing the world’s best rums into Australia.

Having an intimate knowledge of the Australian market, Justin identified space for unique, rare blends. Enter Dead Reckoning Rum. An Australian Independent label specialising in master-mixed rum blends, single casks and some rare, forgotten ‘barn-finds’ of the Rum world. Justin has his sights set on truly unique and memorable releases by his label.

The Diamond Distillery

Located in Guyana is the culmination of a rich history of Rum making that stretches back to the 1650s. In its heyday it boasted over 300 sugar estates, each with its own still producing world class Rum.

However, over the centuries, a process of amalgamation saw the various estates combine, with only a small number of unique stills surviving the test of time. The heritage stills as they are now known have all been relocated to Diamond Distillery on the banks of the Demerara River under the governance of Demerara Distillers Limited.

Foursquare

The owners of Foursquare Distillery, the Seale family, can trace its roots on Barbados back to the 1650s, and can reference five generations of rum-making expertise dating back to 1820. The establishment of the foursquare brand, however, came much later. While the family could lay claim to one of Barbados’ oldest trading houses, Reginald Leon Seale was prohibited, like other traders, from selling rum directly to consumers under the Barbados Excise Law. Solution? Establish a distribution business in Bridgetown. In the early 1900s R. L. Seale was born.

Despite being sat in the middle of a sugarcane plantation, foursquare are forced to import most of their molasses from Guyana. Surprisingly, given the number of different brands of rum produced at foursquare, they utilise a singular fermentation practice. Using distillers yeast imported from South Africa, the two-step process is computer temperature controlled, progressing very slowly molasses is added during the latter stage over a period lasting 24 hours. Rums produced at foursquare are all a blend of pot and column stills. Blends are undertaken both before and after ageing, with all casks filled with various blends of the pot and column stills. Master distiller Richard utilises American oak, ex whiskey casks for the majority of Foursquares’ rums, often also experimenting with Sherry, Madeira port & Zinfandel casks which offer nuanced variation in flavour.

Worthy Park

Worthy Park has been producing rum intermittently since the 1740’s. There was an oversupply of Jamaican Rum following World War II and under agreement with the Spirits Pool Association of Jamaica production was ceased in 1962. After being out of the distillation business for decades, the Clarke family decided in 2004 that there was room for a Jamaican rum, made with quality ingredients by distilling in the Traditional Jamaican Pot-Still method, however with modern efficiency, utilising state-of-the-art equipment. In 2005, the new distillery was complete! By 2007, the flagship brand of Rum-Bar Rum was launched and has forever changed the Jamaican rum industry.

Angostura

The House of Angostura’s award-winning rums are steeped in nearly 200 years of tradition. Dr. Johann Siegert first produced aromatic bitters in Angostura, Venezuela (today called Ciudad Bolivar) in 1824 to use as a tonic in his medical practice. In the 1870s, he and his three sons migrated to Trinidad, where they began to produce their aromatic bitters on a larger scale and add them to cocktails.

Angostura rums are column-distilled using a combination of two rigs. The first is a large single column system responsible for their heavy rum production. Their five-column setup handles the light rum production. If such a setup sounds familiar, it’s largely on par with Puerto Rican Rum production, as a point of comparison. The idea is to keep enough flavour components on hand while also ensuring a clean spirit. According to Angostura’s long-serving—though now semi-retired—master distiller John Georges, you want to keep “just enough of the funky stuff”.

Secret Distillery #1 Batch 3 That Boutique-y Rum Company – November 2020

BOOM! Another brand-new rum to Australia! From a single undisclosed distillery in Jamaica (*cough* *cough* Worthy Park 😊). ‘That Boutique-y Rum Company’ have for the very first time allowed some of their much awaited ‘Secret Distillery #1’ into Australia and we are delighted to be offering members of the Rum Tribe first dibs! So we are very proud to present – That Boutique-Y Rum Company ‘Secret Distillery #1’ Batch 3 as our November Rum of the Month.

Only 872 individually numbered bottles have been produced of this fantastic rum and as you can imagine, very little of that number is coming to Oz, which is why we’re super happy to have nabbed the entire Australian allocation for our members!

That Boutique-Y Rum Company has similar tastes to us here at The Rum Tribe – a love of pot-stills and a focus on transparency in labelling. For example, though such things as sugar and caramel can be used in rum production, there is no requirement to state this for the consumer – and we (along with Peter) think this is plain wrong!  At That Boutique-y Rum Company they are all about delicious, unusual and honest rums, which means they adopt a no BS approach to classification. You won’t hear them talking about dark and light rums, but you will hear them getting excited over everything from pot still rums from single distilleries to multi-column rums from multiple distilleries. In other words – they focus on ‘specifics’, not cliched generalities.

The Secret Distillery #1 Batch 3 is a single origin Jamaican rum (Worthy Park) that has been aged exclusively in ex-bourbon casks for 9 years (6 years in Jamaica and 3 more in TBRC’s bond store in the UK, then bottled at 53.8% abv. It follows on from Batches 1 & 2 from the same distillery – but sadly none of these earlier batches made it to our shores.

If you’re wondering about the bottle label – each sphere denotes one aspect/ingredient of rum production. The large sphere is cane, then demerara sugar, molasses, unaged rum and aged rum.

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: Unmistakable funk which definitely points the finger towards this being a product from the Trelawny region of Jamaica, and no other than Worthy Park. The ripe banana, a little spice and raisins hits you immediately, then the tropical fruit platter creeps in / overripe mango and pineapple and a slight hint of ginger.

Palate: Immediate fruity notes, ripe banana, pineapple and guava. Burnt sugar then on the back of the pallet leaves you with toffee and butterscotch.

Secret Distillery #1 Batch 3

  • PRICE : $135


  • ABV : 53.8%


  • BOTTLE: 500ml


  • REGION: Jamaica


Secret Distillery #1 Batch 3

FROM THE BOTTLERS

Secret Distilleries are the way that Boutique-y Rum’s can tie a Rum back to a particular source, but still honouring the producers right to protect their trademarked name.

Secret Distillery #1 can be found in Lluidas Vale, in the parish of St. Elizabeth, and for anyone who has sipped a few of their Rums then you’ll quickly recognise the tropical fruit, pineapple, sweet acetone type notes that are particular to them. Our 9-Year-Old Batch 3 release is a delicious example of a Rum that has spent most of its time maturing at source, with a few years here in the UK before being bottled. Rich, full bodied, with tropical fruit notes, with a firm caress of oak – this is an absolute delight that is likely to be enjoyed by seasoned rummy and beginner alike!

Nose: Bright, sweet banana, and sticky toffee pudding

Palate: Banana, tamarind, overripe pear and hints of butterscotch.

Finish: Toffee intertwined with green tea, prickly, peppery and lasting.

Overall: Straight off the bat, this is a mouth-filling lovely, characterful rum that is immediately, and instantly recognisable by fans of this distillery.

ABOUT THE DISTILLERY

The Worthy Park Estate is a sugar producer and distiller of rum that has been producing said sugar and rum since the inception of the Jamaican sugar industry 275 years ago. In the late 50’s and 60’s falling worldwide sugar prices along with the proliferation of large-scale, modern and efficient distilleries elsewhere saw a number of Jamaican distilleries close their operations. One of these was the Worthy Park Distillery which shut it’s doors in 1960 to concentrate on sugar production.

And concentrate they did. Over the next 45 years Worthy Park Estate gradually upgraded their farming practices and modernised their production facilities becoming perhaps the most advanced and efficient Sugar production operation in Jamaica, if not the world.

In the late 1990’s it was decided by the family (yes, still owned by the original family), led by fourth generation family-member Gordon Clarke, that distillation could viably re-commence on the Worthy Park Estate! Instead of restoring the old distillery it was decided that a whole new facility would be constructed. In 2005 they started building the new distillery and the first of the ‘new’ Worthy Park rums was bottled in 2007. Not too shabby, eh!

Worthy Park Estate age and bottle most of their own rum – but they do sell a fair volume to independent bottlers which is where Peter Holland and the Boutique-y Rum Company come into the picture. For those who may not be aware, an independent bottler is someone who buys [in this case] rums directly from the either the distillery (and then ages it themselves), or selects casks that have been aged by rum wholesalers and blenders. They find the casks they like, blend them (or, indeed bottle them as single cask rums) bottle them and brand them.

The Boutiqe-y company started as ‘The Boutique-y Whisky Company’ – independently ageing and bottling single malt whiskies from various distilleries around the globe and then selling them under their own brand. After winning multiple gold medals for their whiskies, and earning the respect of the global whisky community, they have branched out into gins and (most importantly) rums!

TBRC enlisted the services of talented barman and blender – and lover of rum – Peter Holland (of ‘thefloatingrumshack.com’) and he now has the enviable job of cask selection and blending for TBRC.                         

Iridium X Rum 10 year old – October 2020

The ultimate rum ‘Barn Find’! What happens when a distillery that has won dual gold medals for their 5 year old rum finds 2 barrels of 10 year old rum in the back of their bond store? The Iridium X Rum 10 year old!

The Rum Tribe is proud to exclusively present the only 10 year old rum ever released by The Mount Uncle Distillery – the Iridium X Rum 10 Year Old (and a single cask release at that!).

Hand crafted, estate hand-bottled, individually numbered – this single barrel rum is a small slice of tropical Far North Queensland for your tastebuds.

The Mt. Uncle Distillery is an award winning rum producer famous for their dual gold-medal winning 5 year old Iridium Rum and recently they found two 300L barrels of rum that have been forgotten about for 10 years in the back of the bond-store. One an Agricole style and one a dark rum. We have bought BOTH of them! One for this release and one for early next year.

This month we are very proud to have the exclusive access to Mark Watkins latest creation – The Iridium X 10 Year Old ‘Rum crafted with Sugar Cane’.

The fantastic ‘Iridium Gold 5yo’ from Mt. Uncle Distillery has won such high profile international accolades there are perhaps no Aussie rum-fans that haven’t heard of it. Produced in Far North Queensland in the Atherton Tablelands, the Iridium Gold 5yo took out ‘Best Rum in the World’ at the World Rum Awards in London last year. It has also won World’s Best Pot Stilled Rum 5 years and under at this year’s awards.

So..if 5 years ageing can produce a world beating FNQ rum, have you ever wondered what 10 years aging would do? Well – the time has come to find out for yourself.

This months fantastic The Iridium X Rum 10 Year Old is due for release to the general public later in the year  – but we here at The Rum Tribe get exclusive members only access on tasting this eagerly anticipated Far North Queensland (FNQ) NQ Agricole-style rum.

‘Rhum Agricole’ refers to rum made from sugar cane juice – as opposed to most rums that are made from molasses.  On the labels, the The Iridium X 10 Year Old is declared as ‘Crafted with Sugar Cane’ rather than Rhum Agricole – the reason for this is simple. Technically, you can only call a cane-juice rum ‘Rhum Agricole’ if it is produced in one of 23 designated areas of the French Caribbean.

Our Tasting Notes:

Nose: Sweet and oaky, chewy jube lollies tropical fruit and a big hit of crushed pineapple.

Palate: Smooth and creamy, more pineapple, coconut and tropical fruit juice.

The Iridium X Rum 10 year old

  • PRICE : $129

  • ABV : 47%

  • BOTTLE: 700ml

  • REGION: Australia

The Iridium X Rum 10 year old

FROM THE DISTILLERY

The Iridium X Rum 10yr Old is a cane syrup-based rum, produced from cane harvested off the rich and red volcanic soil of sunny Far North Queensland.

A single cask release which has been rested in ex-red wine all American oak Hogsheads in the tropical environment in the north of Australia. The tropical environment of Far north Queensland has allowed the Iridium 10yr to rest gracefully & depreciate in volume, with high amounts of angel share due to the FNQ’s warm climate.

The label is inspired by the environment in which the rum has been crafted and rested for its lifetime in Far North Queensland with the back-silk screen print representing the calm rippling waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

Hand crafted, estate hand-bottled, individually numbered this single barrel rum is a small slice of tropical Far North Queensland for your tastebuds.

Iridium 10 year olds younger sibling (the Iridium 5 year old) has taken out World’s Best Pot Stilled Rum Under 5 years in 2020 and World Best Rum under 5 years in 2019.

Nose: Sweet Sweet can and crème brulee

Palate:  Bottled at 47% ABV, the rum retains a sweet cane and crème brulee on the nose and forefront of the palate with middle touches of caramel, coconut and rice pudding and soft oak on the back end.

ABOUT MT UNCLE DISTILLERY

The Mt. Uncle Distillery must be about the best kept non-secret in the Australian spirits scene. I’m willing to bet that only a scant handful of our members have ever heard of it – I’ll bet even less know they make the world-famous Iridium Rum. Like I said – it’s not as if Mt Uncle distillery is a secret – it won Distillery of the Year in 2017 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. In 2018, it won medals for all spirits it entered in the IWSC.  Mt. Uncle Distillery did receive some notoriety in 2015 with it’s ‘Big Black Cock’ single malt  whisky (with the obligatory, explanatory picture of a rooster on the label) – but the Mt Uncle brand seems to remain just under the radar of the average Australian spirits fan. We hope we can help change all that.

Built in 2001, the Mt. Uncle Distillery is the brainchild of Mark Watkins and it remains Far North Queensland’s only distillery. Mark originally hails from Tasmania where his dad and grandad (and great grand-dad) engaged in some “fairly dodgy stuff” (his words!). Of his ancestor’s nefarious activities, it is distilling which remains a firm childhood memory for Mark. Now a legitimate and licensed distiller, Mark has continued to involve family and his wife Claire handles the distilleries sales and marketing for Mt. Uncle.

Nestled in a banana plantation and surrounded by macadamia and avocado orchards – Mark set out to build a distillery that could showcase the local produce within the gins, rums and liquors that it creates.

One would think the climate too hot that far north to age spirits. However, being on ‘the tablelands’ means slightly milder highs (but still quite warm) during the day but cooler nights. That constant cycling of temperature aids the maturation process by causing more ‘movement’ of the rum in the casks – thus exposing more directly to the wood. The ‘Angels Share’ is surprisingly low at 3-8%. “Our locality allows us to get very fast successful ageing of spirits due to the warm days and cooler nights here in Walkamin,” he said. “We only use the best quality products and processes and that’s why our products shine.”

Mt. Uncle Distilery
Mt. Uncle Distilery