Dead Reckoning Venezuela

Description

Dead Reckoning is BACK! With a rum that started it all – the Saint Teresa…We are proud to launch to total Australian allocation of the 11.5 year old, rare single cask that is the Dead Reckoning Venezuela!

The Dead Reckoning Venezuela release is a rare offering from the Saint Teresa Distillery. Whist most of their rum is matured through their Solera maturation system (and released under the ‘Saint Teresa 1796’ label), this Dead Reckoning release is a scarce single cask release of this historic distillery’s rum.

We are stoked to have the entire Australian allocation for his latest Dead Reckoning creation. This single cask rum has been 11.5 years in the making. 8 years in Venezuela tropically aging in ex-bourbon cask before making its way half-way round the world to the ‘dry climate aging’ capital of Australia – Adelaide – for 3 and a half years in an ex-Makers Mark bourbon cask. Over the 3.5 years in Adelaide, the 200L cask gave a whopping 25% of its volume to the Angels – but in return those Angels increased the abv in the barrel by 3%.

The Dead Reckoning Venezuela juice hails from the Saint Teresa Distillery in Venezuela. The Saint Teresa Hacienda has existed since 1797 and was making ron (rum) from about 1830 – that’s around 200 years! The distillery and estate remain family owned and run to this day.

Now Saint Teresa’s main product (the Saint Teresa 1796) is a Solera style rum. The solera method is based on stacking multiple layers of aging barrels (called “criaderas”) on top of each other, with each layer progressively topping up the next one down and blending with it, year after year. The word “solera” comes from the Spanish word “suelo” which means “floor”. So as the angels take their share, the barrels are topped up with the contents of the slightly younger barrel and the average age of the barrel slowly increases over the years. The purpose of this labour-intensive process is the maintenance of a reliable style and quality of the rum over time.

While he might be the Barron or the Barrels, Captain of the Casks, the Doctor of Dry Climate Aging and indisputable Icon of Indy rum bottling in Australia – and fast becoming the world – Justin Boseley and his Dead Reckoning Rum brand!

But Justin wasn’t always ‘The Rum Baron’ – in fact it was during his tenure on ‘mega-yachts’ that he first discovered that the rum he’d been brought up on (so to speak) wasn’t actually anywhere near as good when compared to rums on the world stage. It was a Venezuelan rum that caused this epiphany – the Saint Teresa. And this month, Justin pays homage to the ‘rum that started it all’ with his very first release from the country that taught him what rum, ron and rhum could be! We’re proud to have exclusive Australian access (yes, we have to share Dead Reckoning with Europe and the USA nowadays!) to this sensational rum.

Our Tasting Notes

Nose: A lovely floral, herbaceous nose with jasmine, fresh-cut vanilla pod and gingery citrus rind over a light funky fruit backbone

Palate: Slightly dry on the palate with little to no pepper. Huge and sweet on the palate, Big fruit notes with just a sprinkling of funk is the main attraction here. It’s Christmas cake with just the smell of nan’s custard on the stove, marmalade of buttery toast and more of those vanillery nums and candied peel notes.

Finish: It’s a rather short finish with a very clean, crisp end – however there’s little to no astringency (just the merest suggestion of ‘fruit tingle cheeks’. The fruity notes peak and fade quickly and you’re left with more of those lovely flowery, perfumy notes.

One sip of this and it’s easy to see how Justin Boseley’s rum journey was changed for good (.. and for the good!). Such bold flavours that come and go like a shooting star! What it ‘lacks’ with such a short finish, it more than makes up for whilst it’s rolling around your mouth.