Rum Casks

by lk » Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:33 am

New here but not to malt. Been a scotch whiskey fan since college in the '60's but more serious about it now.
I have noticed a number of "rum cask" whiskies lately like the Springbank, the Glenfiddich and the Glenmorangie. Has anyone tried any of these and what is your opinion? I have a bottle of the Havana Reserve but have not cracked it yet.
My main standby has been the Macallan 18 but I recently discovered the Aberlour Sherry 15 and think it's great.

by **blackkeno** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:57 am

I've tried three rum casked whisk(e)ys. The best has been the recent Springbank Wood series 12yo CS. I'm a big fan of the earlier Springbanks and IMHO this is the best since they started producing again (v. the 10's & 15). I've also tasted another rum finished Springer (from Europe) that was also quite interesting.

There is also Greenor, a rum finished Irish Single Grain. I'm quite fond of single grains and Irish Whiskey; and I found this to be very interesting as well.

by **Jeroen Kloppenburg** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:17 pm

I only had 1 rum finish sofar, a Caol Ila. And although I still dont know what to think of all these finishes (even though the malt industry is using bourbon and sherry casks which is widely accepted) I still think this turned out quite nice.

You can view the tasting note about it here: http://www.peatfreak.com/Cnt.php?search=caol+ila+rum&Submit=Search%21

by **Czarny** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:21 pm

I had once a dram or two of Bushmills Rum barrel vintage 1988 (specially selected for La Maison Du Whisky). It's a rather expensive (175€ per 70cl bottle) single cask, cask stength whisky (53.8%) . But it is REALY GOOD! Very frutty and sweet, well balanced with just a hint of woodiness. Very dinkable, but complex enought...

[This message has been edited by Czarny (edited 26 August 2003).]

by **blackkeno** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:53 am

I had almost forgot about Bushmill's. I don't own one, but at the WhiskyExpo in San Francisco last year, I tried a sample. I thought it was about 18yo, and it was outstanding.

by **Czarny** » Tue Sep 02, 2003 9:32 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial, Verdana">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by blackkeno:
I thought it was about 18yo, and it was outstanding.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I totally agree with you, however the price is also outstanding ...
I have also tried the Bushmills Bourbon Cask 1990 54,4 %. It's almost as good but a bit less expensive: 122€. I tried both those bushmills single cask last year at a festival in Paris, I had many very high standard and very expensive malts that night and those two bushmills are from the few that I really remember (when you have too much stuff to drink you only remember the striking drams …).
By the end of the night, I had the luck to take home an almost emptied bushmills rum cask bottle. I had two or tree more shots