Top 30 Rums Countdown # 9 – Appleton Estate Master Blender’s Legacy

In 1749, in the Nassau Valley of Jamaica, the Appleton Estate Sugar Factory was founded. The Nassau Valley is a fertile, interior valley with a special mild micro-climate which is ideally suited to the growth of sugarcane. A water source which wells from a limestone rock formation provides an exceptionally soft pure water which used for the production of Appleton Rums. The Appleton Estate Rum is crafted from pot stills in small batches. After blending and aging the rums are ready for bottling. Unlike most rums produced in the Caribbean, Jamaican law forbids the use of an age statement unless the entire contents of the bottle are aged at least as long as the stated age.

The Appleton Estate Master Blender’s Legacy was produced to recognize three generations of Appleton Estate Master Blenders, Joy Spence, the current Master Blender, Owen Tulloch, the  previous Master Blender, and David Morrison the current protégé of Joy Spence. All three Master Blenders have set their mark on this fantastic rum which, on my countdown list of the Best Rums in the World, checks in at Number 9:

# 9 – Appleton Estate Master Blender’s Legacy

“… The flavour carries the tart spiciness of orange peel and lemon which are laid behind a backdrop of clean pure oak. Sweet flavours of baked fruit (apples and pears), brown sugar and honey are melded into this spiciness. I have read other reviews where the rum is said to have a smoky quality. I understand this perception, but to me I taste a presence tobacco mixed with pungent spices (nutmeg and allspice) …”

 

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Top 30 Rums Countdown # 16 – Appleton Estate Extra Old 12 Year

It was in April of 2009, that I wrote my first rambling reviews on the Ministry of Rum. If you search their old threads you will come across my original write-up on the Appleton 12 year Old Rum. It was in truth the first ‘review’ I ever wrote. It really wasn’t meant to be a review; but more of a fun write-up to let the members of that forum know what I liked and didn’t and why. That rambling thread is responsible for all that followed. About 6 months later I started this website and that write-up on the Ministry of Rum became the first review I placed on my website, just a little more fleshed out but in essence that same ‘review’ I wrote originally.

In November 2012 I revisited the Appleton 12 year Old Rum and found that my appreciation of the rum had increased substantially. The Rum has improved over the last three years (or perhaps my taste has). Regardless of whether it is the rum or my taste preference (and that of my Judging Panel) the Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Old Rum checks in as the 16th best rum in my 2012 Countdown of the Best Rums in the World.

# 16 – Appleton Estate Extra Old 12 Year

“… The rum is nice and soft in my mouth. I taste a dominant trio of dark brown sugar, charred caramel, and a spicy oak which asserts itself firmly into the flavour profile. I found if I was patient, and let the rum sit in my glass and then sipped very slowly, I could catch the nuances of other more subtle flavours underneath… “

 

Top 30 Rums Countdown # 26 – Jamaica Independence Reserve

Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve, is blended from rums which have been aged for a minimum of 50 years in hand selected, oak barrels. Only 800 bottles of this very rare, Limited Edition bottling were made available for sale around the world at a target Retail Price of US$5,000 per 750ml bottle. A few bottles trickled into my home Province of Alberta, and I was lucky enough to sample one with a friend from which I composed my initial review. I was also sent a media kit from Appleton Rum with a 100 ml sample. Using that sample my Judges and I tasted and scored the Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum in our search for the best rums in the world.

The Jamaica Independence Reserve checks in to my countdown at number 26. It is as well, the most expensive rum on the countdown list:

# 26 – Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve

“… I sensed strong notes of oak and orange peel zest rising above the glass imprinted with deep dark brown sugar and baking spices. The dark brown sugar smells grow stronger over time as do the baking spices which display scents of spicy nutmeg, and cinnamon. I also smell walnuts and a strong impression of vanilla…”

The finish of this rum displays oak spice, orange peel, cloves and cinnamon that seems to linger forever.

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Review: Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum

Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve is bottled from a blend of rums which have been aged for a minimum of 50 years. This is the second oldest rum I have ever tasted, the oldest being another Jamaican Rum, (a 58-year-old Gordon and Macphail bottling from the Longpond Distillery).

I was able to taste this rare bottle when I was invited to a private tasting which featured the Appleton Estate 50,  30 , 21, and 12 year old rums as well as the Master Blender’s Legacy. My host provided the 50 Year Old rum for the tasting, and I provided the other rums. Based upon how much money each bottle represented, I got by far the best end of that deal.

Here is an excerpt from my resulting review:

“… I sensed strong notes of oak and orange peel zest rising above the glass imprinted with deep dark brown sugar and baking spices. The dark brown sugar smells grow stronger over time as do the baking spices which display scents of spicy nutmeg, and cinnamon. I also smell walnuts and a strong impression of vanilla.A vague herbal note is in the air as well, which is hard for me to decipher, lemongrass perhaps…”

Please enjoy the review:

Cheers!

Appleton Estate’s Joy Spence

I would like to welcome Joy Spence, the current Master Blender for Appleton Estate Rum to my website.

I was granted a rare chance to interview Ms. Spence via email in early June just before the launch announcement of Appleton Estate’s brand new and very rare Limited Edition Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve. Ms. Spence speaks clearly about her job as Appleton Estate Rum’s – Master Blender; the incredible heritage of Appleton Estate Rum; and the unique Terrior that is the Nassau Valley where all the sugarcane for Apple Estate Rum is grown. We also discuss the aforementioned Limited Edition Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve as well as my current favourite Appleton Rum the Appleton Estate Master Blenders’ Legacy. We even have some fun learning which rum Ms. Spence would prefer to drink in the Canadian Arctic, and which would be her favourite if she were stranded on a tropical island. Finally Joy Spence surprises even me by revealing her favourite rum cocktail, and for a guy like me who loves to mix great rum with soda, it is a sure-fire winner!

Click here for my interview with Joy Spence….

An Interview with Appleton Estate’s Joy Spence

I hope you all enjoy the interview!

Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Rum – A Monumental Spirit

The press release from Appleton Estate Rum begins as follows:

“… Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum is proud to announce the release of a world first in Rum, the very rare Limited Edition Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve  

Appleton Estate 50 Year Old Jamaica Rum – Jamaica Independence Reserve comprises rums that have been aged for a minimum of 50 years in hand selected, oak barrels and it is believed to be the oldest rum available for sale in the world. Only 800 bottles of this very rare, Limited Edition bottling will be made available for sale around the world at a target Retail Price of US$5,000 per 750ml bottle…”

Wow… Five Thousand Dollars a Bottle!?

You may read my (somewhat controversial) thoughts on this new release here:

Cheers Everyone!

APPLETON ESTATE BARTENDER CHALLENGE (CANADA)

I was sent an interesting press release yesterday, Apparently Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum is having a nationwide contest to find the best bartender in Canada as part of their Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge. I love cocktails so I thought I should throw up the essential details from the presser here on my website.

If you think you can mix a mean cocktail, then maybe you should head over to the Appleton Estate Bartender Challenge Canada Facebook page to obtain all of the rules and regulations of the contest which is open until June 30th (the contest is available to all Canadian Bartenders and Wait Staff). The winner will be announced on August 12th, and (this is the good part) will be awarded an all expense paid trip to Jamaica to represent Canada in the Appleton Estate Jamaica International Bartender Challenge in October 2012. Those interested in participating must submit a video entry of themselves mixing an Appleton Estate V/X and an Appleton Estate Reserve cocktail, using Angostura Bitters as an ingredient in one of their original creations. Four finalists will be notified on July 15th and their respective cocktail recipes will go on to be judged by a panel of local experts and media on the basis of flavour, originality, creativity, presentation, technique, style and knowledge of Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum.

To get you in the mood here is one of my original Appleton Estate Rum Cocktails!

Cheers!

The Appleton Celebration

2 oz Appleton Reserve Rum
2 oz  Fresh Squeezed and strained Pink Grapefuit Juice
3/4 oz  London Dry Gin
2 dashes Angostura bittlers
1 teaspoon Grenadine
ice
1/4 oz Sloe Gin
lemon slice for garnish

Combine the first five ingredients into a metal shaker with ice.
Shake until the metal shaker chills.
Strain into a cocktail glass (with or without ice).
Float the sloe gin on top
Garnish with lemon slice

Celebrating: Appleton Estate Reserve Rum

Recently I was afforded a chance to revisit Appleton Estate Reserve Rum when  the media company representing the brand in Canada asked me if I would like to receive a bottle. Although I have already reviewed this rum, I was not about to turn down a rum bottle which would fit very nicely on the Appleton shelf of my liquor cabinet.

I have found that the Appleton Estate VX and the Appleton Estate Reserve are two of my favourite cocktail rums. The Appleton Estate Reserve has the same signature Appleton flavour and aroma which I noted in my review of the Appleton Estate VX a few weeks ago. However, things seem to be brought up a notch with a higher level of smoothness, and more complexity in the Reserve Rum. The high level of complexity in the Reserve arises because this Appleton Rum uses a large number of  rums in its blend, 20 in all, and because the rums which are used in the Reserve blend are aged for a longer period of time than for the Appleton VX Rum.

Of course, receiving a bottle of Appleton Estate Reserve deserves a Celebration:

The Appleton Celebration

2 oz Appleton Reserve Rum
2 oz  Fresh Squeezed and strained Pink Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz  London Dry Gin
1/4 oz Sloe Gin
1 teaspoon Simple Sugar (or grenadine)

Combine ingredients into a metal shaker with ice.
Shake until the metal shaker chills.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with lemon slice

And sometimes I just cannot resist putting the ice from the shaker into the cocktail glass as well.  Sitting on the back deck in the shade with a Celebration Cocktail is one of the best ways I can think of to spend a Saturday afternoon.

For those who are interested, here is my review of Appleton Reserve Rum:

Review: Appleton Estate Reserve Rum

Cheers my friends!

Revisiting: Appleton Estate VX Rum

Appleton Estate VX Rum is the entry-level rum in the Appleton Estate family of rums.  It is a blend of up to fifteen Jamaican rums of various styles which have been aged in hand crafted oak.

I was afforded a chance to revisit Appleton Vx recently when the media company representing the brand sent me a bottle. Although I have already reviewed the rum, the company felt I should have some handy to use as a resource for my cocktail explorations.  Of course, the first thing I did when I opened my bottle was to sample a bit while I read my original review.

Here is an excerpt from that review:

” The rum displays an amber colour with orange flashes.  Surprisingly (to me) the rum when swirled left nice long skinny legs in my glass indicating a buttery oil present.  The aroma is very spicy, and full of oak tannin.  I smell a firm and distinct orange peel, and light brown sugar and molasses rising in the tangy oak spice….”

The rum of course has not changed and you may read the entire review here:

Review: Appleton Estate VX Rum

I was supposed to be using the rum for cocktails, and so the next thing I did was to make the original cocktail that I designed for the Appleton Vx called, the Traveller.  One Traveller led to another, and the 200 ml sample I was sent disappeared pretty quickly. Fortunately I have my own 750 ml bottle that will allow me to keep ‘travelling’ with my Appleton VX.

Here is a Link to that nice cocktail and a few nice variations:

The Traveller Cocktail

The Emperor Rum: Appleton 30

The Appleton Estate Limited Edition 30 Year Old Rum (produced of course by Appleton Estate in Jamaica), is a well aged rum composed of several marks of rum selected by the Appleton Estate Master Blender. These selected marks were originally aged for 8 years in oak barrels. However, once they were blended, they were then placed in oak barrels once more where they were matured for an additional 22 years in an unusually long dual aging process. According to the published information from Appleton Estate, only 1440 bottles of the 30 Year Old Rum were produced, and these were released onto the word-wide market in 2008.

Now this is a special rum and I was determined to get the review right. To that end, my review of the Appleton 30 year Old Rum is based upon 5 independent tasting sessions in my private tasting room. As well I also carried out side by side tastings with several other well aged spirits which included two Scotch Whiskies (Mosstowie 1979 28 Yr, Cask No.s 12771 & 12772, Bottle No. 162, and Bunnahabhain 1978 29 Yr, Cask No. 2584, Bottle No. 275 of 581); one 30 year Old Canadian Whisky (Canadian Club 30 Year Old 150th Anniversary Edition); and one Dominican Rum (Oliver and Oliver, Opthimus 25). I felt it was important (even though I am a regular consumer of aged spirits) to compare the Appleton 30 Year old with other well aged spirits as part of the review process.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

“…The rum is a dark and rich reddish-brown colour which leaves a thick film on my glass when it is tilted. This film slowly releases thick fat legs back into the rum. As I watched the legs slowly crawl down the sides of the glass, the rum was bringing heavy notes of a woody sap and oak tannin to my nostrils….”

You may read the full review here:

Review: Appleton Estate Limited Edition 30 Year Old Rum