SBS Origin Unaged Rum Roundup: TECA, Port Mourant, Le Galion, Dominican Republic Aroma Grande

Up for consideration today is a collection of recent bottles from SBS (or S.B.S if you must), the rum arm of Danish bottler 1423 World Class Spirits. SBS stands for Single Barrel Selection, rather weirdly since not one of these bottles has ever touched a barrel. I've been saying for years (and I will repeat it until the world catches up) that unaged rum is probably the value category in spirits right now, and even if we're not looking at Rum Fire here (and even though everything's bottled at a mere 57%) this Origin series should, in theory, continue to bear that out. Sixty bucks or less per bottle gets you heavy hitters like Long Pond and Port Mourant, or even far nerdier fare: sounds great, again in theory.

They've put out more stuff since, but here's a lineup of four. It first of all features an unaged TECA front and center - which I know is going to go hard, since I've already reviewed a TECA before (   • RomDeluxe Jamaica No. 2 NYE-WM (New Yarmou...   ). Also returning for another round is a grand arôme which cannot be from anywhere but Martinique's Le Galion, another funky old favorite (   • French Funk: Grand Arôme Rhum from Martini...   ). But then there's a very cool wild card from the Dominican Republic, a country not especially known for ester bombs, plus the unaged version of the Port Mourant distillate (that's their wooden double pot still) which has been on the channel many times in oakier form (e.g., at    • Let's Talk About Port Mourant: Cadenhead D...   ). Stats:

SBS Origin Dominican Republic Aroma Grande Rum (column distilled, esters stated at approx. 500 gr/hl AA; bottled circa 2022; unchillfiltered, 57% ABV), 68/100
SBS Origin Guyana PM Rum (distilled on the Port Mourant still at Diamond; bottled circa 2022; unchillfiltered, 57% ABV), 83+/100
SBS Origin French Antilles Grand Arome Rum (Le Galion, Martinique; wooden double column still (?!), esters stated at approx. 500 gr/hl AA; unchillfiltered, 57% ABV), 87+/100
SBS Origin Jamaica TECA Rum (Long Pond; pot distilled, esters stated at approx. 1200-1300 gr/hl AA; unchillfiltered, 57% ABV), 90+/100

The TECA is great because of course it is, and Le Galion is still delightfully weird and very, very good. The PM is also very weird, and indeed everyone else seems to be love-or-hate on the stuff, but I find myself a little meh on it. (What I really want after this is a high ester version.) And then the little Dominican, I'm super-sad to say, ended up a huge disappointment: solid (if a bit unremarkable) on the palate, but for me far too solventy and even genuinely unpleasant on the nose. All well worth trying, though!

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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