20+yo Jamaican Rum Tetrad: New Yarmouth 1994 x2, Clarendon 1997 & 1995 (Aficionados)

So no, I'm not reviewing the new Appleton 17. But hey, if you're in the market for really old, tropically matured, low-ester Jamaican rums that would kill it in a mai tai, you've got less expensive options. And here's four of them, courtesy of Aficionados and Fine Drams (yes, again - that's three weeks in a row of Afish picks), bottled in 35cl bottles for the sake of your wallet. Stats:

New Yarmouth Cask No. 435043 26 Year Old Jamaican Rum (for Aficionados/Fine Drams; column distilled molasses, aged in American oak 11/27/94 to 9/21; 68% ABV), 87+/100
New Yarmouth Cask No. 435059 26 Year Old Jamaican Rum (for Aficionados/Fine Drams; column distilled molasses, aged in American oak 11/27/94 to 9/21; 68.5% ABV), 88/100
Clarendon Cask No. 432893 23 Year Old Jamaican Rum (for Aficionados/Fine Drams; pot distilled molasses, aged in American oak 11/97 to 9/21; 68.5% ABV), 89+/100
Clarendon Cask No. 433946 26 Year Old Jamaican Rum (for Aficionados/Fine Drams; pot distilled molasses, aged in American oak 7/95 to 9/21; 68.3% ABV), 88/100

All of these tropically aged for all but the last year and change of their maturation, so expect the wood.

The two New Yarmouths are the most novel among the four: New Yarmouth is a very secretive distillery and bottlings are pretty rare to begin with, but these happen to be from their column still. I've reviewed a few of their pot still offerings before (At    • New Yarmouth NYE/HM Jamaica Rum review (gu...   and    • RomDeluxe Jamaica No. 2 NYE-WM (New Yarmou...   and then one aged one at    • Funkin' For Jamaica: Papalin 57.18%, Hampd...   ), but never a column still one - and, based on all my experience with Wray and Nephew, my suspicions have been that their column stuff might actually be pretty good. And it is! The 059 is my favorite - think eating lane cake in the middle of a cigar bar - but don't overlook the more herbaceous and austere 043, which in retrospect might actually play better in high-end cocktailing.

The two Clarendon offerings (the distillery's also called Monymusk, which I point out here for SEO purposes) are more conventional pot still bottlings, which isn't to say they're easygoing. I've reviewed aged Clarendon before (see    • Hello Monymates! Hamilton/Florida Rum Soci...   ) but never ones this old, and the battle between the oak and the flowers/herbs is intense_. For whatever reason the older 433946 is much, much more forward in the mouth - still great, mind, especially if you're a Balkan Sobranie fan - but even so the 432893 doesn't really pull away until you add water. Holy crap does this bottle love water - it basically turns into a pomace brandy out of nowhere, and _really good pomace brandy at that.

Question of the Video: What weird desserts do you find in spirits?

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

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