Breaking Barriers: Can High-Strength Venezuelan Rum Challenge Its Stigmas?

It’s not every day that I drink rum from Venezuela. Most people likely know Diplomatico, Santa Teresa and Pampero. There are plenty more, but I think those are the most popular ones. And popular they are! I’ve drank a lot of them  when I was in my sugary sweet phase, about 10 years ago or so. I had no idea what kind of excellent experiences rum could offer. I thought sweet and “smooth” was the ultimate thing in the rum universe, which is fine. But boy was I wrong. Once I started dipping my toes into non sugared rums, I realized there is so much complexity to be found in many of them. Complexity that was missing in the sweetened rum, as the added sugar is so overpowering. Luckily I moved out of that phase to explore the entire wonderful world of rum. People who don’t, which is likely the majority, are truly missing out on something beautiful imho.

The rum landscape has changed a lot since then. There is much more of a focus on transparency and the serious rum enthusiasts have grown in numbers. Still a tiny group, but interesting enough for even some of the larger producers to occasionally start catering to. Never in my life did I think I would be able to find many cask strength rums from Venezuela. Rums from there are all around the 40% mark, right?! I was wrong again! Independent bottlers are mostly responsible for putting these on the market and their popularity seems to be increasing. Before tasting them I was skeptical, but I did wonder if they could be somewhat of a gateway for people who are used to drinking sweetened rum and are interested in switching that up. I needed to test this.

Luckily I was able to get my hands on a couple of Venezuelan expressions through a local friend. A 15 year Holmes Cay 2007 at 55%, which has been entirely aged in Venezuela. The second is a 14 year Raising Glasses “The Whistler” Venezuela 2008 at 62.1%. Aged for 12 years in Venezuela and 2 years in the UK. Both these bottlers are American and neither is allowed to name the distillery where the rum was made. Holmes Cay uses the name “Destileria Sofa”, which I think is Hacienda Santa Teresa. No idea about the other. A few people have mentioned online that it could be Corporacion Alcoholes del Caribe S.A.  

Both expressions are supposed to be additive free.

Nosing

Holmes Cay Venezuela 2007

Vanilla, oak, citrus, light red fruit, vanilla candy, light mineral stones. Then after a while bacon, tomato sauce, curry sauce. What??? That turned weird/interesting all of a sudden. Must have been a temporary moment of insanity hitting my brain.

Raising Glasses “The Whistler” Venezuela 2008

Oak, tobacco leafs, coffee, vanilla, sour milk (yuck), sea weed, pickle, freshly baked bread infused with Cinnabon (cinnamon). Not as good as either Cinnabon or fresh bread, but has tiny elements of both, if you know what I mean. It takes a while to get to all those. It’s a rather silky impression, somewhat thin, with a lot of vanilla being present.

Tasting

Holmes Cay Venezuela 2007

Despite it having no sugar added, there is quite a bit of candy like sweetness. Oak, vanilla, coffee, black tea and a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Nothing standing out much. The medium finish has a hint of bitterness with vanilla and oak…..and ginger popping up all of a sudden. Mouthfeel is thicker than The Whistler.

Raising Glasses “The Whistler” Venezuela 2008

Oak and strong vanilla. Hint of leather, some chocolate and baking spices. Peppery. It’s quite hot and sweet. A few other bits and pieces, but oak and vanilla are dominant. The finish is short with very little going on. It bites a little more than the Holmes Cay. This could be because the abv is higher and/or because it’s slightly younger.  I bet this would make a good vanilla rum and coke, if you like such a thing.

Conclusion

I have to admit I’ve been struggling with what my conclusion about these rums is and how I should rate them. South and Central American rums are typically column distilled up to a very high abv, just like these two. That fact combined with a short fermentation means the distillate will be near flavourless. They heavily depend on the barrel and/or additives for flavour. This makes it even more interesting to taste these expressions without additives. As I mentioned earlier, I find the sugar they add acts like a blanket, covering up potential complexities. Well, in this case they might as well add it, as there isn’t much to cover up. This provides an additional motivation as to why they use additives. First of all, a sweeter, easy going profile is preferred in this part of the world, so it makes sense in that regard. However, another thing is, if you would water these two expressions down to 40%, there wouldn't be much left to taste. Additives are a solution for that problem as well.

I’m not a fan of the Holmes Cay Venezuela, nor of the Raising Glasses The Whistler. They are very sweet and not complex, with a couple of flavours dominating the profile. When using binoculars you will find a few other things, but to me that is not the way.

A different perspective, which increases the score a little, is this: if someone is getting into cask strength rums from drinking sweetened rum, these might be a good choice. It could ease someone into this new part of the rum journey with flavours that are familiar. If a person has been drinking various cask strength rums for years though, these are likely only good for satisfying curiosity.

I'm happy these expressions are in the market, since we are all different and it's good to have a wide variety of choices. However, I can safely say my curiosity has been satisfied.

Scores

Holmes Cay Venezuela 2007 – 68

Raising Glasses “The Whistler” Venezuela 2008 – 63

Click here for info on the scoring method.

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