Review #94: Millionario Sistema Solera 15 Reserva Especial Rum, (Peru), 40% abv

I deserve something extraordinary today ...

... really I do -- but I'm just too tired to appreciate something extraordinary so I'll stick with random rum. I'm optimistic about it, but not that optimistic.

I don't know anything about this. It comes in a silly bottle and has a fancy-bad website. It's made from molasses, I think. Here's a quotation from the web site: "four rows of the solera system are employed, and after fifteen years of ageing, the enrichment of the rum’s quality is assured." I assume this means that the solera has 15-yr old rum in it, not that the youngest component is 15yrs, and that's why there is an unattached number (15!) that is sort of an age statement, but isn't. I wonder how old the oak is.

Nice nose, actually. Bunches of armagnac fruits -- prunes and raisins and so on, along with smoky engine and seed oils, chalk, dusty library, and some winey notes. After a while there's milk chocolate, lilac, and popcorn. There's some brown sugar, there, too, but otherwise this could almost be some other spirit (not rum).

Palate is mostly demerara-sweet with a smoky-grassy sting. But there's a lot of Ovaltine there, too, and a Japanese dessert called yokan (it's a sweet red bean seaweed jelly paste, I think). A little soft, but nice body for 40%.

Finishes quite sweet (a little too much), but it's an interesting winey-chocolate sweetness, at least.

This is really good. I'm rewarded and revived. A bonus point, perhaps, for a pleasant surprise.


score: 87

Unnumbered review: Cardamaro 17.5%abv and Cynar 16.5%abv

battle of the wine-based amari


So, Cardamaro, according to its label in Italian, is (roughly) "aromatized bitter wine from cardoon and artichoke." Oddly enough, this appears on the back in English as "wine based amaro of cardoon and blessed thistle." "Blessed thistle" appears on the front as "Cardo Santo." So this is confusing, but no bother. The label says it's from Canelli, which is in Piemonte, where they say "articiocc" for artichoke. It comes in a cute bottle. And it's cheap! It calls itself an "aperitif wine."

Cynar comes in a big bottle with a picture of an artichoke. "Cynara" is the genus of both artichoke and cardoon, but the label seems pretty fixated on artichokes. Let's see what the label says: "Cynar is a product obtained from the mixture of artichoke leaves and other herbs infused according to an ancient recipe." The label also also gives a Piemontese address, warns of caramel coloring, insists that you drink it "always on ice," and declares it imported by Campari America. It calls itself a "liqueur."


Cardamaro:

A very rich and spicy nose. Dried, salted plums, ginger and allspice, rhubarb, with lots of smaller vegetal notes in the background. Just a little bit of grapestems and grassiness.

Palate is sweet and grapey, with a little (good caramel) and, of course, bitterness. Texture is very rich, almost feels syrupy. Finish is still sweet and bitter -- this is when what must be the thistle really comes through. Very drinkable, although it's hard to imagine drinking a lot of it at once.


Cynar:

Much darker in the glass. The vegetal note -- I guess that would be artichoke -- are more prominent from the outset -- it has a ginseng-y, tonic-y character. A little less easy and simpler than the Cardamaro: it smells like a thin red wine with an herb or two. Can you smell bitter? It smells more bitter.

It is more bitter. It's something new-- is that gentian? It's also sweeter but less fruity. The tastes are more pronounced but fewer. The wine almost takes on some apple notes, but not quite. Finishes quite bitter, and maybe a new herb pops up.


I like them both, but I find the Cardamaro a lot more interesting and appealing.

What the hell, let's score them.

Cardamaro: 80
Cynar: 75

Review #93: Barbancourt 15yr Estate Reserve Rhum, 43% abv, OB

post-beach blogging

I'm not ready to be back yet, so more rum (or rhum). It's really for the best.

The 8yr old has five starts on the label, but this one has none, so it must be really bad. (Guy Fieri bad.) This is a "rhum,"so I think that means it's made from sugar cane. It's from Haiti and comes in a loud box but with a fancy label. It's aged in oak, which is possibly Limousin.

Nose: sweet but suprisingly phenolic, with some black olives and grease. Basically it goes like this: there's some typical raisins and brown sugar gently in the background, some campfire ashes and medicinal notes in front, and then nutmeg and vanilla and vegetal notes on the side.

Palate: I like this. Nothing's terribly powerful or compelling, but the flavors seems to be fighting with each other in an interesting way, as if demerara and campfire ashes and spices were on a reality show together. Starts softly but the phenols power through.

Finish: It lasts in a sweet and mentholy way.


It's just interesting enough not to be boring, but has neither easy appeal nor complexity. It's good, though.


score: 75

Unnumbered review: not Champagne

beach blogging #2


A good time to open a bottle (or 7) of sparkling wine! No scores because I'm completely at sea on how to score them, and who cares.

Zardetto Prosecco DOC Treviso Brut nv

abv 11.5%

wet stones, lemon and pear, very forward nose, slightly floral, spiced dates

palate not particularly expressive, slight herbal bitterness

the nose is really appealing – I don’t think I conveyed how pleasurable it is

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige Napa Valley Sparkling Wine nv

abv: 12.5%

austere: gravel, chalk, and grapefruit

extremely tart citrus palate

some muscat-y grapeness on the finish

needs a good food pairing

Lamarca Prosecco DOC nv

abv: 11%

muskmelon and granite

curiously sweet, slightly honeyed palate – raisins and pears

finishes sweet, too.

I guess this isn’t a Brut, now that I think about it

Ruffino Prosecco DOC Extra-Dry Sparkling wine nv

abv: 11%

not much on the nose. some broken seashells and lemon verbena maybe.

palate is granny smith apples, finish is sweet and mostly indistinct.

isn’t Ruffino a Tuscan producer?

Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Brut nv

abv: 12%

simple floral-citrus nose.

nice tartatic snap on the palate,

sweet, grapey finish. well balanced.

nice, but a little too simple and modest

Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley Sparkling wine nv
abv: 12%

nice chalky nose, with plenty of apple orchard, some dark fruit and boiled beetroot. lots of Pinot influence – it has an interesting fruity-vegetal-woodsy character.

palate is dry but has sweet dried fruit (raisins and figs) flavors. good body.

astringent-fruity-creamy finish, with a little lemon.

this is the best of the bunch, although rather serious for beachside drinking.

I consider this drinking to be a complete success. Next year I'll have to find a Cava, maybe even a Shiraz.

Review #92: Zaya Gran Reserva 12yr old blended rum, Trinidad, 40% abv

back from the beach

The nice thing about having a blog with no readers is that you can go away for a few weeks and there's no one to notice or complain.

Here's something that I bought while I was away. It comes in a remarkably heavy bottle. The label says that it's the "world's finest luxury rum," so it must be good. There's a chip in the plastic of the T-top, though -- did I do that?

Nose is all sweetness: raisins and figs, coconut, bananas foster, and loads of sasparilla, oddly enough.
Palate maintains the sweet profile, although I'm not sure there's really a lot of sugar in there. If there were more sugar, this would be candy. There's just a tiny bit of grassiness -- maybe even green tobacco -- against the sweetness.

Overall, the profile reminds me of a combination of cream soda and suntan oil from the 70's. It's appealing, though. Makes a nice daquiri, too, if you like the sasparilla flavors.


score: 70