Phenomenology of Spirits

Worthy Park 9 year Rest & Be Thankful Wu Dram Clan/Kirsch (50%) N: caramel and butterscotch and peanut butter cookie subdue fruity esters (pineapple, green strawberry). With water: greener and fruitier, soursop or guava P: sharper and spicier than 50% would suggest, and also drier and more watery than the nose. Peanuts and butterscotch again.…

These notes were taken over the course of about a week, two bottles at a time, so not a direct comparison of all of them but close. Villa de Varda Grappa di Gewurztraminer Monovitigno (40%) Unaged. N: half-baked challah bread, pepper, shampoo,  bubble blowing liquid P: oily feel, but too softened by low proof. Sweet…

TDL 12 year 2009 Swell de Spirits Wonders of the World (64.5%) N: minty amaro sweetness with saffron and orange, apricot, mint chocolate, tea, a wisp of smoke (dirty, like a fire built from cow patties) P: apricot jam with hints of mint and clove, toasted marshmallow 86 TDL 16 year 2010 RumClub Edition No.…

Rum Rogues Australia (Beenleigh) single barrel 16 year – Swashbucklers at the Gold Coast (55.3%) N: gasoline, wood glue and wet wood and antique books, lighter notes of pineapple and orange and peach P: broadly rummy—light tropical esters, glue and nail polish, caramel, the smallest amount of mint—and less distinctively Beenleigh. Feels much softer than…

Sgnape dal Fogolar Stravecchia (45%) Distillery in Friuli, pomace from Campania. Aged in oak for 18 months. Bain marie still. N: stemmy, the wooden table at a fish market, peppery bread dough, floral yeast like Q recipe Four Roses, raw walnuts P: sweet, floral, yeasty, peppery, nutmeg 85 Donnafugata Grappa Ben Ryé (42%) Donnafugata is…

Invitti Grappa Arpepe 2016 (43%) Invitti is the distillery, ARPEPE is the winery the pomace comes from. This is made from 100% Chiavennasca (Nebbiolo) from a single vineyard, Rocce Rosse, in Valtellina. N: extremely floral, not in a soapy stemmy way but like candied rose petals. Candied apricot and orange too, or fruit leather, and…

Ten Cane 14 year 2008 Rum Artesanal (58.2%) N: of the three this has the most of that wintry, sloe character I love in Ten Cane. Syrupy pine, cool woody spice P: wintry wood and spice and blue fruit. Cool Mint Listerine. So cool and fresh, but richly woody and spiced too 88 Ten Cane…

There might be more than one bottle this first sample could be from, but I know nothing other than what’s shown on the label and that it was sent to me maybe eight years ago. Foursquare Port Cask Finish (40%) N: the first thing to note here is not Port-y fruit but wet, pulpy wood…

Ten Cane 11 year Compagnie des Indes (55.9%) N: woody caramel, Douglas Fir, fresh cane juice, hint of green apple  P: really appealing mix of soft, sweet cane and cooling evergreen, with fainter fruity notes of banana and apple. Very well balanced and moreish 87 Ten Cane 14 year That Boutique-y Rum Company Batch 1…

DDL (Port Mourant) 11 year batch 2 AW marque That Boutique-y Rum Company (56.4%) N: cream soda, pale wood shavings, pale pineapple, macadamia, mildly lactic P: sweet but not heavy, white chocolate macadamia, cream soda, dried out partially by pencil wood. With a couple drops of water: fresh, crunchy pear or apricot fruit, and banana…