1991 Cadenheads TMAH Trinidad Distillers 25 Year Old Cask Strength Trinidad Rum (700ml)
TRINIDAD
$350. 00
Bottle
$4200.00 Dozen
ABV: 64.3%
Craft-indie bottler, Cadenheads offer another atomic-strength rum packaged as part of their 175th Anniversary Collection (each bottle also has a little commemorative metal hang tag). The rum was sourced from Trinidad Distillers, a large operation established in the 1940s. When Angostura's founders arrived in Trinidad they initially out-sourced rums to make their world famous bitters. However the son of the founder, Don Carlos, always intended to create his own rum. It wasn't until 1947 that the great grandson of the founder, Robert Siegert (with Mr Gomez and Thomas Gatcliffe) built the first distillery in Port of Spain. Boasting seven column stills, TD today produces over 18 million litres annually, mostly for export. The Lone Caner rum blog reports "...most of the molasses they work with originates outside of Trinidad – in Guyana, Panama and the Dominican Republic. In any event, Angostura as a company has little to do with it."
Laid into cask in 1991 this exceptionally old expression arrives at a remarkable natural strength of 64.3% Alc./Vol. (The meaning behind the designation "TMAH" on the label is not stated). Non chill filtered. Very limited stocks.
Other reviews... A rum like Cadenhead’s 21 year old is a curious beast. Dissecting its profile and coming up with tasting notes is not like having the elements line up and present themselves one after another, like some kind of surreal audition or a debutante’s ball... I had been softened by several forty percenters, sampled prior to cracking this one, and was consequently somewhat unprepared for the force with which the TMAH assaulted my beak (it was sharp and deep, and should absolutely be left to stand for a while before nosing). I could barely discern any molasses background at all, in between furiously swirling notes of rye bread, salt biscuits and salt butter. Not much caramel here. But patience, patience – it did get better. After opening up, it smoothened out a good bit and simply became an intense drink rather than a skewering one – and one could gradually tease out thin threads of honey and nougat, and sweeter notes of vanilla, cherries…and a little spicy note of marzipan. That didn’t soften the arrival, of course. It was a little less than medium bodied, this rum – even thin, which I didn’t care for – and it detonated with a hurricane force level of taste, scattering shrapnel of sweet and salt in all directions. Dates and figs came to mind, more crackers, a sharp aged cheddar (but not as creamy). Adding water helped here: almonds, nutmeg and slivers of dried fruit emerged, but slowly, thinly, as if terrified of being bludgeoned to death by the alcohol. “Chewy” would not describe the experience exactly, but it comes close. Appropriately enough for such a full proof glass of high-test, the finish was enormously long, a sarissa of lingering flavours of nutmeg and vanilla and light sharp red fruit (pomegranates?). Cask strength, overproof, full proof or whatever – it was certainly a rum that demanded attention... the encounter as a whole is quite something. And, it must be conceded, occasionally painful. - thelonecaner.com