Now I want spirits to enforce, art to enchant
I haven’t been this excited about a private barrel pick since Respírítu, and before that who knows, I’ve lost count. I couldn’t have chosen a better one to go out on. I got early access to the first wave of Saint Lucia Distillers single casks coming into the US market under the Chairman’s Reserve label and took the opportunity to try as many samples as I could. I’ve always been a fan of rum, particularly agricole r(h)um – that which is distilled from a fermentation made from sugar cane juice rather than molasses. A Subtle Spirits rum cask has been a long time coming, but the price points were challenging. Most of my favorites were too expensive to entice new rum drinkers to take the plunge.
I’ve tried several single casks from Saint Lucia Distillers over the years, most of them bottled under the Berry Brothers & Rudd label. To be honest I was not generally a fan. A lot of them had aromas of chlorine and vinyl (pools). But the majority of rums coming from SLD are blended from a combination of pot-distilled and column-distilled rums from both molasses and a small number of sugarcane ferments. They will usually age the different distillates separately, and then blend them before further aging, producing an array of flavor profiles. Their three pot stills are small, a 1,500 Liter and modest 6,000 Liter named John Dore 1 & John Dore 2. There is also a 2,000 Liter Vendome pot still, and a Coffey columnar still. Think about how Four Roses uses two different mash bills and five yeast strains to create ten different recipe combinations with their unique characteristics. The variety of distillates coming out of this distillery is vast.
Up until recently, there were only a handful of broker’s bottling single casks from SLD, but someone has been listening to the feedback for more because they launched the Chairman’s Reserve single cask program this year in the U.S. & U.K. From what I ascertained, there were roughly 20 or so casks released this round. Most of them were either columnar or VD pot stills, others a combo of both, but nearly all were molasses distillates. I scored 15 cask samples from a variety of distillate combinations, along with a few batch blends thrown in the mix. After going through all of the samples, double-blind, on two separate occasions, I selected the same cask. It wasn’t even close, it was my favorite just from smelling it. Something was special about this one.
It was revealed to be the most expensive, but one of the youngest casks in the lineup. Made from 100% sugarcane, a component more expensive than molasses, which is a fractional by-product of cane juice (hence increasing the price). Tropically aged rum casks are often topped off as they age to make up for and combat excessive evaporation that will happen in the intense and persistently warm climate, which is likely why the cask yielded 199 bottles instead of something like 120. To my knowledge, there were only three total sugarcane distillate casks brought to the U.S. One from a Vendome pot still. A second from their JD1 pot still, split up across the country. The third cask was this Subtle Spirits selection, made purely of sugar cane juice distilled on their smallest pot still JD1. I don’t say this lightly, but this cask is a true unicorn.
This cask mic-dropped itself into the room. I needed a name and some artwork to complete my final act on the private barrel stage. The word ‘Tempest’ is derived from the Latin word tempesta; tempus meaning time or season, tempeste meaning a violet storm, tempestuous meaning turbulent storm. The Tempest is also the name of a play by William Shakespeare. It centers around an antihero named Prospero, the former Duke of Milan who uses the power of magic to enact a fit of revenge on his usurping brother Antonio. With the help of a spirit fairy, Prospero conjures up a storm to destroy the ship carrying his brother the current Duke of Milan, and Alonso the King of Naples. It is often regarded as Shakespeare’s last play.
When I started brainstorming the artwork for the label, I remembered the initial sketches Monty Guy had given me when I was conceiving the Spicy Bastard. The first draft was a loosely sketched portrait of a tattered seaman. While this guy looked like a spicy bastard for sure, he didn’t turn out to be the final piece that became the Spicy Bastard. And while the character in this piece doesn’t look anything like a Duke from Milan or any of the characters from the Shakespear finale, he does look like a guy who’s drunk more than a drink of rum in his days. It came full circle by having Monty finish the sketch that started it all.
Alright, so what does it taste like? Well, nothing like any other rum from St. Lucia I’ve ever tasted. If I had to compare it to other rums, I’d say it’s what Foursquare would taste like if it was made from pure sugarcane and distilled on a small pot still. Foursquare has a lot of bourbon barrel influence to it and so does this. Similar but not quite like the Martinique agricole rhums which are aged primarily in French oak. There is a lot of funky fruit in this one too, similar to some tropically aged Jamaican rums, but not the high-ester ones where they forgot to cut the heart run on the still. I am also convinced you could fool some people into believing this was an old dusty Turkey bottling because it has a ton of brown, almost maple sugar and dark fruit. As I sit here drinking it, comparing it to another Bay Area retailer’s recent selection, they couldn’t be more different. What the hell is going on here?
The color is so beautifully dark for such a young age, likely from the finishing in fresh ex-bourbon casks. The initial aromas I get from smelling this rum remind me of the mixed dried tropical fruits sold on the side of the road in Hawaii or the Caribbean. Dried papaya, guava, and mango are my first impressions, then I get some sort of tropical melon-like flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on, slight wafts of coconut, lots of cane syrup, and a slight ester-y funk that gently reminds me of very ripened fruit. The palate is deceivingly smooth for 62.7% abv. It gives you a warming and comforting hug, similar to Robitussin, that could clear any ailment a sailor should encounter on the tempestuously cold seas. Lots of brown sugar, cooked cane juice, and passion fruit syrup flavors strike on the palate, but this rum does not come off as sweet. Instead, it arrives balanced with hints of nutmeg, tropical flowers, and Tahitian vanilla bean to complement its fruity flavors. It’s great on its own, but I think it would make a great hot toddy complemented by a cinnamon stick and lime wheel. I’d venture to say it would pair better with a cigar than most whiskies… but I don’t mean those as fighting words. Whether you are a long-time rum aficionado or a greenhorn without your sea legs, there is something in this rum for you. It is especially approachable to a bourbon drinker in the same way that some Foursquares rums or L’Encantada brandies are. Its appealing sensibility calls to you like a siren to Odysseus, luring you ashore for just one more sip.
This rum sets the stage for Subtle Spirits’ next act. 2022 will be the true debut year for Subtle Spirits as a bottling company now that we are licensed to distribute in the state of California. We’ve got a roster of artists working on pieces for our very first blends and some very special single casks.
I’m supremely grateful for the people I have worked with through the years at all of the brands. I am also grateful to the retail partners who helped me continue to bring barrels to customers while I started my own brand. Most importantly, I want to thank all the people who have supported me by buying bottles over the years. And with that, I’ll leave you with the final lines from the epilogue of The Tempest by William Shakespeare.
“With the help of your good hands:
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be reliev’d by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon’d be,
Let your indulgence set me free.”
Title: The Tempest
Art by: Monty Guy
Spirit: Rum, 9yr | 100% Sugarcane | Barrel #797082011 | 62.7% abv
Producer/Bottler: Saint Lucia Distillers, Chairman’s Reserve
Musical Accompaniment: Grand Funk Railroad “I’m Your Captain”, 1970.