Kpiz Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 9 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said: Interesting but having a bottle of the Barrel Rum #1 I will likely pass on this one. Probably wise. I'll set aside a couple ounces of it for you so you can do a SBS with the Barrell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 The Barrell was definitely different from the Hampden GD from last year. More tropical fruit in the finish of the GD, with the finish also lingering much longer. But this is a different cask. Was last year's Hampden 10yr or 9? I know it was 100 proof so this new one has got a 24 proof advantage over the last one in terms of value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 The Barrell was definitely different from the Hampden GD from last year. More tropical fruit in the finish of the GD, with the finish also lingering much longer. But this is a different cask. Was last year's Hampden 10yr or 9? I know it was 100 proof so this new one has got a 24 proof advantage over the last one in terms of value.The GD K&L brought in last year was a 24yo. Is that the one you’re referring to? They also brought in a 9yo Monymusk (which was not very good) and a 10yo Worthy Park (which was solid) at the same time. I thought the 24yo Hampden was pretty tasty, though as you said, it was cut to 100 proof while this new cask is uncut. That 24yo was the better value proposition on paper but they were also losing money on it at $100/bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshleffar Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I'm certainly tempted, Im low on Jamaican right now in the stores with only last years GD Monymusk (it's own thing entirely) barrrell #2 and Revelation right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 6 minutes ago, Kpiz said: The GD K&L brought in last year was a 24yo. Is that the one you’re referring to? They also brought in a 9yo Monymusk (which was not very good) and a 10yo Worthy Park (which was solid) at the same time. I thought the 24yo Hampden was pretty tasty, though as you said, it was cut to 100 proof while this new cask is uncut. That 24yo was the better value proposition on paper but they were also losing money on it at $100/bottle. Absolutely correct. I confused the 10yr Worthy Park with Hampden. I really liked the Worthy Park. And of course the 24yr was a stunner. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshleffar Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 Grabbed a Rhum JM VSOP the other day, anyone take the plunge on the GD Hampden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 12 hours ago, jshleffar said: Grabbed a Rhum JM VSOP the other day, anyone take the plunge on the GD Hampden? I ordered a bottle of the Hampden and will hopefully pick it up this weekend. I'll post my first impressions once I do. It's hard for me to not buy at least one bottle from each these casks. Not only is a 9yo full-proof Hampden likely to be pretty good at the very least (especially for $70), but also, I know that if these casks don't sell well that it will likely be a long time before K&L (which is really the only source for independent casks of rum in the Bay Area as far as I know) will bring in any other rum casks. This is the third round of casks they've done over the last several years and the prior two required them slashing prices to sell through the whole barrel (with the exception of the 24yo Hampden, which was already ridiculously cheap at the original asking price). It looks like the Bellevue and the Enmore are selling alright for now so that's good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I also just ordered the new Real McCoy Limited Edition 10yo virgin oak: https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1340531 The label says it has a high ratio of pot-to-column distillate, and that a portion was aged for 12 years in ex-bourbon barrels while another portion was aged 10 years in virgin oak. The new-oak aging is intriguing to me so I couldn't help myself. Unfortunately there's no indication of what percent is pot distilled, what percent is used oak vs new oak, or whether the new ("virgin") oak is toasted or charred (and to what degree). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I picked this up yesterday. I saw it on the shelf of a store that I visited for the first time a few weeks ago. After reviewing some of the old posts in this thread, I realized that this is what I believe to be the old version of what is now the Clement XO, so I went back and bought a bottle. This is bottled at 88 proof, and I believe the new XO is a lower proof bottling. The price was $60, which I thought was a bit high, but I wanted to give this a try. They have another bottle, so those of you that have bought this or the XO, let me know if this is a reasonable price to expect to pay. If so, I may go back and pick up the other bottle after I get a chance to try this. They also have quite a few bottles of the 10 year at $90.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marekv8 Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 2 hours ago, lcpfratn said: They also have quite a few bottles of the 10 year at $90 From memory, I paid $65.00 for the 10yo at some point last year-- they had the 6yo as well, but I don't remember the price. As a point of reference-- the 4yo PS Clément at Lincoln Road Package was around $53.00 before tax. I haven't purchased any of the new XO-- as dusty XO “Teardrops” can still be found in the wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshleffar Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 5 hours ago, Kpiz said: I ordered a bottle of the Hampden and will hopefully pick it up this weekend. I'll post my first impressions once I do. It's hard for me to not buy at least one bottle from each these casks. Not only is a 9yo full-proof Hampden likely to be pretty good at the very least (especially for $70), but also, I know that if these casks don't sell well that it will likely be a long time before K&L (which is really the only source for independent casks of rum in the Bay Area as far as I know) will bring in any other rum casks. This is the third round of casks they've done over the last several years and the prior two required them slashing prices to sell through the whole barrel (with the exception of the 24yo Hampden, which was already ridiculously cheap at the original asking price). It looks like the Bellevue and the Enmore are selling alright for now so that's good. The point was well received, I just bought one and one of the re-stocked smugglers cove edition real mccoys. I do very much appreciate the rum options theyre bringing in and will support it (but not at the 200 dollar a bottle bottlings) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 From memory, I paid $65.00 for the 10yo at some point last year-- they had the 6yo as well, but I don't remember the price. As a point of reference-- the 4yo PS Clément at Lincoln Road Package was around $53.00 before tax. I haven't purchased any of the new XO-- as dusty XO “Teardrops” can still be found in the wild.Appreciate the info. Sounds like the price on the 6 year isn’t too bad, but the 10 year may be a bit overpriced. Were the “Teardrop” XO bottles older than 6 years?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marekv8 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 55 minutes ago, lcpfratn said: Were the “Teardrop” XO bottles older than 6 years? The teardrop XO was a blend comprised of aged Clément stock-- from 1970, 1972 and 1952. I think they killed it off when they ran dry of the proper components. It's bottled at their traditional 44%. I tracked down three bottles last year-- gifting one to my local LS owner as a gesture of good will (and good juice). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marekv8 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Tracked down a bottle of the Stolen Smoked Rum and other than minor color and flavor intensity differences-- it is the same liquid as the Coffee & Cigarettes expression. This makes we want to pull out the other spiced rums and inland rum-based liqueurs/punches I have on hand to compare. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 17 hours ago, jshleffar said: The point was well received, I just bought one and one of the re-stocked smugglers cove edition real mccoys. I do very much appreciate the rum options theyre bringing in and will support it (but not at the 200 dollar a bottle bottlings) Sorry if I came off as preachy, that wasn't my intention. I was just explaining why I give the K&L exclusive rums a shot. Glad you're diving in head first like me though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshleffar Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Kpiz said: Sorry if I came off as preachy, that wasn't my intention. I was just explaining why I give the K&L exclusive rums a shot. Glad you're diving in head first like me though! I didn't take it as preachy at all, I just fully agreed with your point. You as well as I know how hard it is to get interesting releases, rum or otherwise in our area, if a few extra dollars over what I'd like to spend on something untried is what it takes to keep it up, so be it. Did you ever grab a tale of two islands by the way? KL has it again. I'll be having pour no 2 out of mine tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBadley Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 36 minutes ago, jshleffar said: I didn't take it as preachy at all, I just fully agreed with your point. You as well as I know how hard it is to get interesting releases, rum or otherwise in our area, if a few extra dollars over what I'd like to spend on something untried is what it takes to keep it up, so be it. Did you ever grab a tale of two islands by the way? KL has it again. I'll be having pour no 2 out of mine tonight. How are you liking that tale of two islands? Have you tasted Barrell batch no 1? Just curious what others think on these.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshleffar Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 3 minutes ago, RWBadley said: How are you liking that tale of two islands? Have you tasted Barrell batch no 1? Just curious what others think on these.. Here's what I wrote with my first pour of it. popped the cork on this tonight. It is shocking and fascinating. It is incredibly flavorful and shockingly smooth for the proof and I had no issue sipping neat. I tried it neat, with a few drops and with a cube. The nose is incredible in the weirdest way. The funk is still swirling around my apartment with a heavy rotten fruit component in a great way. The smoke is not incredibly similar to a peated scotch nor very powerful. It smells like someone someone down the block has a smoker going. The palate reflects the nose. it is very sweet, but not sugar sweet, very much overripe fruit; maybe baked apples with some burned butter. Plenty of funk comes through and the smoke is less present than it is with water added. The smoke brings some dryness mid palate, its not a peat smoke flavor, more hardwood charcoal. These notes are disjointed and unsure but this is so interesting and I'm still not quite sure what I tasted. To me it's worth chasing one down for the experience alone, but, I like this. Not even close to a daily drinker but this will be one that can scratch an itch no toher liquor I have will be able to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 45 minutes ago, jshleffar said: I didn't take it as preachy at all, I just fully agreed with your point. You as well as I know how hard it is to get interesting releases, rum or otherwise in our area, if a few extra dollars over what I'd like to spend on something untried is what it takes to keep it up, so be it. Did you ever grab a tale of two islands by the way? KL has it again. I'll be having pour no 2 out of mine tonight. I never did take the plunge on the tale of two islands - blew my budget on all the GDs (including the Enmore) instead, not to mention a bunch of goodies I bought in London. Your notes on it are very intriguing though and I may very well cave and buy one before all of K&L's stock is gone. I'm also interested to hear if your impressions change at all as you work your way through the bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 17 hours ago, Marekv8 said: The teardrop XO was a blend comprised of aged Clément stock-- from 1970, 1972 and 1952. I think they killed it off when they ran dry of the proper components. It's bottled at their traditional 44%. I tracked down three bottles last year-- gifting one to my local LS owner as a gesture of good will (and good juice). The original teardrop Clement XO pictured above was always something of a mystery. Indeed these three "vintage" rhums it was reportedly made from are something of a mystery.I also had no idea if over time there was less of the vintage rhums and more of recent production in this blend of rhums. XO only indicates that the rum is at least 6 years old but says nothing about how much older, if any, they are. I think there was probably rhum that was more than 6yo in it at least at one time. Maybe well over 6 years but I don't know for sure. It certainly doesn't have rum with 50+ years of age in barrels! Which means some or all of these vintage rhums have been sitting around in something (glass?, large wooden "tuns" of neutral wood?, stainless steel tanks? large palstic bulk totes/containers?, old plastic milk jugs? Who knows! OK, maybe not that last one...) for many years. The "new" XO as noted is lower proof and probably not much more than 6 years old. A very different rum to me than the original XO. I also is not clear to me that the new XO is a direct replacement for the 6yo "Grande Reserve". Both are still noted on the Clement website although the description is essentially the same. Maybe they are the same except for proof and there is just a lot of the 6yo Grande Reserve left over but I still see both on the shelf. Easy for me to decide which to buy! In addition to a couple of the original XO I also have a bottle of the 1976 Clement and it was bottled at 20 years of age, or so the label claims. These vintage rhums have had a lot of their own speculation in the past. But even at 20 years of age it means when I bought it in 2016 that it had likely been stored in something for another 20 years. I don't really know for sure what that "something" was. Was it in the bottle for 20 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 32 minutes ago, Kpiz said: I never did take the plunge on the tale of two islands - blew my budget on all the GDs (including the Enmore) instead, not to mention a bunch of goodies I bought in London. Your notes on it are very intriguing though and I may very well cave and buy one before all of K&L's stock is gone. I'm also interested to hear if your impressions change at all as you work your way through the bottle. I tried the 2 Barrell rums side by side recently but I can remember if I posted anything about. Or my impressions of them for that matter! It has been a busy couple of weeks... I don't remember the two islands being all that and a bag of chips but I guess I need to try them again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kpiz Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 1 hour ago, tanstaafl2 said: I tried the 2 Barrell rums side by side recently but I can remember if I posted anything about. Or my impressions of them for that matter! It has been a busy couple of weeks... I don't remember the two islands being all that and a bag of chips but I guess I need to try them again! At best it sounds like all that and a side of overripe fruit I vaguely recall you posting some notes on the SBS as well but can't seem to locate it on SB. And you know what they say...if you don't post it on SB, it didn't happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marekv8 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Not quite the Inverted Jenny of hooch, but this Barrell “Double Aught” was an odd find in a grocery store amongst the Malibu and flavored Bacardi.… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 9 minutes ago, Marekv8 said: Not quite the Inverted Jenny of hooch, but this Barrell “Double Aught” was an odd find in a grocery store amongst the Malibu and flavored Bacardi.… Apparently someone was hitting the rum a little hard when they wrote that one! Might send the pic to Barrell and see if they have any comment on it. Looks to be the same proof as batch 01 so I presume it is the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DROB Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I also just ordered the new Real McCoy Limited Edition 10yo virgin oak: https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1340531 The label says it has a high ratio of pot-to-column distillate, and that a portion was aged for 12 years in ex-bourbon barrels while another portion was aged 10 years in virgin oak. The new-oak aging is intriguing to me so I couldn't help myself. Unfortunately there's no indication of what percent is pot distilled, what percent is used oak vs new oak, or whether the new ("virgin") oak is toasted or charred (and to what degree).I wish they shipped to Florida, I would definitely be on board with this and the Smugglers Cove special edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now