What is it? Rum (molasses based, multi-distillery, multi-column) bottled under the Casa Santana name by the independent bottles That Boutique’y Rum Company. So tells us nothing. Casa Santana aren’t a distillery, they are a company so they source their rums as New Make from various places and cask it for maturation themselves, so even though this is “Colombian” rum it’s really not; it’s rum that has been sourced from various distilleries around the Central American area (the likes of Panama, Venezuela and maybe even some stuff from actual Colombia) and matured in Colombia. The rum that have gone into this “blend” is all multi-column stuff, so nothing too exciting, and then aged for at least 12 years in Columbia (in what cask type, we don’t know) – I can’t say I’m too impressed with the story behind this, it’s not Colombian rum at all it’s a Central American Blend that any odd company could put out if they had some spare warehouse space. In case you’re interested, Casa Santana have various brands they produced, such as La Hechicera and Juan Santos to name a few.

This is from Casa Santana Batch 1 and my bottle it bottle 1721 of 3766.

Not coloured, not chill-filtered and bottled at 58.4% abv.

Sugar? No.

Nose: Spicy. Clove, ginger, black peppercorns, red chillies and some tannic oak. Toffee chews, a little honey and a touch of leather after the spice dies down. A faint hint of some distant cigar smoke and heavy roasted coffee bean. There is a little chlorine and soapy smell near the end and another unusual smell I can’t pin down that I found in Dictador (another Colombian rum), and I didn’t like the smell in that either.

Palate: Medium mouth feel. Hot entry and woody. Some strong breakfast tea, praline, salted butter fudge, caramel infused with chilli, horseradish and coffee bean again. There is some tar, engine oil and a little sea salt mid way, which is nice, and a rubber glove note at the end that is almost latex like, which isn’t so nice. The odd banana shows up here and there as well as a small slice of pineapple, but there really isn’t much fruit.

Finish: Quite long actually. Hot. Generally softer here though, the spices seem to have gone so you get gingerbread, toffee and pecan pie, fudge, caramelised banana and an almost mince pie note – those posh ones though with lots of nuts in them, with allspice, nutmeg, roasted nuts and pastry.

Thoughts? On the whole it’s enjoyable, but there is something in this blend that I don’t get on with. I suspect it’s the same stuff that is in Dictador; an almost fake, concocted note or slightly chemical like. Saying that there is a fair bit going on, but it is oak heavy and very hot – it’s not the most complex rum out there though.

Right, rant time. I paid £30 for a 50cl bottle (that’s all these Boutique’y Rum Company bottles come in). I hate these shitty little bottles, just put it in a proper 70cl bottle and have done with it. We all know what’s going on here, it looks cheaper and you don’t think you’re getting that much less rum but you bloody well are! A 70cl bottle has 40% more rum in it than a 50cl bottle! Factor that into the price you’re paying and these TBRC bottles aren’t very price competitive. Ok, I know some people like smaller bottles because it means they can try a rum without paying too much more, but when you work out how much the same thing would cost you for a full grown-up bottle it’s really not very good value for money.

Speaking of value, this was £30…..if I take the abv down to 40% and factor it up to a proper bottle size of 70cl that makes it £29, so it’s cheaper than the likes of La Hechicera from the same company. Given that, it’s not going to break the bank, so I think that’s OK. I wouldn’t really want to pay much more though.

What is it? Molasses based, multi-column distilled rum from Compania Locorera de Nicaragua (CLN), in Nicaragua, and bottled under the Flor De Cana (Cane Flower) rum brand. I’ll not go into the background any more on this as I’ve already reviewed the Flor De Cana 12, but this is essentially a No Age Statement rum. Without covering old ground, this rum is not 18 years old, the producers say that it has an average age of 18 years – it says so on the website but not on the bottle, which gives them the ability to change their mind as and when they want. If you’re going to put a number on a bottle, that looks like an age statement, then put a bloody age statement on the bottle. If you’re not going to give the rum an official age statement then don’t put an a number on the bottle that looks like one.

Chill filtered, coloured and bottled at 40% abv.

Sugar? No

Nose: Ah, not what I was expecting; it’s a bit dirty at first (that’s good by the way), with dry soil, damp leaves, raw walnuts and even some tar and marine fuel of all things. After that it gets more of what I thought it’d be; roasted pecans in toffee sauce, burnt sugar, some toast with honey on, Seville oranges or marmalade, a touch of toffee apple and a lift right at the end of copper pans or a cutlery draw – a sort of tangy metallic note.

Palate: Medium mouth. Oak at first and some of the savoury with olive oil, glue and some mushrooms – this doesn’t last long before we go sweeter with honey, oranges, vanilla, milk chocolate, “Tracker” bars that I found in the 12 too and some butterscotch. There’s some cinnamon butter, a touch of clove and a generic floral notes I can’t quite pin down as it finishes.

Finish: Medium. Sweeter here with caramel, candied orange, lime and lemon peels, vanilla custard and tails off with oak spices of clove, cinnamon and a little hint of ginger heat – maybe chocolate covered stem gingers.

Thoughts? A decent and solid rum, infinitely better than the “12” and I’d certainly put it at “above average”. You can see this is related to the 12, but it’s the better looking, more successful and more popular older sibling (we all know those people!). The savoury side was unexpected, and whilst it is a bit off balance it does give much more complexity to the rum and I think was what I was missing from the 12 – it also carries a lot more amplification of flavour, everything is more concentrated and more intense.

Now, I paid £41 (!!!) for this online, which at the time was only £6 more than the 12 and it’s twice the rum, so make your call on that. Total no brainer when the price is right. At £40-£45ish it’s one I’d buy again, but I’m not too sure that I would at £60 though, it’s not that good.

What is it? Molasses based, multi-column distilled rum from Compania Locorera de Nicaragua (CLN), in Nicaragua, and bottled under the Flor De Cana (Cane Flower) rum brand. Molasses comes from local sugar and is produced at the Ingenio San Antonio sugar mill which is part of the same company as CLN and undergoes a 36 hour fermentation. The is the bottling of the “12”, this does not mean 12 years old; in recent years the packaging has changed and where it used to say “12 anos” on the bottle it now just states “12 slow aged”. They also produce a “7”, “18” and “25” – none of which are the age of the number on the bottle. I really don’t like this misleading labelling that is often used in rum, which allows the consumer to believe they are buying a product of a certain age but in fact that are not, they may was well call their line-up “Flor De Cana 1, 2, 3 and 4” for all the difference it makes.

Chill filtered, coloured and bottled at 40% abv.

Sugar? No.

Nose: Quite oaky at first, a good sign – maybe it has actually seen some aging after all! Pecans, walnuts and syrup; think Tracker Bars (nutty snack bar things in the UK). Vanilla, some cinnamon, light brown sugar and Werthers Original sweets. There isn’t much fruit on display here, a little red apple perhaps, that’s been caramelised as if to make a Tart Tatin and a little dried papaya, but other than that it’s really cask smells. With some time I can pick up the faintest floral note, almost of Peonies.

Palate: Medium mouth feel, quite coating actually. We’re in the same place as the nose really, it’s a bit more buttery, cinnamon certainly, vanilla and Allspice. Hints of warm oak, caramels, burnt sugar and pecans again. No floral notes here but a toffee apple sweetness, which again is the only real fruit. Tanic as it moves to the finish.

Finish: Short. Tanic, starting to bitter. Burnt toast with butter and honey on top, some toffee and that’s about it. Hmmm, not the best finish really.

Thoughts? Not bad, but not good either. It’s a very run-of-the-mill rum and all a little pointless. I’m not really sure who this rum is aimed at; your casual drinker will find it too dry and bitter whereas your seasoned rum drinker is unlikely to find it complex or interesting enough and all a bit dull. Maybe it’s aimed at whisky drinkers, who knows. I’ve started going to this bottle when my palate is having an off day, it still tastes ok but I don’t feel guilty about wasting a decent rum when I can’t taste too well.

So, £35……now that seems ok but there are a hell of a lot of better rums out there for that price…. not one I’ll be buying again.