Richland Single Estate Old Georgia

Came across this while in Atlanta, had never heard of a GA rum so bought a bottle. Surprised by the results as I was expecting something quite rough. It *is* initially a little harsh with quite a slow lingering burn but it mellows out. Very Woody and not too sweet, I'm terrible at describing these things but I quite like it! It's not going to replace my El Dorado or Bundaberg Solera but I prefer it to some of my other bottles.

Rum like tequila is what it is because of what it's distilled from. Unlike vodka, gin, scotch, whiskey all come from grain. Rum whether its made with cane juice or molasses it's still derived from sugar. For me this is what makes rum so special. Even though its all distilled sugar the spectrum of flavors is dramatically broad by way of techniques from the soil to the glass.
Richland is pretty unique in flavor. It's a wood rum so don't even bother if thats not your thing. There is a lot of clarity going on here. On the nose it's fresh cut white oak, leather and terpintine along with cooked sugar, vanilla and almonds. In the mouth there's a shocking sweetness but not the overly sugary kind. The almonds continue on the tongue, the type of almond flavor you get from cracked cherry pits. And oak. A lot of oak. It's as if you dipped an oak popsicle in maple syrup.
It's not cheap but it doesn't taste cheap. On the contrary it's exceedingly rich to the point that I was a bit fatigued towards the end of the second pour.
So what is rum? I would argue this is a truer rum than one thats been loaded with extra sugar like an El Dorado or the likes of. I'll take the influences of wood barrels any day over the influences of additives. And by the way it's not bourbon barrels Richland uses. They use virgin white oak. If you smell raw white oak you'll think bourbon, but its oak and bourbon doesn't have a monopoly on it.

Just got done with the tour. Went with one for mixing with coke. Bought it in cast strength for sipping.

This is a good rum, with a fair amount of bourbon flavor.

Taste to me is a more sugar cane (agricole) than a molasses. Has a fair amount of bourbon; maybe a tad much.

Smells and tastes of bourbon, sugar cane, caramel, oak, and spice.

A nice American rum!

The color is a nice rich caramel color. The nose had a hint of banana and vanilla. Sipping the rum, I get the woody flavor from the aging, then I get the slight grassy notes. Very smooth drink, one I can strongly recommend.

Helles Bernstein im Glas.
In der Nase wird der Riechkolben zu beginn richtig deftig von Holzspiessen gepfählt. Vanilleeis und Karamellbonbons mit Hobelspänen von frisch getoasteten Eichenfässern. Verregneter moosiger Waldboden und eine frisch gemähte Blumenwiese weichen die Hölzer etwas auf.
Am Gaumen weich und elegant zu beginn. Schnell verschwinden die Geschmacksknospen hinter einer Bretterwand und lässt die anderen Aromen abprallen. Hinter dem Holzwall sind feine blumig-grasige Noten auszumachen wie bei einem Rhum Agricole. Geräuchertes, angebranntes Karamell mit einer seelenlosen Vanillecreme und ein paar kandierten Früchtchen schwirren auch noch irgendwo herum.
Im Abgang dörrt einem das Holz den Mund aus. Karamell und Vanille verweilen kurz und lassen ein wenig Salz zurück.
Ein sehr schwieriger Rum, eher für Agricole Geniesser die auch ein rauchendes Lagerfeuer lieben.
- 2 cl Muster -

Light amber in the glass.
In the nose, the olfactory bulb is impaled at the beginning really hearty of wooden skewers. Vanilla ice cream and caramel candy with shavings from freshly toasted oak barrels. Rainy mossy forest floor and a freshly mowed flower meadow soften the woods somewhat.
Soft and elegant on the palate to start. Quickly the taste buds disappear behind a wall of boards, bouncing off the other flavors. Behind the wooden wall, fine floral-grassy notes can be discerned like a Rhum Agricole. Smoked, burnt caramel with a soulless vanilla cream and a few candied fruits buzz around somewhere as well.
On the finish, the wood parches your mouth. Caramel and vanilla linger briefly, leaving a bit of salt behind.
A very difficult rum, more for Agricole connoisseurs who also love a smoking campfire.
- 2 cl sample -

Very good quality rum and made in the US which was quite a surprise! Usually I go for tradition Latin American rums but this was right up there as a solid competitor

Avast! This be a fierce but confusing dry rum! She smells like a traditional rum, sweet with caramel, vanilla, and oak, but there be a hint of funk hidin' below deck. Hang me for a lewd cur! I had no idea Jamaica extended into Georgia! There be plenty of alcohol and burn on this wench, but it takes a dozen or so sips to get to know her. She not be terribly sweet, and most of the caramel, vanilla, and oak that lured you in are hiding behind the alcohol, but she will funk you up. The burn does not last long, and there be no specific finish, but she be worth the ride. She be a solid rum that blurs the line between rum and bourbon/whiskey. Or maybe that be what she wants me to think... arrgh!

I had a high expectation due to nice smell which is full of wood, vanilla, caramel and tobaccoo. But taste is a little bit disapointing. Has similiar flavours profile like smell but weaker, not that complex with harsh finish.

I was rather disappointed in the harshness of this rum, in fact I almost would believe it to be a different spirit altogether. I blind taste tested this one with a few of my friends and got 2 bourbons, 1 scotch and 1 rum. It seems to lack the subtle tastes of the sugar cane and molasses. It is more like a "rhum agricole". It doesn't mix well (meaning you will give up it's essence to do so), but that is an attribute of finer liquors. It is best straight up or on ice. It is definitely a quality liquor, but does not agree with my palette.