Chairman's 2011 Reserve Master's Selection Evanius Harris 9-Year

Saint Lucian native, Evanius Harris is the Master Blender at St. Lucia Distillers and creator of 1931, has been crafting blends for over thirty years. And here we have his masterpiece from the Vendome pot still. I have hight expectations after the 13th master select.

The nose starts not very intensive, I expected the scent to be a lot dirtier. I have the impression of Fiji rum first, with pickled vegetables. But after 15min the nose became dirtier with leather, gum, grains, dry fruits and some burned sugar. Quite tasty but not as intensive as the 13y old. In the background I get some hints of vanilla and wood.

The taste starts spicy with dry fruits, grains, leather, gum, caramel and a medical note. A combination of light sweetness and dirty notes, like in a Caroni. That's already very tasty and I'm very satisfied. There is also a light Fiji note, the pickled vegatables. The alcohol is tingeling on my palet, I get also wood with tannins at the end of initial taste. This is already a very good start.
The middle taste is also spicy, with leather, burned sugar, wood and tannins.
Then there are some grasy notes with wood. The taste turns salty. At the end wet barrel and earth are rising on my palet. That's a nice development.
After that the finish starts with spice, again leather and a salty taste with tannins. The taste turn again a little bit sweeter with burned sugar and wood. In the aftertaste I get leather, slightly caramel, mint, black currant and after some minutes some bacon. This is a nice Caroni aftertaste.

This rum is like a mix of TDL (Trinidad) and Caroni with a hint of Fiji rum.
Very tasty, spicy and strong rum. Because of the weak nose I must rate this one with 87 points.

Nose: salty and pickled vegetables*, some grains*, wild leather**, gum*, dry fruits*, caramel*, vanilla and oak*, medical note*.
Taste: dry fruits*, leather**, grains**, gum*, caramel*, pickled vegetables with sour note, medical note, spice, wood, tannins**, grains
Middle: leather**, spice, burned sugar, medical note*, wood**, tannins** with vanilla*, barrel and earth**
Finish: spice, leather, salt with tannins, some burned sugar, wood
Aftertaste: leather, slightly caramel, mint, black currant, some bacon

Sweetness: 1/5
Fruits: 2/5
Spice: 3.5/5
Mildness: 1.5/5
Complexity: 4/5
Value (58€): 5/5 (for experienced connaisseurs only). In you are an amateur -> 3.5/5
Experience level: expert