Is your favourite rum expensive?


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KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Posted 19 Oct '21

At least several times we discussed here the price/quality ratios. In my case my favourite rums are also the ones I paid the most for. Is it the same in your case? What's the most expensive rum you've drunk and have you liked it? Are your favourite rums expensive, compared to what you've tried? Have you had a disappointing rum which was expensive?

vomi1011 avatar image
vomi1011 🇩🇪 | 403 ratings Replied 21 Oct '21

@PaulWe have different strategies for dealing with spending on rum. I don't use price limits and I take the refinancing approach. I share rum bottles and costs with others and I save good rums for later.

In fact, I bought all the samples last year when the prices weren't that crazy.An absolute price limit would limit the quality of rum that I can buy. Because if necessary, I also buy very expensive bottles of which I know that they can increase tenfold. And then it's no problem to drink one. The price limits are shifting and are always going up, therefore I don't limit myself.

Because I often buy three bottles of good rum, I will refinance all of my expenses in the future.Of course I bought also three bottles of Zacapa 30. One was for drinking/sharing/tasting two years ago, one is for drinking some years later and one is for selling or barter. In my review I mentioned the future prices two years ago when I tasted it. And we are almost there, this bottle costs 400 Euro now. I think two more years and we are at a price of 500 to 600 Euros for that one.

I only have one bottle of Last Consignment. That's a piece of history for me. Of course I only drank a sample as well for the review. I was afraid that it would taste overaged. I don't open such bottles lightly. I can no longer find Kirsch Caroni and SVW1996 at a reasonable price. I wouldn't open such a bottle because I know cheaper alternatives of less complexity.

TO
Toni 🇩🇪 | 36 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

I do not drink that much for several reasons. But when I drink for enjoyment (and not for just getting drunk)all my choices are quite pricey. I'm not rich by any means but I'm wise enough to know that  money means nothing to me(at the end of the day and at the end of my life). Good company, quality time this is priceles

s. However I have limits to. The rums I drink must be affordable to me. And the pricing must be reasonable. I won't buy some snobbish priced bottles even if I could.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

Thanks a lot for the replies! I'm asking these questions because I have moments of wondering if paying much actually makes me biased and as a result, enjoy a given rum more. 

RumGuy1 avatar image
RumGuy1 🇺🇸 | 54 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

Yes. I’ve never had a bottle of rum under $100 that I liked more than something I’ve bought or tried above this price point. I always looking for more economical options because I drink a lot of rum and I don’t collect it. Also, I don’t believe I have one favorite. I have several.

Stefan Persson avatar image
Stefan Persson (PREMIUM) 🇸🇪 | 507 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

Kudzey,

 I don't think they have any 2002's left. I think it's the 2005, but that they have forgot to change the picture.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

Another wow, for example you can buy Diplomatico single vintage 2002 for half of the recent auction prices.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

Wow, I had no clue that this way of getting rums had existed! No idea if I'll ever make get rum at cruiser duty free but who knows.

Stefan Persson avatar image
Stefan Persson (PREMIUM) 🇸🇪 | 507 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

Kudzey,

No, I've never seen at any airport. I've bought mine on cruise ships on the Baltic Sea. If I remember right I've bought two on Viking Line and three on a Birka Cruises. Unfortunately the latter one is gone, cause they didn't manage to overcome the pandemic which is very sad cause they had special Rum cruises once a year with all the big brands represented selling everything tax free.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

Stefan, are you trying to say you got Appleton Joy at airport duty free?

Stefan Persson avatar image
Stefan Persson (PREMIUM) 🇸🇪 | 507 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

I have never paid more than 200€ for a bottle, I think it actually was 190€ for a Havana Club Union. But I have one that my wife bought me as a Christmas gift, a Montebello Cuvée Prestige 25yo, which she paid around 250€ for.

If I want something expensive I try to find it tax free, as for my bottles of Appleton Joy which I paid around 150€ for. The Appleton Joy is very hard to find today, saw that a bottle was sold yesterday at Catawiki for over 600€.

So the Joy is probably the most expensive rum I've tasted in todays price.

As a whole I think that the price reflects the content quite well, but then I mean the price when released. I don't think I've rated any bottle bought for more than 100€ lower than an 8, but I make quite deep research before buying.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

Paul, note that a 3cl sample is worth some 5% of the entire bottle, therefore a sample of 1000 EUR bottle costs 40 EUR. I don't feel it fits the "all the excess cash" category.

Paul B avatar image
Paul B 🇺🇸 | 472 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

vomi1011:

In previous postings, I thought that you had stated that you were not rich. However, at the prices that you just stated, you are obviously rich or choose to spend all of your excess cash on rums. This is truly sad!!!! Learn to have a limit per bottle like I do, which is now $150 US and this will never increase. I can thank Diplomatico and Caroni for inspiring this limit.

KU
kudzey 🇵🇱 | 38 ratings Author Replied 20 Oct '21

CA
Captain Lee 🇺🇸 | 25 ratings Replied 20 Oct '21

Not sure that I can pick out a favorite, but I like higher proof rums, and I like single cask releases, so that tends to push prices higher.  My favorite aged rums tend to run between $100-$150.  I also like to sip on unaged rums from time to time - these are a comparative bargain around $50.  I purposefully don't pursue rum auctions or Caroni.    My most expensive disappointment was a Barrell rum release that I had at a restaurant - I don't remember precisely which one it was, and by no means was it bad, it just didn't measure up to the price for me.

vomi1011 avatar image
vomi1011 🇩🇪 | 403 ratings Replied 19 Oct '21

The most beautiful rum was the Velier SVW 1996. It's a very flowery and aromatic Demerara rum but also with some heavy aromas. I love this style, there is also an El Dorado Diamond 1998 SVW, it's the same style but not that complex.I think the SVW 1996 costs around 1500-1800 euros now. I only had a 3cl sample but it blew me away. Best rum I have drunk.

The second best I prefer was the Caroni 1996 bottled for Kirsch Whisky. Also aromatic and also dirty like a Caroni, but very subtle dirty. I had also a 3cl sample, I think it costs now around 2000-2500 Euro.

The best sweetened rum I have drank was the Zacapa 30. I paid 240 Euro I think, but it's around 400 Euro now. It was very good and I think the price was appropriate.

I like also Navy Rums and I have drank the Last Consignment Original Navy Tot. It was like an overaged REV, good but not good enough for around 700 Euro. Would not buy it again, but I would buy a cheaper Skeldon or a REV instead. It's still not a bad rum, but I would prefer another Navy rum like Black Tot 50 for only 120 Euro.

All of these rums weren't very expensive when they were released. That's why you can currently find good rums that may be worth 1000 euros in the future. Simply because they taste exceptionally good. I think the Shibboleth could reach 500 Euro in 5 to 10 years. Or the Sassafras maybe 1000 Euro.

The thing is, if you understand rum, you can find very good bottles, drink them and keep some of them for the future. And in 10 years you can drink 1k or 2k bottles. 

Paul B avatar image
Paul B 🇺🇸 | 472 ratings Replied 19 Oct '21

kudzey:

So many questions!  My most expensive price group is from $80 US to $231 US plux tax. Out of 22 of these, only 12 wound up with my final rating of 8 or better. At these prices, most had damn well better wind up with a rating of 8 or more. Three of them wound up with a 5 or 6 rating and all three were from Venezuela.

The most that I ever spent for a rum was $231 US plus tax. It inspired me to put my new maximum price to buy at $150. My top over all rum cost me $138 plus tax. My first bottle is gone and I refuse to open my second bottle until another bottle of this Foursquare ECS Shibboleth can be found. This is so differnt from the rest of the ECS cousins!

Had that $231 bottle of rum been good, I would have bought it again. It was Diplomatico Ambassador. It started out with my 9 rating and slowly got downgraded to my rating of 6. This one had WAY too many sherry notes for me!

So in my case, high price does not always find the best rums at the top of my list.  Of course I have my formula that is simple but works damn well for me. Taste counts twice as much as price. Since all of my rums are ranked in order, a taste percentage can be determined by it's ranking amoung the 420 that I have reviewed. For example, my 42nd ranked rum would come in at the upper 10%. Price is then considered based upon my $150 maximum. For example, a $75 rum would come in at 50%. So (2*10 + 50)/3 would yield about 23%, which is my second most recommended purchase group. Ridiculously simple. And this weeds out the bias among those who rate too high or rate too low consistently. No questioning the ranking and price is fixed.

And out of my top 44 rums that are all rated at 8 or higher, the average price is $57 US. They range from a low of $20 US to a high of $138 US. And since I already know that you will ask, here are the four rums that ran me $100 US or more:

Chairman's Reserve 1931, Rhum J M 2008 10 Year, Appleton 21, Foursquare ECS Shibboleth 16 Year

And on the flip side, here are the two rums that ran me $25 US or less:

Blackwell's Reserve, Plantation OFTD 138 Proof