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

This Chairman's Reserve Master's Selection was bottled for Evanius Harris, who was the Master Blender at Chairman's. The rum produced in 2011 in the Vendome Pot style was allowed to be stored in ex-bourbon barrels for 9 years and was bottled at a cask strength of 56% alcohol, without additives or coloring as a limited single cask with 252 bottles.

This Chairman's has a great nose. Dry fruit, leather, roasted aromas with caramel and honey, but also lots of spice and a medicinal note. The whole thing looks pretty dirty, which makes the nose very attractive. On the palate, the rum has a great mix of spice, fruit and sweetness. Again dried fruits, leather a lot of spice. Now comes some pepper and an earthy note with a hint of hay and medicine. The barrel is getting stronger. The sweetness comes with toasted aromas and caramel. The finish then becomes more and more spicy, a little more bitter substances with a good portion of leather and a hint of mint in the aftertaste.

A fantastic rum. If the aromas were a bit more intense overall, this would be a straight 10. The rum balances the aromas very well and has a good body and nice dirty notes. Blindly I might have guessed a Trinidad Rum.

This Chairman's Reserve Master's Selection wurde für Evanius Harris abgefüllt, welcher der Master Blender bei Chairman's war. Der 2011 im Vendome Pot Stil hergestellte Rum durfte 9 Jahre in Ex- Bourbon Fässern lagern und wurde mit einer Fassstärke von 56% Alkohol, ohne Zusatzstoffe oder Farbstoff als limitierter Single Cask mit 252 Flaschen, abgefüllt.

Dieser Chairman's hat eine tolle Nase. Trockene Frucht, Leder, Röstaromen mit Karamel und Honig, aber auch viel Würze und eine medizinische Note. Das ganze wirkt schön dreckig, was die Nase sehr attracktiv macht. Am Gaumen hat der Rum eine tolle Mischung aus Würze, Frucht und Süße. Wieder getrocknete Früchte, Leder viel Würze. Jetzt kommt auch etwas Pfeffer und eine erdige Note mit einem Hauch Heu und Medizin. Das Fass wird stärker. Die Süße kommt mit Röstaromen und Karamel. Der Abgang wird dann immer würziger, etwas mehr Bitterstoffe mit einer guten Portion Leder und im Nachklang ein Hauch von Minze.

Ein Fantastischer Rum. Würden die Aromen insgesamt etwas intensiver sein, wäre das hier eine glatte 10. Der Rum balanciert die Aromen sehr gut und hat einen guten Körper und schöne dreckige Noten. Blind hätte ich evtl. auf einen Trinidad Rum getippt.

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