English Harbour 2014 High Congener Series 6-Year

Nice color, good taste, and nice finish, good drinking for night. 7/10

British Harbour is one of the most reliable, excellent rums. Often hard Ron find in St. Louis, but when I do, I’m a happy rum camper.

This is a molasses based column still produced rum from Antigua that was aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 6 years and bottled at a fairly strong 63.8%. Why or how this is called the “High Cogener Series” is a bit of a mystery as the distillery only has one column still (that said I suppose Caroni was produced on a column still also). Perhaps this is based molasses that was allowed to ferment longer than usual to allow for a higher number of volatiles in the distillation process? Who knows, but this should not be compared to the high ester rums from Jamaica, it’s not in the same league.

The nose here actually reminds me heavily of a Foursquare release. In fact, if I had this blind I would guess a lesser aged Foursquare. Taking it in from the Glencairn glass I get deep Werthers Caramel, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Pineapple Cream, and Toasted Coconut. I actually don’t detect coconut on rums much (unlike others it seems) but here it is pretty loud and present along with the Pineapple Cream.

Taking a sip the palate is quite similar to what was promised on the nose: caramel and pineapple cream. Except here it plays as crème brûlée. There is also a deep “rum” note here kind of similar to that on Foursquare ECS 2007.

The finish is fairly short and is mostly one note: Toasted coconut.

This rum drinks incredibly hot. I can hear you say ‘yes, it is 63.8% ABV’…but there are plenty of high ABV rums that don’t light your throat on fire like this one.

All in all this is very, very much like a youngish aged high proof Bajan from Foursquare but without the smoothing of the aging or the wonderful deep chocolate orange notes on those. This is good and enjoyable, but bring water because this crème brûlée is still on fire.

Despite the name, it is not even remotely comparable to the Jamaican, Haitian, or Martiniquein high ester rums. This is more in line with a cask strength Bajan but lacking the depth of the extra aging and blending done at Foursquare while also drinking much hotter. It got some great tasty notes, but with the flaws, within this profile, I prefer Foursquare.

Simple Description: A Coconut Crème Brûlée that is still on fire when you swallow it

ABV: 63.8%

Country of Origin: Antigua

Nose: Werthers Caramel, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Pineapple Cream, Toasted Coconut

Palate: Pineapple Cream, Caramel, Crème Brûlée, Rum

Finish: Toasted Coconut, spicy

Barrel strennght 63,8% is way too much.It is unnecessarily taking away much from enjoyment and overwhelms with strong alcoholic taste.