Hamilton White Stache

Ed Hamilton is well known for producing some very affordable aged rums. This appears to be his first attempt at finding a good white rum from somewhere in the Caribbean. It works, except for the bitter finish. At $22 US per liter, one can do better on white rums than this one.

I've tried a few of the Hamilton rums, and I'm not a huge fan. But this one surprised me, and I think it's pretty good! Many thanks to Joola69 for providing me a bottle.

Semi sweet, with a very light coconut hint. I like it!

Smells like very little, tastes like very little, but then the finish/aftertaste comes around with unmistakable Bajan coconut/caramel pleasantry (funny, because no Bajan rum in here). It got a bit lost in cocktails.

Edit: I have grown to see this mixing(!) rum as tragically misjudged by former myself and others. Hamilton 87 brings out the best of every cocktail I've put it in: A fruity/pineapple note is added to Cuba Libres and hints of coconut and caramel are imparted onto daiquiris and mojitos. In an Old Cuban, it won't overpower the flavors of the wine, and fits in snuggly with any classic (especially those herbaceous) tiki drinks.

Hamilton 87 is not a sipper, and was never intended to be one. It is a subtle rum, not one you'd want to hide in a drink, but one that demands careful measurement and balance. As of now, I think Ed Hamilton has properly achieved his goal of making an old-school white Caribbean rum. It's sort of like the best white Puerto Rican rum imaginable, despite all of the rums in the blend (as far as a know) coming from English islands and methods. Appreciate it for what it is, don't crucify it for what it's not.

Aroma - pineapple followed by sugarcane and banana.

Taste - sugarcane followed by light pear and barrel spices

(Original rating from 2/23 San Antonio trip) Hello! So tasty. I feel blessed to taste this. But I also don't know how to describe it because there is no specific flavor ?
3/12/23 update: Courtesy of JSoto private collection via Minnesota; this time I am tasting yummy goodness, including cinnamon toast and honeydew.

Tasted at Hot Joy in San Antonio. Pours clear. Apricot aroma. Sugar cane dominance. Slight nuttiness. Tingling pepper finish. Good, not great. This would be my mixer if I could get it.

This is a great white rum. Drinkable on its own in a pinch, certainly more complexity and depth due to the blend. A light sweetness, light tropical fruit notes, some pepper, light-medium body. It's not El Dorado 3-year, but it has some ED3 DNA for sure! This works excellently in a Daiquiri, my standard measure for light/white rums. Has good body in the cocktail, and a bit of molasses comes out in it. I highly recommend this one. Available in a 375ml as well if you don't want to have a 1L sitting around.

Clearly a white for mixing. Solid, more flavorful than Plantation or any other junk for the price.

This is a blend of lightly aged rums from Trinidad, Guyana, and Dominican Republic that have been filtered and blended for mixing. I can guess that the Guyana rum is a column still rum from DDL; and the Trinidad rum is likely a column still rum from TDL. But I have no clue where the Dominican rum in the blend comes from.

Ed Hamilton has a great reputation with some really spectacular rums, and I have heard a lot of good things about this rum, especially from the mixology side. So first I am going to review this straight and with water, and then I will make a classic daiquiri with it. So first, how is this rum on its own?

Wafting it from the Glencairn I get Dried Apricots, faint Toasted Marshmallow, Lime, and then Unripe Green Apples and a faint whiff of the classic southern breakfast/desert Peaches and Cream

Taking a sip straight I get a rush of Green Apple followed by a hearty mouthful of Plum Wine. As the rum begins to leave my mouth I get a bitter herbal note that I can best describe as Dandelion Greens

The finish is at first short and presents as Sour Cherries, faint toasted Marshmallow, and the return of Plum. After sipping on the rum for a short while, a bitter Dandelion Greens note becomes ever presen to the point of being overwhelming.

The rum is significantly more complex than you would imagine from taking a whiff from the bottle. In fact, from a wet-cork smell I could only detect faint dried Apricot and alcohol. But upon pouring 2oz in the Glencairn a bunch of other notes blossomed. Initially, it presents decently with dried Apricots, Plum, Green Apple, and faint Toasted Marshmallow. Unfortunately, as I sip on it, this bitter Dandelion Green note becomes overwhelming. It is completely out of whack and does not synchronize with the other flavors at all to the point that I hoped water would change it. While the addition of water does mellow the impact of the dandelion green bitter note, it is still there and the water mutes the other more enjoyable (to me) notes also.

Basically the addition of water makes it slightly easier/smoother to sip…but eventually I still find myself puckering from the herbal bitterness on the finish.

From a sipping perspective, frankly I am rather disappointed. What starts out as interesting becomes drowned in a rather odd herbal bitterness. In my humble opinion, this is not really enjoyable to sip straight unless you really like bitter herbal notes (maybe herbal Gin enthusiasts might like this).

But sipping is not really what this rum was made for. It was made for mixology and specifically for daiquiris. So how does it perform in that respect? In short, excellent. I subsequently made a traditional daiquiri from this rum and it is quite excellent. It is complex enough for some of the intriguing notes to shine through while the added lime does a good job at neutralizing the awkward bitter note. The result is a rather delightful concoction.

While this rum is quite good in a daiquiri, I am disappointingly perplexed at how incompatible it is to sip on straight or even over ice. If I am being honest, I expected a bit better from Ed Hamilton on a mix like this. If Havana Club, Panama Pacific, and Selvarey can make dual purpose mixing and sipping white rums, Ed Hamilton should be able to as well. And while it works well in a mixing bar, that’s kind of it - though it’s not so bad that you have to “hide” it in cocktails. It adds great character to cocktails but I can’t recommend it to sip on straight or over ice.

This will find use in my home bar for Daiquiris, once I go through my Banks 5 Island and Denizen 3 Year bottles. This is good for mixing, but frankly Ed Hamilton is well capable of better in my humble opinion.

Short Description: An odd mismatch combination of stone fruits, green apple, and bitter dandelion greens. Great to mix with but not otherwise enjoyable

ABV: 43.5%

Countries of Origin: Trinidad, Guyana, Dominican Republic

Nose: Dried Apricots, Toasted Marshmallow, Lime, Unripe Green Apple, faint Peaches and Cream

Palate: Green Apple, Plum Wine, Dandelion Greens

Finish (short): Sour White Cherries, Toasted Marshmallow, Plum, Bitter Dandelion Greens

This is an easy drinking white rum that pairs well with fruity drinks and daiquiris. Good stuff!