Ten Cane v. Mount Gay: Rum Artesanal Ten Cane 2008, BMMG 2000 reviews

Here's another rum distillery where available stocks will run out sooner rather than later: Angostura/LMVH collaboration Ten Cane, a small distillery installed in the old Usine Sugar Factory in the south of Trinidad circa 2003. But unlike SPD in Fiji (as discussed at    • 2 Fijis and a Vendome: Rum Artesanal ...   ), which is still producing if not for the broader market, Ten Cane simply closed up after only a few years when the brand turned out to be a flop. It's a bit of a shame, because there was an idea there: collaboration between two huge production houses, pot distillation, a mix of cane juice and molasses, and all this way back in the era when Zacapa was king (you can read more of the story at https://trinidadrumsociety.com/three-... ). In any case, there's a fair bit of it out there among the independent bottlers and it's not getting any cheaper or less woody, so let's try one from reasonably priced German bottler Rum Artesanal.

And for a sparring partner let's go for a similarly light pot still style from the same bottler, this time from an island further north: an old Europe-aged Barbados Main Mount Gay. We've had pot still Mount Gay before (see    • Mount Gay Eclipse "Navy Strength," Or...   ) and it was really good, and this one's older and better presented. Here's how everything went:

Ten Cane 2008 14 Year Old Trinidad Rum, Cask No. 257 (bottled by Rum Artesanal; 75% pot distilled cane juice and 25% pot distilled molasses, aged 5/2008 to 10/2022, 256 bottles; 58.2% ABV), 88/100
"BMMG" 2000 22 Year Old Barbados Rum, Cask No. 84 (Mount Gay, bottled by Rum Artesanal; pot distilled molasses aged 7/2000 to 7/2022, 304 bottles; 56.5% ABV), 89/100

Yeah, I like both of these! The Ten Cane reminds me of an imaginary blend of the two Isautiers from last year (   • Isautier 2006 16yo Traditional and Su...   ), except better. It's fruitcakey and spicy and rootbeery and remarkably well balanced, and I wouldn't have kept it in barrel a day longer than this. Buy 'em while you can, folks. It can't quite hold up to the old Mount Gay, though, and there's no shame in that: the BMMG is exactly what you want out of an old Bajan pot-still rum, all on Southern dessert cart, coffee, and tobacco. It's a close match-up but for me the Mount Gay takes it, with ever so slightly better mouth presence.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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