@@RobynSmithPhD Absolutely. Omnivores really are incredible mammals. The requisit sense capabilities alone are amazing on every level. Unfortunetly, it comes with a ruthless disgust mechanism as well, which manifests in terrible ways like Zionism and racism. Then again a lot less First Nations people would have died of Smallpox had they been a little more weary of people from accross the sea. The tension between net positive and net negative is a real head scratcher.
@@therabbitholeguild Your comment is a real head scratcher what do politics have to do with rum tasting and esthers? Comparing Zionism to racism is misguided
Im willing to bet the char in the barrel neutralizes those harsh chemicals. that the unique part of aging. I find that American oak erases more flavor than Brazilian, French, or Bulgarian oak. It could be the higher char levels or maybe just something in that species of oak. I also find rum/ rhum pulls a lot of character from the previous spirit or the cask than a whiskey or an agave spirit do. I love the overwhelming nerd math on your spread sheet. the tasting notes are spot on from my experience as well. keep up the great work.
You're right, char certainly has a big impact on the harsh characteristics of white spirits! It's interesting that you observe that spirits aged in American oak are less harsh than those aged in other oak... I know that the grain structure of Q. alba is less dense than Q. robur & Q. petraea, which leads to fewer tannins and more flavor compounds being extracted. This could result in a sweeter flavor profile and that may mask some of the harsh flavor compounds. As you mentioned, the char level could also have an effect on this. There are so many factors that impact the aging process! I find it fascinating!
Thanks for this video! They just release the 8 marks box, but this time aged 1 year in ex-bourbon casks. (Awesome leaflet describing the process and impact it has on the rum) So now you have to redo this comparison with the 0, the 1 and the 4 YO! :)
@@RobynSmithPhD Blame the local Velier distributor! :) I love HLCF classic, tasting the unaged version was a revelation (rum fire is not something that common around here where unaged rum means rhum agricole) and I'd love to taste a higher ester mark such as HGML (DOK ?) after it went through a similar treatment.
@@wouame I bet we’re just a few months behind and should have it available soon 🤞🤞 I’ve tried a 5 year old DOK and it packed a huge punch! So much of the esters came forward, which makes sense. I’d love to taste it alongside the unaged though!
Love your passion. We share the love of Hampden. Would have been fun to try actual Rum Fire next to this…just for the fun of it…should be the same as the one from the marks collection….but is it….
Great point! I'm certain there are slight batch variations! So I bet they're similar with subtle differences. Plus the 8 Marks HLCF is at 60% ABV rather than 63% ABV.
Interesting. I had been thinking about putting some Rum Fire (and other unaged rum) on oak and applying a little accelerated aging. Now I'll definitely have to do that.
@Miata822 Definitely try that out! I think aging white overproof rums is a great way to experiment with various forced aging techniques without the risk of ruining your own rums... it's way easier to buy a new bottle of Rum Fire than it is to ferment and distill another batch!
Brilliant video! Can you sometime talk about what exactly casking does to the rum other than add cask flavor? I read that casking also encourages ester creation. Also, maybe explore some clairins and cachacas which are typically highly varied small productions. Tnx!
Casking is not an exact science. there was an interview I watched a couple years ago with a rum distillery in Louisiana. In the interview he mentioned that if your barrels don't breath, expand, contract uniformly they are guaranteed to deliver different results. there was a lot of info in that interview about how the char effects the cleansing of esters and compounds. the interview was with Cheramie Rum, very fascinating rum.
There is an excellent in-depth interview with a whiskey barrel cooper on Stillit. The guest goes into quite a bit of detail on the chemistry that happens within the wood during aging.
@RumCzar I feel like when I talk about cask aging it's either really surface-level or a super in-depth deep dive hahaha... I'm happy to do a deep dive video and have been planning to do it alongside a rapid-aging rum experiment that I'm working on (ironically that experiment has been pretty slow haha). But generally speaking, you can think of cask aging as additive, subtractive, and interactive. Flavor compounds are extracted from the cask, there is evaporation through the cask, and chemical reactions (like esterification) occur within the cask that transform the flavor compounds. The types of reactions, compounds that are extracted, and compounds that are removed during aging are dependent on factors like climate, spirit, and the barrel itself. Because of all of these variables, cask aging is more like an art!
the hampden cheat sheet is my favorite part of the kit.
Mine too!! I wish I had one of these for every distillery haha
It is amazing that the small allotment of esthers has such a dramatic effect. That's very thought expanding conceptualy.
Isn't it amazing! It's so cool that we're also able to detect these tiny little quantities!
@@RobynSmithPhD Absolutely. Omnivores really are incredible mammals. The requisit sense capabilities alone are amazing on every level. Unfortunetly, it comes with a ruthless disgust mechanism as well, which manifests in terrible ways like Zionism and racism. Then again a lot less First Nations people would have died of Smallpox had they been a little more weary of people from accross the sea. The tension between net positive and net negative is a real head scratcher.
@@therabbitholeguild Your comment is a real head scratcher what do politics have to do with rum tasting and esthers? Comparing Zionism to racism is misguided
Im willing to bet the char in the barrel neutralizes those harsh chemicals. that the unique part of aging. I find that American oak erases more flavor than Brazilian, French, or Bulgarian oak. It could be the higher char levels or maybe just something in that species of oak. I also find rum/ rhum pulls a lot of character from the previous spirit or the cask than a whiskey or an agave spirit do. I love the overwhelming nerd math on your spread sheet. the tasting notes are spot on from my experience as well. keep up the great work.
You're right, char certainly has a big impact on the harsh characteristics of white spirits! It's interesting that you observe that spirits aged in American oak are less harsh than those aged in other oak... I know that the grain structure of Q. alba is less dense than Q. robur & Q. petraea, which leads to fewer tannins and more flavor compounds being extracted. This could result in a sweeter flavor profile and that may mask some of the harsh flavor compounds. As you mentioned, the char level could also have an effect on this. There are so many factors that impact the aging process! I find it fascinating!
Thanks for this video!
They just release the 8 marks box, but this time aged 1 year in ex-bourbon casks. (Awesome leaflet describing the process and impact it has on the rum)
So now you have to redo this comparison with the 0, the 1 and the 4 YO! :)
Oh my gosh did it get released already?? I've been trying to keep an eye out for it!
They have yes, I was surprised to see it available on a local webstore (I’m in the EU). Waiting for the weekend to crack the bottles open :)
@@wouame I hope that means I'm able to get it in the US now!
@@RobynSmithPhD Blame the local Velier distributor! :)
I love HLCF classic, tasting the unaged version was a revelation (rum fire is not something that common around here where unaged rum means rhum agricole) and I'd love to taste a higher ester mark such as HGML (DOK ?) after it went through a similar treatment.
@@wouame I bet we’re just a few months behind and should have it available soon 🤞🤞 I’ve tried a 5 year old DOK and it packed a huge punch! So much of the esters came forward, which makes sense. I’d love to taste it alongside the unaged though!
Love your passion. We share the love of Hampden. Would have been fun to try actual Rum Fire next to this…just for the fun of it…should be the same as the one from the marks collection….but is it….
Great point! I'm certain there are slight batch variations! So I bet they're similar with subtle differences. Plus the 8 Marks HLCF is at 60% ABV rather than 63% ABV.
👍👍🤯
Interesting. I had been thinking about putting some Rum Fire (and other unaged rum) on oak and applying a little accelerated aging. Now I'll definitely have to do that.
@Miata822 Definitely try that out! I think aging white overproof rums is a great way to experiment with various forced aging techniques without the risk of ruining your own rums... it's way easier to buy a new bottle of Rum Fire than it is to ferment and distill another batch!
Brilliant video! Can you sometime talk about what exactly casking does to the rum other than add cask flavor? I read that casking also encourages ester creation. Also, maybe explore some clairins and cachacas which are typically highly varied small productions. Tnx!
I second this! Great video indeed. Cask maturation remains a mystery to me.
Casking is not an exact science. there was an interview I watched a couple years ago with a rum distillery in Louisiana. In the interview he mentioned that if your barrels don't breath, expand, contract uniformly they are guaranteed to deliver different results. there was a lot of info in that interview about how the char effects the cleansing of esters and compounds. the interview was with Cheramie Rum, very fascinating rum.
@@rough_spirits Is that the Rumcast podcast interview? I'll check it out. Tnx.
There is an excellent in-depth interview with a whiskey barrel cooper on Stillit. The guest goes into quite a bit of detail on the chemistry that happens within the wood during aging.
@RumCzar I feel like when I talk about cask aging it's either really surface-level or a super in-depth deep dive hahaha... I'm happy to do a deep dive video and have been planning to do it alongside a rapid-aging rum experiment that I'm working on (ironically that experiment has been pretty slow haha). But generally speaking, you can think of cask aging as additive, subtractive, and interactive. Flavor compounds are extracted from the cask, there is evaporation through the cask, and chemical reactions (like esterification) occur within the cask that transform the flavor compounds. The types of reactions, compounds that are extracted, and compounds that are removed during aging are dependent on factors like climate, spirit, and the barrel itself. Because of all of these variables, cask aging is more like an art!
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