Arundel Cane Rum - 4 Year Old
Country of Origin: Tortola, BVI
Age: Approximately 4 years
Price per Bottle*: $10 (200ml), $20 (750ml)
Alcohol: 40%
Category: Premium Aged Rum
Taster’s Rating (10 is best):
Roger - 7.0 Flasks
Dave - 7.5 Flasks
Objective Notes
Smooth (on the RnD scale of Harsh-Smooth-Very Smooth-Extremely Smooth)
Arundel rum is golden straw to light amber in color. It has a clean nose and reveals hints of a grassiness like fresh cut cane, very light vanilla, orange peel, white pepper, and distinct yet slight fusel oil aromatics are also present. Initial taste reveals warmth up front and a surprising medium body but lighter than the nose would indicate. Flavors are simple, crisp (even if it isn’t overly clean), earthy, and dry except for a hint of sweet, with stale musty oak. The rum’s finish is warm, of medium length, sweet and lingering on the tongue, then ultimately ending in a pleasantly dry affect.
Anecdotal Notes
If you get the chance to visit Tortola in the BVI’s, we highly recommend a day-trip to the beautiful Cane Garden Bay and the Callwood Distillery. A visit to the Callwood’s is like a walk back through time. Strewn variously around the original two-centuries old stone building, you’ll see the history of a small Caribbean distillery. From rusting and discarded condensing coils, to ancient processing machinery two or three generations old, to engines and belts for powering the cane press and a couple of original copper pot stills – Callwood’s distillery is an observable history. It’s just a short walk from the gorgeous beach and watering holes that line Cane Garden Bay. During the busy season you’ll take a brief tour complete with tasting room and photo opportunities. In the off season you can still get a great sense of the operation, since most of the crushing equipment and stills are located outside the small building. See “A Guided Tour Of Tortola’s Historic Distilleries”.
Callwood claims to be the oldest continuous pot still rum distillery in operation in the Caribbean. It’s not exactly known when it started operation but the style of architecture and bricks of the structures date roughly to the mid-1700s. In the late 1800’s Richard Callwood bought the Arundel Estate for his son, Richard Jr., 3 generations later Michael Callwood is still keeping the family tradition going and preserving an important Tortola cultural and historical site.
The bottle is simple as is the homemade labels that have been consistent for many years. They are coming out with a 10 year old version of Arundel later this year.
Taster’s Opinion
Roger - A sip of Arundel is like drinking rum history. What you taste today is very likely what you tasted 200 years ago. No fancy process controls but wood fires, old copper pots handed down many generations, and fresh pressed cane where the juice runs down a weathered stone/concrete trough finding it’s way eventually to the still in a few days. Many of these antiques are what the current artisans still use, just like their grandparents and great grandparents did. I enjoy visiting Cane Garden Bay as often as I can and I always find the Callwood Distillery a fun and unusual excursion. If you are lucky enough to find yourself in the BVI’s check it out and their rum which is widely available on Tortola.
Dave - Like many young Caribbean rums produced using ancient crushers, boiling coppers and pot stills in a traditional way, the secret to drinking Arundel Cane Rum neat is to sip it in tiny measure and slowly. Then, it reveals on old world flavor wrought from hundreds of year’s production in the same metalwork and crumbling stone walled building. Even Callwood’s aging casks appear to be several decades old, having lost most of their patina, oak tannins and vanilla flavoring affects long ago. But the old distillery produces a decent, brash young rum that is as much a part of Tortola’s past as you’ll find in a bottle today.
Taster's Rating (10 is best):
Roger - 7.0 Flasks; Dave - 7.5 Flasks
Most recently tasted by: Dave and Roger, March 2009 at RnD’s North and South Tasting Rooms, USA.