Don Papa Rum 70cl - 40% ABV Dark Aged Sipping Rum: Distilled in Sugarlandia, Philippines | Expertly Matured in American Oak | Great for Cocktails

Product Information

The nose is very familiar – huge wafts of raspberry flavoured bubblegum. Notes of sweet artificial saccharin. Cherry flavoured boiled sweets and a slight hint of some kind of spice trying to break out but its just overpowered by the artificial confected notes. Don Papa Rum carries the long-standing traditions of Filipino rum making as a first-rate, expressive liquid that has amassed a cult-like following with spirits enthusiasts and industry insiders – a testament to its ability to transcend the rum category. The complex and delicious tasting rum offers a new taste that rum drinkers, brown spirit aficionados and newcomers to the spirit category can all enjoy. Ce rhum des Philippines est produit en édition limitée. Seulement quelques bouteilles de ce rhum seront disponibles pour le marché français. Pour cette expression, le maître distillateur a sélectionné le meilleur, rien que le meilleur... Nez : Profond et riche avec une impression de puissance. Marqué par des notes d'agrumes et de vanille. If so, they were mistaken. Even bumping it up to 43% for some added bola ng bakal didn’t do much. It had the same nasal profile of sour cream, yogurt, some sweetish fruits, and over-generous helpings of vanilla, bubble gum and yes, there it was again, that distasteful excess of soda pop sprite and fanta and pepsi masquerading as “rumminess”. And no tart raspberries this time, but some dampened down dark grapes, overripe ones, plus a twist of licorice. Oh joy. My glass runneth over.

Don Papa Rum Aged 10 Years. Alongside Bumbu, Don Papa have become the poster boys for adultered rum masquerading as premium. You could throw a few other rums into the mix, that use additives but Don Papa’s offerings are met with dismay and derision by most serious rum enthusiasts.It hails from Sugarlandia (I kid you not), Phillipines and Don Papa is a tribute to Papa Isio. His legend was instrumental to the independence of the island during the Revolution of the 1890s. The figure of Don Papa on the bottle is inspired by Papa Isio. In Italian wine terms, you can think of Sugarlandia as being like an enormous vineyard. Only instead of begin dedicated to the vine, this land is dedicated to the growth of sugar cane. But much as we see with vineyards, Sugarlandia has many remarkable properties that are imbued into the sugar grown on it, making all of the products of Sugarlandia stand out from the crowd. Now imagine your future “premium” Diageo whisky brands having the possibility of being aged or finished in ex-Don Papa barrels. The horror. The waste. By now you should have few illusions left: the palate offered no redemption, leading any reasonable tippler to ask in genuine bewilderment, “What on earth was the rum doing for three additional years?” I mean sure, there was some bite and bitter in the mix (which initially gave me hope), just too little. And the few aromas of peaches and cream were bludgeoned into insensibility in labba time by wave upon wave of more vanilla, soda pop, the syrup in canned peaches (minus the peaches), cola…it was all just too much, too sweet, too cloying, and with few discernible differences from its younger sibling, and a finish that was to all intents and purposes the best thing about it, because at least now the experience was drawing to a close.

Just to set the stage: I honestly thought my amigo Henrik, in his savage takedown of the rum, was exaggerating his despite. However, intrigued, I begged him for samples to save me buying them, and he was prepared to gift me the whole bottle except that his luggage was already full of stuff he was bringing to Berlin (for me). And just to see if its claim to being a “premium aged small batch rum” held up, I tried the Don Papa 7 year old (and its brother the ten year old) four times: once with a flight of eight Jamaicans, then with a flight of seven Demeraras, a third time with a raft of agricoles and then with yet another one of nine Bajans. If I get diagnosed with diabetes or if my palate gets ruined by this in the long run, can I ask 88 Bamboo to help with my recovery?

In other words, Sugarlandia is the spiritual home of Don Papa and, in turn, Don Papa is a figurehead who represents the island. Sure, wine will always go down a treat during such events. But sometimes, you need a drink that is a perfect representation of summer and the joy that it brings.