Periodically I review the US TTB label database to discover new rums with label approval. While approval isn’t a guarantee they will be available, it signals that the producer or importer strongly intends to bring them to market. Also, it may be many months before these bottles appear on store shelves. The list below is a highly filtered subset of recent label approvals, i.e., only what I consider notable.
For more background on the US TTB label approvals, see this Cocktail Wonk article: A Wonky Guide to Finding Unreleased and Obscure Spirits.
Rum makers have been very busy lately, as indicated by a slew of label approvals. As such, the bar to appear below was fairly high this time.
Burning Cane 15-Year Foursquare
Normally I do not pay close attention to independent bottling from small importers. No prejudice against them, but such bottlings are usually quite small in size and not widely available in key markets. However, the label for this Folklore Series bottling demands attention with its steel donkey imagery. The label at the top of this post tells the story, so no need to summarize it here.
Another bit on the back label caught my eye: DARK SECRET: Out of respect for the proposed “Barbados Rum requiring all aging and bottling in Barbados, we DON’T call this “Barbados Rum”
While a noble sentiment, it sidesteps another issue of late: certain producers requesting that their distillery names not be stated on the bottle to avoid confusion between official distillery releases and independent bottler releases. One can only wonder what Mr. Seale thinks of this label.
Folklore Series #1 15-year label
Ten to One
10 to One, a black-owned rum brand, has received substantial press for their white and dark rums, both multi-island blends likely assembled in Amsterdam by E&A Scheer. However, Ten to One has also shown high-end aspirations with longer-aged small batch releases; most recently, a 26-year Founders Reserve is a blend of Jamaican and Guyanese rums.
Ten to On 26-Year Founder’s Reserve label
Habitation Velier
Luca Gargano’s Velier is going full bore with dozens of new releases, some specific to individual markets. Jamaica rum lovers will find much to love in various releases from Hamden Estate, Long Pond, and Monymusk.
La Maison and Velier 5th Anniversary
In addition to the Habitation Velier-branded releases, two other longer-aged bottlings bear the La Maison & Velier logo. La Maison & Velier is a joint venture between France’s La Maison du Whisky and Italy’s Velier.
Hampden
La Maison & Velier has an exclusive relationship with Hampden Estate to distribute Hampden’s “Hampden Estate” branded rums. For the first time, US rum enthusiasts will have a crack at owning each marque made by Hampden, in what I dub the “Hampden Marques series,” eight in total. Each expression is in a 200 ml format.
· HGML
· DIAMOND H
· C DIAMOND H
· DOK
· LFCH
· HLCF
· LROK
· OWH
Since the label format is consistent across each, only one is shown here: Diamond H
Foursquare
Foursquare enthusiasts will no doubt race to pick up the latest Exceptional Cask Series bottling to hit US shorts: Foursquare 2010
