Chairman’s Reserve: The UK Rum Club

Another day, another Chairman’s Reserve. I don’t mean that as a criticism; rather, I’m impressed with the number of releases from the distillery and their exceptional quality (albeit many, such as today’s, being selected by specific groups rather than the good folks based in St Lucia themselves).

This review is a bottling selected by Steven James and Wes Burgin for their Facebook group, The UK Rum Club. They were offered/whittled down the choices to 2 different casks and finally chose number 1731109 – a Vendome pot still output aged for 9 years in ex-bourbon before being decanted into a total of 248 bottles at a hefty 59.5% ABV.

Saint Lucia Distillers – Chairmans Reserve: Legacy

Seasons greetings!

I kept meaning and kept meaning to add to the site – now I’ve blinked and it’s December! Procrastination, thy name is RumLondon. I’m genuinely sorry you’ve not been subject to my terribel gremmar and awful, punctuation – but we’ve probably all suffered enough in 2020 amirite?

Fear not however – I’m back and I’ll probably never leave you again.
The subject of todays review is a new addition to the core range for SLD and one that’s been infiltrating my social media posts for a month or so now. It’s called Chairmans Reserve Legacy and through, what I can only assume was a terrible misunderstanding of how small I am in the world of rum and rum reviews, I was very kindly sent a bottle of it by Dave Marsland, UK Brand Ambassador for Chairmans Reserve.

Habitation Velier: Privateer

I am excited to be trying this one. Privateer rums in Massachusetts has gained something of a cult following in the US with their unfiltered, unadulterated rums – particularly for their Distiller’s Drawer, single cask offerings, of which they now have 105 listed on their website and I’ve been able to get ahold of precisely….none. I’m not jealous, you are.
Enter Velier. February of this year they selected some casks and have just released them under their Habitation label. Some luck on my part meant that I was able to get a bottle on release day from LMDW for just over £90 and it turned up last week.
President and Head Distiller of Privateer, Maggie Campbell has an awe-inspiring resume; aside from previously working as the assistant distiller at Germain-Robin (a Californian brandy distillery), she also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Craft Spirit Association and has the role of Judging Director for their annual spirits competition. She’s well worth a follow on Instagram under her superhero name, @halfpintmaggie.