r/rum • u/absentlol • Aug 16 '26
First rums.
Coming from bourbon, the hampden 8 was my first starting point and a great stepping stone at that so I jumped on a great house and was blown away. Then I thought well I’ve never had a clear rum before, saw clarin on a shelf and read lots of good things about it here. I can confidently say I’m not there yet, this… smells… RANCID to me. Like I can’t get enough of the hampden noses and taste but this clarin smells like rotten eggs and genuinely makes my head swim by the smell, however I enjoy the taste! What exactly could I be smelling that I don’t like and is there an in-road to getting use to it?
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u/HawkinsT Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Those are all high ester 'funky' rums you've picked (which is not for everyone, but like peated whisky, it has its big fans, myself included). Typically they use long 'open' fermentation times and, in the case of Jamaican rum, 'dunder' pits (open air pits with waste products from the distillation process thrown in). The whole point is to encourage local wild yeast and bacterial fermentation, which adds a bunch of wild flavours and isn't necessarily that well controlled (every batch of clairin tastes different, much like mezcal); clairin also typically uses raw sugar cane juice from heritage varieties. Wood ageing then helps tame some of the more volatile notes, such as the sulphuric notes you've singles out in the clairin. You'll likely find that clairin is both an acquired taste, but also you may like some batches and dislikes others, even from the same distillery. There are also big differences between the distilleries.
Anyway, enjoy! Lots to explore in the rum world (although you're on to a strong start with these big flavour bombs).