Thameside Rum Company is a fairly young rum brand on the English market. Their inspiration is drawn from the good ol’ Navy rum ration that supposedly was blended in the Dockyards along the river Thames (therefore the name) after being brought from the Caribbean.
Following the ‘tradition’, Thameside is comprised of rums sourced from the Caribbean, more exactly from Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana. Their website is quite generous in giving us the info about the blend’s makeup, but I’ll list it here as well:
- Jamaica – 4 years old, pot still – if my memory serves me well I believe the distillate comes from Worthy Park.
- Barbados – 5 years old, blend of pot and column stills – definitely Foursquare.
- Guyana – 2 to 5 years old, blend of pot and column stills including the wooden heritage stills – Diamond Distillery.
No idea about the ratios, what I do know is that the components are molasses based and aged in the Caribbean in ex-Bourbon barrels. No chill-filtering, colourants or additives and bottled at the standard 40% ABV.
On the nose, not surprisingly, the Jamaican component really stands out. Overripe bananas, mango, pear, lemon zest and sweet English Breakfast Tea. Liquorice, milk chocolate and a touch of coffee – most likely from the Guyanese part of the blend. As usual, in blends like this, the Barbadian distillate acts like a base, you can’t really distinguish it, but there’s a decent amount of fruitiness that can be attributed to it like apricots, yellow apples and peaches. Mild floral notes along with some cinnamon and pink pepper. Seems well balanced, not too out there, but fairly complex.
On the palate it’s a bit lighter than expected, but still plenty of flavours. Apricots, bananas, saffron, liquorice, vanilla and English Breakfast tea with honey. I can feel more of the Bajan juice now with a stand-out Bourbon-like aroma. Hints of smoke and mint along with some pepper add a bit more complexity. There’s a white grape/sweet white wine note that I like. The finish is medium with oak, a bit of smoke and a slight bitterness I sometimes find in younger distillates.
I like this, the flavour is there, quite a bit of body, but feels like it could use a higher ABV to carry it through… or maybe I just had too many high proof rums. I’d describe it as balanced and flavoursome. I would happily sip this once in a while or use it in drinks without cringing given its price range – £40. Try it in a Rum Old Fashioned with a touch of cinnamon.
A similar product to compare this with would be the newly released Black Tot which is also a blend of rums from the same countries, has a higher ABV and tends to rely more on the Guyanese component with a very similar price point.
I will try and grab a bottle of Thameside soon as I can (the review was based on a sample) – it can be found here. Also worth mentioning in this crazy times, they are donating £9.30 from every bottle of rum sold on their website to Hospitality Action Covid-19 emergency fund.
Thameside Signature Blend score:
Flavour/taste: 55/70
Value for money: 13/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 83/100
Cheers!
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