Decent Booze. For decent people. At decent prices.
That’s the East London Liquor Company motto and if you have a look on their shop online you’ll see they have the “decent prices” bit down pretty well – hence why I bought one of their rums.
East London Liquor Co. started 8 years ago and is established, as the name suggests, in the heart of London’s East End. They distill their own vodka, gin and whisky and sell a multitude of products such as canned gin & tonics, vodka & rhubarb seltzers and so on. Their rums are (unfortunately) not made by them, but instead are imported – one from Jamaica and one from Guyana.
The East London Rum is a white rum blended using distillates from three different distilleries from Jamaica – not sure which ones but if I were to guess I’d say Worthy Park, Clarendon and Hampden – don’t take my word for it though.
“Guaranteed to bring a tropical buzz to the drizzliest of days.”
– the back label of the bottle
Now let’s see how true it is!
Molasses based, pot and column distilled with 80% of the blend being pot & column and 20% being described as funky pot still distillates. Bottled at 40% ABV without any adulteration.
On the nose there is definitely some of that estery intensity. Overripe tropical fruits, superglue, ripe pears, grapefruit zest and green peppers. Kiwi, cardamom and camomile tea. I’m almost convinced the funk comes from a high ester Hampden marque. Some blueberries and violet liqueur too.
On the palate the funk carries on. Pink grapefruit, candied bananas, white pepper, sourdough, almonds, pears and strawberry jam. Nail varnish, pineapple juice and ume fruit. Cardamom, stem ginger and green peppers. Now I think I recognise some Worthy Park in there. Cane juice and a touch of anise. The finish is medium with strawberries and nail varnish.
There’s a decent amount of Jamaican funk and it has quite a tropical profile, I’ll give them that. At just £21 (Master of Malt) a bottle, this is on par with the Duppy White in terms of value for money – they do have different profiles though. These Jamaican rum blends are getting more and more accessible and are great for mixing above-average Daiquiris or any other cocktails that ask for an unaged Jamaican rum.
Now, bartender, a Daiquiri please! And yes, I was talking to myself.
East London Rum score:
Flavour/taste: 49/70
Value for money: 15/15
Transparency/purity: 14/15
Overall: 78/100
Cheers!