At last year’s UK RumFest I was working the Trailer Happiness cocktail stand, but that didn’t stop me from exploring my neighboring stands. One of those stands was Camikara who boasted a large sign saying “Pure Cane Juice Rum” so I didn’t think twice about trying it.
Camikara, which translates as “liquid gold” from Sanskrit, is made by Picadily Distilleries, a company whose story starts in 1953 in Punjab. It was then when K.N. Sharma started Kedar Nath & Sons, a company that was dealing in liquor distribution. His venture continued by opening the Picadili Restaurant and Bar. Its success allowed for more restaurants to be opened in Chandigarh and it also facilitated the opening of Picadilly theaters in 1972 in Amritsar and Jalandar.
In 1975-1976, the family launched Picadilly hotel in Chandigarh, and soon their hospitality business expanded to other cities: Manali, Raipur, Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon, and Ludhiana. It was in 1993 when the family finally purchased a distillery and sugar mill in Patiala, Punjab and started making alcohol. In time they’ve set up two more distilleries in Indri, Haryana and Bawal, Haryana.
Picadily Distillers focus on making true whisky and rum, breaking apart from India’s “molasses whisky” or dodgy rum practices – see my review on Old Monk if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.
They launched Camikara in 2022 and is marketed as being India’s first pure sugar cane rum. While they have both continuous and batch distillation equipment, the Camikara 12 Year Old is a limited edition bottling made using pot stills and aged in former Bourbon barrels. This was made at their distillery in Patiala, Punjab. The back label says that they lost 94% of the liquid due to evaporation during ageing, but that sounds somehow exaggerated – unless they have absolutely no barrel management which is hard to believe for a company that has been in the spirits manufacturing business for 30 years.
Camikara 12 Year Old is cane juice based, pot still distilled and aged for 12 years in ex-Bourbon casks. Bottled at 50% ABV, and while their website mentions no additives or chill filtering, the Lone Caner has measured this to potentially have around 12 grams of sugar per litre.
On the nose it feels fruity and aromatic. Plums, creole spices, raisins and red wine. Sandalwood, red berries and new furniture. It has a lovely, moreish flavour that is reminiscent of some red wines. Rich honey, charred oak and umami. Stone fruits, fruity tobacco, grapefruit peel and marmalade.
On the palate the wood influence is more prominent. Charred oak, marmalade, pink pepper and creole spices. Plums, blackberries, stone fruits and grapefruit. The cane juice distillate takes a step back due to the oak flavours, but still trickles through with red fruit notes. Sour cherries, aromatic tobacco, biscuits and cloves. Dried hibiscus and vanilla. The finish is medium to long with creole spices and red fruits.
A cane juice rum from India that actually delivers! My only critique would be that the distillate doesn’t shine as bright as I would’ve liked due to the long ageing, and maybe the sugar – although, if I’m being frank, I wouldn’t have been able to tell it has anything added. Otherwise this is delicious, similar to a more elegant long-aged agricole rhum.
It comes at £90 for a bottle and I find that fairly reasonable given its provenance, age and ABV.
Camikara 12 Year Old score:
Flavour/taste: 53/70
Value for money: 14/15
Transparency/purity: 13/15
Overall: 80/100
Cheers!
One thought on “Review: Camikara 12 Year Old”