Have you tried a rum cocktail with 1600 esters? - our Rum Blogger Jan Ohrt has experimented

Have you ever tried a rum cocktail with 1600 esters? Jan Ohrt gives you the recipe

Post by Jan Ohrt

You can pick up any rum and they will all contain esters to some extent. The same goes for all spirits, even wine has them. Anywhere in the process where you start a chemical bond between yeast and molasses, they will pop up like beads on a string in abundant quantities, adding aromas and notes that give the finished product its final characteristics. And it's all completely natural. Many esters smell quite pleasant and the scent is affected by how much they are heated and the number of carbon atoms. The fewer of them in the ester's molecular formula, the better they smell.

In short, the story is about when alcohol meets acid and an oxidation process occurs. This gives you a chemically functional group of acid derivatives with a wide range of properties - and therefore aromas. When aging spirits, this and other alcohols will eventually combine with fruit acids to form esters that give the product flavor. This may explain why the year on the bottle sometimes matters for the price.

But it's not so important with this pot still from White Dok Jamaica. It's barely a couple of years old, contains 1,600 esters (you can measure that) and that's probably the maximum number allowed in a Jamaican rum. And then it comes with 85.6% to kind of put a thick line under the seriousness of the situation.

I first had to try it raw as a dram, just a small sip to the tip of the tongue, and it was a blast. But when the initial shock of the high alcohol volume had subsided, there was a veritable bombardment of flavors that lingered on the palate for a long time. Then I tried adding a few drops of water so that the nose could also join in and it was greeted with a large palette of all sorts of exotic fruits, predominantly jackfruit and thus also notes of apple, pineapple, mango and banana. It called for a cocktail and some deep-fried plantain.

I poured a handful of ice in my blender, 5cl. of the 1,600 esters, a ripe banana, a good splash of egg liqueur and the juice from an orange on top and gave it a good spin. Even though the summer is now over, I still remember it and like to reminisce about it with this "Beach Blonde":

1 ripebanana
8 cl. Bols Advocaat egg liqueur
5 cl. White Dok Trelawny 1600 Esters 2020
Juicefrom a freshly squeezed orange
A good handful of ice cubes.
Blend until the ice is crushed
Decorate theedge of the glass with a slice of banana and a fresh mint stalk

Suddenly, the 1600 esters and 85.6% are transformed into a gentle and inviting beach blonde with wind in her hair, tanned skin and little beads of sweat. And who couldn't use a memory like that when it's a bit chilly outside.

Even though the scene seems to be set, the stomach shouldn't be fooled. I have come to love what we in Denmark call mad bananas. I've met them in Africa, South and Central America and many other tropical countries where they are known as plantains, and they are in fact different from what we know as bananas. They contain much more starch and are therefore better suited for cooking, deep-fried, as an ingredient in a good stew of just about anything, and they can be dried and eaten, as well as ground into flour. I peeled my plantains, sliced them and pan fried them in a little oil until golden on both sides. After draining on a paper towel, I gave them a small sprinkle of fresh parsley and enjoyed them with my cool beach blonde.

Cheers and enjoy!

Would I buy another bottle of White Dok Trelawny 1600 Esters 2020? 

Hardly               Maybe                 Probably    Yes