The same year, 1423 introduced their rum advent calendar, which is now called 24 Days of Rum and can be enjoyed all year round. The 2024 edition has just arrived in stores. There have been over 200 releases in the SBS series—203 releases to be exact. This includes their private label bottlings for wine and spirits shops, both domestic and international, for rum fairs, as well as their Experimental Cask Series, which contains 4x20 cl. rum in the set, counting as one release.
SBS stands for Single Barrel Selection. Normally, in the rum industry, many barrels are blended together to create a large release of several thousand bottles. The SBS series is different. One barrel. One release. This means that there are no more bottles per release than the amount of rum in the barrel. How much has the angels taken? How much has evaporated from the cask? And is it water or alcohol that has evaporated? Time and climate (temperature and humidity) all play a role in determining how much rum remains in the barrel and what the alcohol content of the rum in the cask is.
There are rarely more than about 320 bottles per release, and often fewer. I’ve looked at my own rum shelf, and it varies a lot. First and foremost, it depends on how much rum is left in the barrel when it’s time to bottle it. If the rum is released at full cask strength—which I quite like—there will be fewer bottles than if it is diluted slightly.
SBS is often released at around 55-60% ABV. If the rum in the barrel is stronger than that, it gets watered down a bit. This results in more rum overall and, therefore, more bottles per release. Some releases are as low as around 46-50% ABV, and in those cases, there can be significantly more bottles. But most often, the releases are around 52-53% and up to just over 60%. That’s also where most rums perform best. Occasionally, the rum is bottled at cask strength, and that’s when the rum really packs a punch.
“SBS is our connoisseur’s edition. Our first three releases in the SBS series were Belize, Fiji, and the Philippines. All three were at 46%. Then we switched to only releasing at cask strength. But in recent years, we’ve been bottling the rum at the strength where we think it tastes best. That’s the most important thing,” says Parminder.
The philosophy. SBS is about three things: rum (of course), time, wood, and climate. Natural rum without additives. No sugar, flavor, or color is ever added to SBS rum.
Parminder, can you name some rum releases that stand out from the others? Any rums that you have a special connection to or that you’re particularly proud of?
“Our Ghana release from 2023 was fun. I really liked that one. It was the first time we released a rum from Ghana. It’s exciting to discover and release rum from new destinations and distilleries. In our latest release, we have a Jamaica/St. Lucia blend. That’s also quite delicious. It’s only the third time we’ve done a blend in a barrel release in the SBS series. The first was a Brazil/Barbados blend in 2019. Then came a Jamaica/Barbados in 2021, and now we’ve just released a Jamaica/St. Lucia.”
A total of rum from 27 different countries has been released in the SBS series, and from many more distilleries, as several countries have multiple distilleries.
In recent years, you’ve released some relatively young rums that you’ve aged from the start in new oak barrels. What’s the idea behind that?
“We’ve spent a lot of time finding and using the right barrels. They can be new oak barrels, but also special barrels that previously held different types of wine or spirits. A new barrel quickly imparts a lot of wood influence to a rum, even if it only matures for a couple of years in the cool Danish climate,” Parminder explains, and continues, “At one of our tastings, we sold more SBS Panama that had aged in a Palo Cortado barrel than we sold of Patridom, which is otherwise very popular. That Palo Cortado barrel gave the rum something really special, and people absolutely loved it.”
Parminder, who selects the rums that are released in the SBS series, and how do you do it?
“It’s Thomas and Joshua who select the rums. They keep track of and have a plan for all the more than 2,500 barrels we have in stock. We already have a plan for the next release.”
In which countries do you release SBS rum?
“We release rum in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, and Norway. Previously, when we released SBS rum, it had to be shared among all countries. That meant some countries got very few bottles. So now we’ve started allocating certain releases specifically to individual countries. For example, France or Germany may get their own release, which won’t be available in other countries, not even in Denmark. And some bottlings are shared between several countries.”
Are there any rums in the latest release that has just landed in stores that you would particularly highlight or that you personally really like?
“Normally, I might buy 2-3 of the SBS rums. This time, I bought one of each, because I really think they’re all good and offer something different. I’m particularly fond of the Antigua and Jamaica/St. Lucia releases this time.”
A few years ago, the SBS series got an offshoot: SBS Origin. SBS Origin is the unaged rum. The pure raw distillate. It’s all about the craftsmanship. You can’t fake a distillate. If you’ve distilled something that’s not right, you can taste it immediately. Essentially, the rum is separated from the barrel, by not aging it in a barrel. It’s really interesting and an experience to taste the pure distillate, especially when it stands out from the crowd. And SBS Origin certainly does. There have been 10 releases in the SBS Origin series. They can all be enjoyed neat—and I really think you should treat yourself to that experience—but they are also excellent for drinks and cocktails.
I’d like to mention a few of my favorites. SBS Origin Australia KLK 57%. A truly fruity and candy-like rum from Killik in Australia. It reminds me in many ways of a soft Savanna HERR. But it’s still its own thing. Then there’s SBS Origin Dominican Republic Aroma Grande 57%. A wild one with no less than 500 gr./hlpa esters. There are clear notes of contact glue in the rum. It sounds crazy, but it tastes amazing, and once you’ve picked up on that note of contact glue, you can almost always identify it in most Dominican rums. The last one I want to highlight is SBS Origin French Antilles Grand Arôme 57%. A rock-solid Grand Arôme from Le Galion in Martinique.
Parminder, which SBS Origin is your favorite?
“SBS Origin Jamaica Cane Juice Rum 57% is really nice. Worthy Park is a sugar factory that also produces rum from the by-product, molasses. So we asked them to make a rum from pure sugarcane juice and distill it in their double retort pot still, as they usually do. It turned out really well.”
The future for SBS. What’s coming up?
“We’ll be releasing plenty of really good single cask rum without additives, just as we’ve done since 2016. It MUST taste good! And it does. We’ll continue looking for new destinations, distilleries, and distillates. But we will also continue releasing, for example, Jamaican rum, which is very popular.”
Thanks to Parminder for the conversation, and I hope you now feel both informed and inspired to explore the SBS series.
