Tanduay Rum from the Philippines - Blog post by Thomas Heie Nielsen

Blog post by Thomas Heie Nielsen

If you have been interested in rum for slightly longer than a very short while, you have most likely met and tasted rum from the Philippines. Don Papa is a huge brand, after all. Don Papa was founded by British-born Stephen Carroll in 2012 and is part of his Bleeding Heart Company. The name Don Papa comes from the charismatic Filipino rebel leader Papa Isio.

If you have nerded out on rum a bit beyond household needs, you will also know that the Danish outfit 1423 has released two single cask bottlings from the Philippines. An SBS rum distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2015 at 46%, and an SBS rum distilled in 2019 and bottled in 2023 at 57%. The latter tastes outstanding, by the way.

But this is about neither Don Papa nor 1423. This is about Tanduay Rum.

We have to go all the way back to the mid 1830s, when Spanish-born José Joaquin de Ynchausti moved with his family to the Philippines to settle, after the trade restrictions in Manila were lifted and the ports opened to Western trade. The family could immediately see a good business ahead. Even then the Philippines was known for sugar production.

Listen to our podcast:

A big advantage when you want to produce rum. But since the Philippines was a Spanish colony from 1565 to 1898 and the Spanish government at that point held a monopoly on rum production, getting started themselves had to wait. That changed in 1834 when the Spanish monopoly ended. And in the 1850s José Joaquin de Ynchausti, by then head of all the family businesses, moved properly into the rum trade and began producing rum. And the rest is history, as they say.

I have had the pleasure of tasting five different bottlings from Tanduay Rum.

Tanduay Rum Silver 40%
A blend with rum up to five years old in ex-bourbon casks. The colour resembles a good pale white wine, just like rum that has had a few years in cask and then been chill and charcoal filtered. The nose is fresh and mild. I get notes of mandarin, a little grapefruit and a touch of dry coconut underneath. The rum tastes of more than it smells of. It tastes of a great deal, and pretty well. The load-bearing notes are ripe citrus fruit, particularly grapefruit and mandarin. There are also coconut notes, more present on the palate than on the nose. Piquant, underlying mild spices wrap the whole thing up. Really lovely rum. Surprisingly good.

Tanduay Rum Gold 40%
A blend with rum up to seven years old in ex-bourbon casks. The colour carries the mark of longer maturation without being fully dark. It is a warm golden amber. The first notes I get on the nose are a spiced honey, ripe melon, almond, orange peel, caramel and perhaps a little apple juice. The palate is very true to the nose. Many of the same notes return, particularly the spiced honey, orange peel, caramel, plus tropical fruit and vanilla. An interesting rum that in passing you could mistakenly think was spiced, because of those notes of spiced honey, orange peel and caramel. But it is not, and that is pretty great.

Tanduay Double Rum 40%
A blend of 16 year old and five year old rum married for two years in ex-bourbon casks. The colour is golden amber. Here too I get notes of spiced honey, though not quite as much as in the previous rum. It is followed by notes of caramelised pineapple, amarena cherry, tropical fruit plus floral and citrus notes. I am not sure I can taste the somewhat longer maturation this rum has had. But the share of 16 year old rum is probably limited compared with the five year old in the blend. The palate has sweetish notes of, and now I am repeating myself, spiced honey, orange peel, tropical fruit, spice, cherry, caramel, caramelised pineapple and, surprisingly, big soft marshmallows. It is probably the combination of the softness with the sweet icing-sugar quality and vanilla that sends me in that direction.

Tanduay Reserve Matured Dark Rum 10 Years 40%
Matured at least 10 years in ex-bourbon casks. The colour is again golden amber. In this 10 year old the honey and caramel notes are more restrained. I want to say it smells more classic, though still with Tanduay's own DNA. There is no doubt where Tanduay's aroma and flavour profile sits once you have been through a few of them. This one smells more elegant and refined, though. It tastes really good. Easily the best of those I have tasted so far. Good balance between dried fruit, spiced cask influence, light caramel, mild sweetness plus vanilla and a lovely piquant prickle of acidity at the end. Magnificent rum. A really good glass that finishes dry.

Tanduay Reserve Matured Dark Rum Overproof 50.5%
We close with the finale. An overproof rum at 50.5%. The colour is much like the others. Golden amber. A fairly fruity, full, festive nose. We are still some way from the sweetish honey and caramel, though not so far away that you cannot recognise it on the nose. Quite discreet. You can certainly feel in the mouth that this rum has a few more percent. It has become more grown up and has more volume without burning off in the mouth. For a cask strength girl like me this is actually a really good glass. Notes of a prickling acidity get room in the bottling. I like that a lot.

I will not leave out a small reprimand for Tanduay, though. In my book, calling a rum at 50.5% overproof is a stretch. But I will take that up with them myself if I run into them one day. That said, it does taste good. You cannot take that away from them. I think Tanduay wants to be a bit more grown up and brave with this rum. But it is as if they do not dare walk the line all the way. I am not quite sure what they want with it. Granted, there is a difference between 40% and 50.5%. But go the whole way and make a bottling at at least 54.5%, or at grown-up navy 57%. One can hope that comes one day, and I will certainly be up for that day, because this really does taste good.

Conclusion.
I did not quite know what to expect from Tanduay Rum. But I have to say I have been positively surprised. And I want to single out their Silver, their 10 year old and their Overproof at 50.5%. Those were the standouts for me among the five lovely rums I tasted. So a big warm recommendation from here to get started with Tanduay Rum.

If you have tasted Don Papa, try something new from the Philippines, and if you have never had rum from the Philippines, it is time to get going.
Enjoy.

Relaterede produkter

Tanduay Rum Silver White Rum 70 cl 40%

EUR 24,00