(an English part is below, just skip the German part)
Liebe Rum Gemeinde,
normalerweise lest ihr an dieser Stelle eine kurze Einleitung zum vorgestellten Rum. Doch was ist noch normal, wenn der Rum um den es geht, der J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO ist?! Genau, DER J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO, den Trader Vic seinerzeit für seinen Mai Tai verwendete...
Was wurde nicht schon alles geschrieben über den J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO, auch bereits hier, auf diesem Blog - Mutmaßungen speisten über Jahrzehnte einen Mythos. Was war das für ein Rum? Wie schmeckte er, was für eine Charakteristik besaß er? Diese Fragen stellten sich, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit dem Mai Tai, für dessen ursprüngliche Charakteristik die Beantwortung dieser Fragen sehr entscheidend war, viele Fans des Tiki Klassikers auf dem gesamten Erdball. Lange glaubte man, dass dieses Geheimnis für immer ein solches bleiben würde. Doch im neuen Jahrtausend und um das Jahr 2010 herum wurde es dann doch noch konkreter, nachdem man bei Appleton einige wenige vergessene Flaschen dieses Rums gefunden haben möchte. Camper English schrieb damals für die Print-Ausgabe des Mixology Magazins (später wurde er auch in vier Teilen online veröffentlicht) einen umfassenden Artikel zum Mai Tai, der letztlich auch Gedanken zum J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO enthielt, die wiederum auf diesen ominösen Flaschen von Appleton basierten. Die damaligen Hypothesen gingen von einem pechschwarzen Jamaica Rum mit sagenhaften 77,2% vol. aus, der einen hohen Estergehalt besaß. So schrieb Camper English:
"Der Wray & Nephew Rum wurde ausschließlich im Pot Still Verfahren hergestellt und hatte einen Alkoholgehalt von 77,2 %. [...] Wir können davon ausgehen, dass der im Pot Still Verfahren hergestellte Rum mehr Körper und Gaumenkitzel besitzt, dass sich in seinem Aroma eine Menge scharfer Ester bemerkbar macht, was jedoch durch die lange Fasslagerung ausgeglichen wird."
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| (1) Bildquelle: BBC UK |
Auf den Eindrücken des Rums aus dieser Flasche basierten damals die Einschätzungen aller in diesem Artikel zu Wort kommenden Personen! Da wären Sean Muldoon, der Bar-Manager des Merchant Hotels in Belfast, der dort eine Flasche dieses Rums stehen hatte und zu einem Preis von 750,- Euro Mai Tais damit ausschenkte. Des Weiteren die Autoren Gary Regan und Martin Cate, Autor und Besitzer der Tiki-Bar Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco. Sie alle gingen davon aus, dass es sich bei diesem Rum um das Original handelte und ihre Ideen zur möglichst authentischen Substitution des J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO orientierten sich daran.
*EDIT*:
Ian Burell wusste zu berichten, dass diese Flaschen aus einer Inventur im Jahr 1998 stammen, die Joy Spence vorgenommen hat, nachdem sie Masterblenderin bei J. Wray & Nephew wurde. Sie wurden damals eigens für Trader Vic auf dessen Wunsch hin und nur für ihn produziert. Ich gehe davon aus, dass dies aber erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt passierte, als der Mai Tai bereits ein Erfolg war und auch Trader Vic große Bekanntheit erlangte.
Auch in einem Bericht zum UK-Rumfest 2008 von Tatu Kaarlas war klar von einem Overproof Rum die Rede, der dort präsentiert wurde, und auch ein entsprechendes, eindeutiges Bild dazu ist zu sehen:
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| (2) Bildquelle: Refined Vices |
In einem deutschen Cocktailforum berichtete wiederum ein Mitglied im Jahr 2007 aus einem Gespräch mit Angus Winchester ähnliches:
"Cocktailmexican und ich sprachen mit Angus Winchester, der einmal eine Flasche Wray and Nephew 17 Years Old Rum (der Original-Rum für den Mai Tai) besaß, seine Beschreibung des W&N kam arg in die Richtung Hampden Estate."
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| (3) Bildquelle: Cincinnati Cocktails |
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| Das Original: J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO |
Zum Rum selbst können zwei Dinge also bereits estgestellt werden. Zum einen hat diese originale Flasche J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO natürlich ein anderes, zeitgenössisches Label und vor allen Dingen ist aber erwiesen, dass es sich dabei definitiv um eine Abfüllung mit 43% vol. und somit um alles andere als einen Overproof Rum handelt. Das heißt, dass die vor einigen Jahren bei Appleton gefundenen Flaschen zwar möglicherweise sehr alten J. Wray & Nephew Rum enthielten, vielleicht sogar einen der 17 Jahre gereift, aber unverdünnt war, aber auch, dass es sich dabei auf keinen Fall um den Rum gehandelt hat, zu dem Trader Vic 1944 in seiner Bar in Oakland gegriffen und den Drink kreiert haben möchte, den heute die ganze Welt kennt: den Mai Tai. Das ist nun, endlich, Fakt!
Parallel dazu fotografierte Stefan Marzoll vom Kirsch Whisky Team während seines Aufenthalts auf Jamaica im Juni 2019, als er u.a. auch Appleton besuchte, ebenfalls eine Flasche J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO, die sich optisch nahezu komplett mit jener Flasche deckt, aus der das heute verkostete Sample stammt:
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| (4) Bildquelle: Stefan Marzoll/facebook |
Was wissen wir noch?
Nun, ich sprach mit Matt Pietrek über den J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO und er lenkte meinen Fokus noch einmal auf die Entstehungszeit. Denn der Wray & Nephew 17 YO den Vic im Jahr 1944 nutzte, muss ja bereits 1927 in die Fässer gekommen sein. Das bedeutet zum einen, dass der Rum damals auf jeden Fall ein Pure Pot Still Rum gewesen sein muss, denn im Jahr 1927 gab es noch keine Column Still auf Jamaica. Und zweitens heißt das aber auch, dass sich die Frage nach den damals verwendeten Fässern in besonderer Weise stellt. Denn während wir heute ganz selbstverständlich von Ex-Bourbon Fässern zur Lagerung ausgehen, war das damals keinesfalls ein Automatismus. Dafür gab es gleich zwei Gründe. Erstens war Jamaica damals noch britische Kolonie und stand dem Vereinigten Königreich somit sehr viel näher als den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Und zweitens befanden wir uns 1927 noch mitten in der Zeit der Prohibition, was wiederum bedeutete, dass von frischen Ex-Bourbon Fässern nicht ausgegangen werden kann. Welche Fässer hingegen letztlich zum Einsatz kamen, wissen wir heute leider nicht mehr.
Nun aber will ich natürlich endlich wissen wie er denn schmeckt, der J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO. Und ihr könnt euch nicht vorstellen, wie gespannt ich darauf bin! Ich hatte nie zu träumen gewagt, diesen Rum wirklich einmal probieren zu können und nun wird das tatsächlich Realität. Ein echter Traum wird wahr!
.
Verkostung des J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Jamaica Rum:
Preis: unbezahlbar.
Alter: der Rum reifte seinerzeit 17 Jahre im Fass. Da es sich um eine Standardabfüllung gehandelt hat, gibt es weder einen angegebenen Jahrgang noch ist bekannt, wann genau der Rum abgefüllt wurde.
Lagerung: die Reifung fand komplett auf Jamaica in tropischem Klima statt.
Fassnummern: unbekannt
Angel's Share: unbekannt. Ich gehe aber davon aus, dass er sehr hoch gewesen ist. Noch heute verdunstet bei karibischer Reifung weit mehr als die Hälfte des Rums in 17 Jahren und die Bedingungen werden sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten eher verbessert als verschlechtert haben.
Alkoholstärke: der Rum kommt mit 43% vol. daher - verdünnte Trinkstärke!
Destillationsverfahren: gebrannt wurde der Rum damals noch in Pot Stills.
Mark: unbekannt.
Farbe: dunkles Mahagoni.
Viskosität: fette, satte, weite und regelmäßige Schlieren laufen eher zügig an der Glaswand herab.
Gaumen: am Gaumen enttäuscht der Rum. Hier macht sich wohl ungleich mehr als in der Nase bemerkbar, dass der Rum schon ein wenig stärker oxidiert ist. So lässt sich nur noch erahnen, was das mal für eine Granate gewesen sein dürfte, die die Nase noch ankündigte. Der Alkohol macht sich gar nicht bemerkbar, bzw. dahingehend, dass der Rum eben eindeutig dünner daher kommt als das bei einem Brett in Fassstärke der Fall ist. Logisch. Möglicherweise hat er auch schon ein bisschen von seinem ursprünglichen Alkoholgehalt eingebüßt. Ich würde ihn nicht verwässert nennen, aber der Körper wirkt insgesamt einfach wie in sich zusammengefallen. Das gleiche trifft im Grund dann auch für das Bouquet zu. Da sind schon noch die Hinweise darauf, wie der wohl mal geschmeckt haben wird, Parallelen zu heutigen Appleton oder auch Long Pond sind einige da, etwas Haselnuss finde ich noch, ein wenig Tannine vom Holz, aber eine echte Geschmacksbeschreibung macht wohl leider keinen Sinn mehr. Zu viel Ursprünglichkeit ging hier eindeutig verloren.
Abgang: im Abgang habe ich noch so ein wenig was nussiges, trockenes, leicht holziges, aber viel bleibt da nicht mehr. Nach hinten heraus etwas Bitterschokolade und frisch geschnittenes Geäst. Insgesamt an Long Pond erinnernd. Der Rum bleibt dann schon auch noch ne Weile am Gaumen, aber auch hier muss der Tropfen seinem Alter und der Oxidation Tribut zollen.
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Was den Rum selbst anbelangt, so kann man wohl definitiv festhalten dass man ihm sein hohes Alter deutlich anmerkt, wobei sich das jetzt nicht auf die reinen Jahre der Reifung im Fass bezieht. Gerade in der Nase, finde ich, wird das sehr deutlich, so riechen heutige Rums nicht mehr. Wenn heute ein Jamaica Rum so fruchtig ist, dann geht das eigentlich immer auch mit brachialer Esterpower einher und das ist hier gar nicht der Fall. Und am Gaumen zeigt sich final eben die Instabilität, die mit so alten Tropfen nach all den Jahren, und gerade wenn die Flasche auch schon etwas oxidiert ist, einhergeht. Eine wirkliche inhaltliche Bewertung vorzunehmen ist mir daher unmöglich, da meine Eindrücke am Gaumen keine Aussagekraft haben, im Hinblick auf das, was da tatsächlich mal in der Flasche steckte, als es noch schmeckte, wie es schmecken sollte. Das klingt zwar erst einmal sehr ernüchternd, ist es aber nur zum Teil. Denn die Nase hat noch ganz prima mitgespielt und meines Erachtens sehr wohl durchblicken lassen, in welche Richtung der Rum normalerweise geht, bzw. einmal gegangen ist, das heißt, ich habe nun eine sehr konkrete Vorstellung davon, über was für einen Rum wir jetzt sprechen. Einziges, aber doch entscheidendes, Problem: trotz meiner Hoffnung, der Rum würde bei mir klare Assoziationen zu etwas an Rum auslösen das ich kenne, muss ich doch einsehen, dass wir hier wirklich über einen verlorenen Rum-Stil sprechen, den es so einfach nicht mehr gibt. Da waren die Erinnerungen an z.B. Gardel, ja, aber nachdem ich da ein wenig herumexperimentiert habe, u.a. Appleton 12 mit Gardel, ein wenig TECA und etwas Hampden Estate 46% vol. zusammen schüttete war klar, dass das eben auch nur der Teil eines ganzen ist. Insbesondere diese Fruchtigkeit in einen Blend zu bringen, ohne dabei aber die Ester zu overpowern erscheint mir geradezu aussichtslos. Schade, denn ich hatte sehr gehofft, dass vielleicht eine Chance besteht zwar keinen authentischen J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO "nachzubauen", das ist unmöglich, aber möglicherweise eben doch zumindest etwas, was dem Rum von damals möglichst nahe kommt. Denn das ist ja durchaus auch für den Mai Tai nicht uninteressant. Apropos Mai Tai: die Annahme, dass der Rhum, den Vic nach Versiegen der J. Wray & Nephew 15 YO und 17 YO dem nun verwendeten Jamaicaner an die Seite stellte kein Rhum Agricole war, sondern ein Traditionell, bekommt hier und heute ganz neue Nahrung! Denn die Assoziationen zu Melasse Rhum aus Guadeloupe war durchaus da und wer weiß, vielleicht schaffte es Trader Vic mit den ihm damals zur Verfügung stehenden Rums ja tatsächlich, etwas dem J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO ähnliches zu kreieren. Das allerdings, werden wir wohl ganz sicher nie erfahren. Und so lebt ein Teil des Mythos eben doch auch noch als genau das weiter, selbst wenn heute viele Fragen beantwortet wurden.
-ohne Wertung-
Mai Tai mit J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO:
Sooooo... und nun, liebe Rum Gemeinde, na klar, ich konnte es nicht lassen. Ja, nach den Eindrücken vom Gaumen ergibt das nur begrenzt Sinn, das ist mir klar, und natürlich entspricht das Ergebnis gleich nicht jenem von 1944, wie könnte es das auch, nichts kann das heute 1:1 auferstehen lassen, aber ich konnte die Gelegenheit einen Mai Tai mit J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO mixen zu können einfach nicht ungenutzt lassen.
.
Das Rezept (frei nach Trader Vic, 1944):
- 6,0 cl J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Jamaica Rum
- 1,5 cl Ferrand Dry Curacao
- 1,0 cl Meneau Orgeat
- 0,5 cl Zucker
- 3,1 cl Limettensaft (frisch gepresst!)
Im Glas weist er die, tatsächlich kann man heute mehr denn je sagen, typische Farbe auf, denn genau dieser Rum hat ja letztlich die optische Vorstellung davon wie ein Mai Tai aussieht begründet.
Fazit: ich habe einen Mai Tai mit J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO im Glas gehabt. :-) Leider, so muss man sagen, war nach der Pur-Verkostung bereits klar, dass es um viel mehr nicht mehr ging, da der Rum am Gaumen bereits zu sehr unter der Oxidation gelitten hat. Nichts desto weniger war es mir ein großer Spaß, hier ein Stück flüssige Geschichte gelebt haben zu können und der Drink war, auch unter diesen wenig optimalen Bedingungen, noch lecker! Und bevor ich mich endgültig dem Ende meines kleinen Ausflugs in die Geschichte entgegen neige, möchte ich ein letztes Mal meinen Dank an die Adresse zweier Menschen richten, die mir das heute möglich gemacht haben. Vielen, vielen Dank!
Bis demnächst,
Flo
Bildquellen:
(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7054120.stm
(2) https://refinedvices.com/decadence-and-debauchery-in-foggy-london-town-part-i
(3) https://cincinnaticocktails.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/
What hasn't been written about the J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO yet, even in this blog - speculations have been building its legacy over decades. What kind of rum was it? How did it taste, what was its character? These questions become even more relevant considering this rums role in setting the standard for the Mai Tai. This rums flavor profile was believed to remain a secret forever. But this seemed to have changed in recent years after a few forgotten bottles of this rum were found at the Appleton Estate around the year 2010. Camper English wrote a comprehensive Mai Tai article for the print version of the German magazine Mixology (which was split up into four parts and was later published online). He included his thoughts on the Wray & Nephew 17 YO based on these ominous bottles found at Appleton Estate. The rum was said to be a pitch-black Jamaica rum bottled at an insane abv of 77.2% and a high ester content. Camper English wrote:
The rums found at Appleton Estate were the only point of reference. Everyone who believed to know the original Wray & Nephew 17 YO considered the rums found at the Appleton Estate to be the real deal. Sean Muldoon, the bar manager of the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, had a bottle of this rum and offered to make Mai Tais for 750€ per serving. Author Gary Regan and Martin Cate, author and owner of the Tiki Bar Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco have access to a bottle of those rums as well. They all assumed that this rum was the original Wray & Nephew 17 YO and they based their ideas for how an authentic substitution should taste on the found bottles.
*EDIT*:
Ian Burell told me that these bottles came from a 1998 inventory made by Joy Spence after she became Master Blender at J. Wray & Nephew. They were produced especially for Trader Vic to his request and only for him, not for the market. I assume, this happened later, when the Mai Tai already was a success and Trader Vic became famous.
Also in a report of the UK Rum Fest 2008 by Tatu Kaarlas the rum presented there was without a doubt an overproof rum. Even a picture can proof this:
In 2007, a member of a german Cocktailforum reported something similar, based on a conversation he had with Angus Winchester:
Therefore the Wray & Nephew 17 YO was believed to taste similar to what the rum scene knew from Hampden, a real monster of a rum!
In 2010, around the time I joined the rum scene, I was confronted with this idea of the Wray & Nephew 17 YO and I accepted it without questioning it at first. This drink quickly turned out to become a passion of mine. However, the more time I invested into this topic, the more I began to ask a lot of critical questions. There were just too many inconsistencies! For example, Trader Vic described the Wray & Nephew 17 YO as golden-colored and not a pitch-black. I also struggle to imagine that the bar crowd of the 1940s favored a Mai Tai with a 77.2% abv rum. Anyone who has tried to please his "untrained" friends with a Hampden-made, Cask Strength Mai Tai will generally agree with that doubt. And finally, I found a picture of Jeff "Beachbum" Berry (on the right, the original link from back then does not exist anymore though), which shows a bottle of Wray & Nephew 15 YO, Vic's replacement rum for the Mai Tai, after his supplies for the 17-year-old rum ran dry. The label of this bottle revealed a two-digit Proof, limiting the rum to an alcohol content of under 50% abv.. After enquiring via E-Mail, Jeff Berry confirmed that the Wray & Nephew 15 YO is bottled at 86 Proof/43% abv. So a rum with 77.2% abv was supposed to be replaced by a rum with only 43% abv, cutting down the drinks alcohol content by almost 50% without changing the balance of the other ingredients? That seems unlikely!
After all, I didn't believe anything anymore, summed up my doubts in this essay and assumed that the original rum had a comparable alcohol content (+/- 45% abv.) from then on. Of course, this would mean that the bottles of Wray & Nephew 17 YO found at Appleton, even the one at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, would not have been the original. Unfortunately, I was never able to prove that sufficiently - until now!
In the course of the worldwide triumph of rum in the recent years, it turned out that not all bottles were completely mixed by Trader Vic in his famous Mai Tais. Even today some of them are still privately owned and a few of them are even open. I managed to locate such a bottle and finally got a photo as well as a sample of it. To my honest regrets, I would like to honorably mention the names here, but I was asked not to reveal my source to prevent further inquiries. I think that's very understandable though. Nevertheless, my huge thanks to both people involved. You can be sure: my gratitude couldn't be larger and I hope, I can return the favor one day.
Focusing on the rum itself, two things can be noted. First of all, this original bottle of Wray & Nephew 17 YO has a different, contemporary label and, most importantly, it's definitely a bottling of 43% abv., so it's anything but an overproof rum. This means that the bottles found at Appleton a few years ago may contain very old Wray & Nephew rum, perhaps even a rum matured for 17 years but without any dilution, but it was definitely not the mythical rum Trader Vic used to create his legendary drink in his bar in Oakland in 1944: the Mai Tai. Finally, this is fact!
Furthermore, during his travel to Jamaica in June 2019, Stefan Marzoll visited Appleton and took a picture of a bottle of Wray & Nephew 17 YO, which looks almost identical to the bottle my sample comes from:
What else do we know?
Matt Pietrek and I talked about the Wray & Nephew and he set my focus on the date of distillation again. The Wray & Nephew 17 YO Trader Vic used in 1944 must have been filled in 1927, so I’m assuming two things: first, it is clear that the rum must have been a pure pot still rum, because there wasn't any column still in Jamaica in 1927. And secondly, there is the question about the barrels used at that time. Even though it is safe to assume that most rums age in ex-bourbon barrels nowadays, this wasn't the case in the old days. Jamaica was still a British colony at the time, so it was much closer to the United Kingdom than to the United States of America. In addition, 1927 was in the era of prohibition, therefore we can’t be sure that this rum was aged in fresh ex-bourbon barrels. So the exact type of barrel remains unknown.
But enough of the history-talk, I want to know how the Wray & Nephew 17 YO tastes. You can't imagine how excited I am. I have never dared to imagine being able to try this rum myself but it’s actually becoming reality. A dream comes true!
Nose: Wow, I really like! First of all, the J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO is completely different from today's Jamaican rum and especially from today's Appletons! It's not comparable! Although, I mean to recognize a distant relationship, but the differences are immense! The rum has a wonderfully heavy basic character, but it also comes somehow fresh, vital and fruity, but without being brutal. He got a lot of the wood, the 17 years in the tropics are definitely perceptible, but it is by no means too much. There isn't any alcoholic pungency, but however, in a blindtasting I would suspect that the rum has more than 43% abv, because it is very, very intensive. Nevertheless, I miss a little bit depth, because the low alcohol content becomes noticeable. I'm looking forward to the first sip! The bouquet is complex and rich. I have a beautiful, strong, fruity and natural sweetness, a whole shelf of various spices, of which clove is the most dominant, furthermore polished wood, plenty of tannins, trail mix, raisins, grapes, burned sugar, overripe fruits and, quite peripherally, also salted cashews. In spite of the differences to today's rums, I perceive a typical Jamaica rum, but of course in a very special way. Hard to explain. But I'm unsure if I would commit myself in a blind tasting, the longer I smell it, because I also have a lot of associations to molasses-based rhums of Guadeloupe, especially to Gardel. Of course, with such a rarity, you want to take up every component of the rum and, if possible, also process it, but here we have always acute overstimulation.
Conclusion: more than just a piece of liquid history! If there is a rum that you, as a fan of Jamaica Rums and Mai Tais, would like to have in your glass, then it's definitely this one! To my knowledge, there is nothing comparable in any other category of rum. There is neither the one Caroni, the one particular Agricole or the one historical Demerara. There are always many and certainly many that you should have tried, but a single rum that lives completely for itself as a myth, which almost no one ever tasted? No. But Jamaica has it. There is THE ONE Jamaica rum, and that's it! And I'm overjoyed to have the opportunity to try it, because that's simply not something you have in your own hands. It requires a proper affection of the goddess of fortune, the Fortuna, which was fortunate to me to my great happiness. Therefore, I would like to thank once again the two people who have made this possible for me. Thank you so much!
Belonging to the rum itself, I definitely can say that you notice its enormous age, although this doesn't refer to the pure years of aging in the barrel. Especially in the nose, I think that is very clear, today's rums don't smell in this way. If today a Jamaica rum is so fruity, then this is always accompanied by brutal ester power and this is not the case here. And finally, on the palate, the instability that accompanied by with so old liquor after all those years, and especially if the bottle is already a bit oxidized, is finally revealed. So it's impossible for me to return a real verdict, because my impressions on the palate have no significance, in view of what originally was in the bottle. This may sound sobering, but that's only partially true, because the nose still works and it shows very well in which direction the rum usually goes, or respectively is once gone. So I have now a very specific idea of what rum we talk about. The only, but crucial, problem: despite my hope that the rum would trigger clear associations with something I know, I have to admit that we're really talking about a lost style of rum that never comes back. There were the memories of e.g. Gardel, yes, but after experimenting with i.a. Appleton 12, Gardel, a little TECA and some Hampden Estate 46% abv. it was clear that it was only part of all. In particular, to bring this fruitiness in a blend, but without overpowering the esters, seems to me almost hopeless. Too bad, because I was hoping that there might not be a chance to rebuild an authentic J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO, that's impossible, but maybe at least something that comes as close as possible to the rum of that time. Because that's also quite interesting for the Mai Tai as well. And now, if we're already talking about the Mai Tai: just by the way, the assumption that the French rhum which Trader Vic put aside the Jamaica rum he used after the supplies of J. Wray & Nephew 15 YO and 17 YO were empty wasn't an Rhum Agricole but a Rhum Traditional is supported now. Because the associations with molasses rhum from Guadeloupe were there and who knows, maybe Trader Vic was able to create something similar to J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO with the available rums at that time. That, however, we will probably never know. And so, a part of the myth goes on, even if many questions have been answered today.
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Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO:
Sooooo ... and now, dear rum community, of course, I could not leave it. Yes, after the impressions of the palate, this makes not the most sense ever, I realize that, and of course, the result doesn't show a original of 1944, how could it, nothing can resurrect it 1:1 today, but I had the opportunity to mix a Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO and so I just have to do it.
.
In the glass it shows the, in fact today you can more than ever say, typical color, because exactly this rum has indeed ultimately establish the visual idea of what a Mai Tai looks like.
In terms of taste, we don't fool ourselves, of course it's thin. So I made only a small Mai Tai, just to be able to have the rum one more time pure in my glass and to see if there could be a combination of today's rums that can somehow come close to the impression of J. Wray & Nephew in the nose. Unfortunately, this hope couldn't be fulfilled. It wasn't really useful to use this rum in the Mai Tai, admittedly, but I had to do it at least once, now, as the opportunity was there, which was probably unique. For who can say of himself that he has mixed and drank a Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO at least once in his lifetime? After all: the J. Wray & Nephew manages to make itself felt in the drink, reminds very much of Wedderburn Long Pond in Mai Tais and doesn't have to hide behind these, but of course and for sure it isn't a Mai Tai as in 1944.
Conclusion: I had a Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO in my glass. What else could I say? :-) Unfortunately, it has to be mentioned and was already announced in the tasting, that's what it might have been about most, because the rum has already suffered too much from the oxidation on the palate. Nevertheless, it was great fun to have lived a piece of liquid history and the drink was, even under these less optimal conditions, even delicious! And before I finally come to the end of my little trip into history, I'd like to say one last time thanks to the address of the two people who made this possible for me today. Thanks alot!
See you soon,
Bildquellen:
(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7054120.stm
(2) https://refinedvices.com/decadence-and-debauchery-in-foggy-london-town-part-i
(3) https://cincinnaticocktails.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/
(4) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10220067881949589&set=pcb.10220067894989915&type=3&theater
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English Part:
Dear Rum Community,
usually you'd be reading a short introduction of todays rum at this point. So, but what is normal if we're talking about the J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO?! Exactly, THIS J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Trader Vic used for his original Mai Tai...
usually you'd be reading a short introduction of todays rum at this point. So, but what is normal if we're talking about the J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO?! Exactly, THIS J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Trader Vic used for his original Mai Tai...
What hasn't been written about the J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO yet, even in this blog - speculations have been building its legacy over decades. What kind of rum was it? How did it taste, what was its character? These questions become even more relevant considering this rums role in setting the standard for the Mai Tai. This rums flavor profile was believed to remain a secret forever. But this seemed to have changed in recent years after a few forgotten bottles of this rum were found at the Appleton Estate around the year 2010. Camper English wrote a comprehensive Mai Tai article for the print version of the German magazine Mixology (which was split up into four parts and was later published online). He included his thoughts on the Wray & Nephew 17 YO based on these ominous bottles found at Appleton Estate. The rum was said to be a pitch-black Jamaica rum bottled at an insane abv of 77.2% and a high ester content. Camper English wrote:
"The Wray & Nephew rum was a single pot still production and had an alcohol content of 77.2% abv [...] We can assume that the rum produced in pot stills has more body and delight for the taste-buds, that a lot of pungent ester in its aroma become noticeable, but this is compensated by the long aging in casks."
(my translation from German to the best of my knowledge)
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| Source: BBC UK |
The rums found at Appleton Estate were the only point of reference. Everyone who believed to know the original Wray & Nephew 17 YO considered the rums found at the Appleton Estate to be the real deal. Sean Muldoon, the bar manager of the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, had a bottle of this rum and offered to make Mai Tais for 750€ per serving. Author Gary Regan and Martin Cate, author and owner of the Tiki Bar Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco have access to a bottle of those rums as well. They all assumed that this rum was the original Wray & Nephew 17 YO and they based their ideas for how an authentic substitution should taste on the found bottles.
*EDIT*:
Ian Burell told me that these bottles came from a 1998 inventory made by Joy Spence after she became Master Blender at J. Wray & Nephew. They were produced especially for Trader Vic to his request and only for him, not for the market. I assume, this happened later, when the Mai Tai already was a success and Trader Vic became famous.
Also in a report of the UK Rum Fest 2008 by Tatu Kaarlas the rum presented there was without a doubt an overproof rum. Even a picture can proof this:
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| Source: Refined Vices |
In 2007, a member of a german Cocktailforum reported something similar, based on a conversation he had with Angus Winchester:
"Cocktailmexican and I talked to Angus Winchester who once owned a bottle of Wray and Nephew's 17 Years Old Rum (the original rum for the Mai Tai), according to his description of the W & N it is similar to Hampden Estate."
(my translation from German to the best of my knowledge)
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| Source: Cincinnati Cocktails |
After all, I didn't believe anything anymore, summed up my doubts in this essay and assumed that the original rum had a comparable alcohol content (+/- 45% abv.) from then on. Of course, this would mean that the bottles of Wray & Nephew 17 YO found at Appleton, even the one at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, would not have been the original. Unfortunately, I was never able to prove that sufficiently - until now!
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| The original: J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO |
Focusing on the rum itself, two things can be noted. First of all, this original bottle of Wray & Nephew 17 YO has a different, contemporary label and, most importantly, it's definitely a bottling of 43% abv., so it's anything but an overproof rum. This means that the bottles found at Appleton a few years ago may contain very old Wray & Nephew rum, perhaps even a rum matured for 17 years but without any dilution, but it was definitely not the mythical rum Trader Vic used to create his legendary drink in his bar in Oakland in 1944: the Mai Tai. Finally, this is fact!
Furthermore, during his travel to Jamaica in June 2019, Stefan Marzoll visited Appleton and took a picture of a bottle of Wray & Nephew 17 YO, which looks almost identical to the bottle my sample comes from:
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| Source: Stefan Marzoll/facebook |
What else do we know?
Matt Pietrek and I talked about the Wray & Nephew and he set my focus on the date of distillation again. The Wray & Nephew 17 YO Trader Vic used in 1944 must have been filled in 1927, so I’m assuming two things: first, it is clear that the rum must have been a pure pot still rum, because there wasn't any column still in Jamaica in 1927. And secondly, there is the question about the barrels used at that time. Even though it is safe to assume that most rums age in ex-bourbon barrels nowadays, this wasn't the case in the old days. Jamaica was still a British colony at the time, so it was much closer to the United Kingdom than to the United States of America. In addition, 1927 was in the era of prohibition, therefore we can’t be sure that this rum was aged in fresh ex-bourbon barrels. So the exact type of barrel remains unknown.
But enough of the history-talk, I want to know how the Wray & Nephew 17 YO tastes. You can't imagine how excited I am. I have never dared to imagine being able to try this rum myself but it’s actually becoming reality. A dream comes true!
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Tasting of J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Jamaica Rum:
Price: priceless.
Age: the rum matured 17 years in casks. Because it was a standard bottling, there is neither a specified vintage nor is it known exactly when the rum was bottled.
Maturation: fully matured in Jamaica in tropical weather.
Numbers of casks: unknown.
Angel's Share: unknown. But I suspect that it was very large. Even today, more than half of the rum evaporates in 17 years of Caribbean maturation and the conditions will have rather improved in recent decades.
ABV: the rum got an abv of 43% - very diluted strength!
Distillation: it's a pure pot still rum.
Marque: unknown.
Colour: dark mahagony.
Viscosity: fat, rich, wide and regular streaks run rather quickly down the glass.
Palate: the rum is much weaker on the palate than in the nose, now it's obvious that the rum is already oxidized a little stronger. So, unfortunately, I can only guess what a grenade it was, which was announced by the nose. The alcohol is not noticeable, or to the effect that the rum is just clearly thinner than a cask strength bomb. Logical. It may even have lost some of its original strength due to the oxidation. I would not call it too much watered down, but overall the body just looks like it collapsed. The same applies, more or less, to the bouquet. There are still hints of what rum it was, some parallels to today's Appleton or Long Pond rums are there, I still pick up some hazelnut, a little tannins from the wood,... but a real taste description makes unfortunately no sense anymore. Too much originality was clearly lost here.
Finish: in the finish I still have a little something nutty, dry, slightly woody, but there's not much left. At the back a bit bitter chocolate and freshly cut branches. Overall, I have associations to Long Pond. The rum stays on the palate for a while, but the rum has to pay tribute to its age and its oxidation.
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Belonging to the rum itself, I definitely can say that you notice its enormous age, although this doesn't refer to the pure years of aging in the barrel. Especially in the nose, I think that is very clear, today's rums don't smell in this way. If today a Jamaica rum is so fruity, then this is always accompanied by brutal ester power and this is not the case here. And finally, on the palate, the instability that accompanied by with so old liquor after all those years, and especially if the bottle is already a bit oxidized, is finally revealed. So it's impossible for me to return a real verdict, because my impressions on the palate have no significance, in view of what originally was in the bottle. This may sound sobering, but that's only partially true, because the nose still works and it shows very well in which direction the rum usually goes, or respectively is once gone. So I have now a very specific idea of what rum we talk about. The only, but crucial, problem: despite my hope that the rum would trigger clear associations with something I know, I have to admit that we're really talking about a lost style of rum that never comes back. There were the memories of e.g. Gardel, yes, but after experimenting with i.a. Appleton 12, Gardel, a little TECA and some Hampden Estate 46% abv. it was clear that it was only part of all. In particular, to bring this fruitiness in a blend, but without overpowering the esters, seems to me almost hopeless. Too bad, because I was hoping that there might not be a chance to rebuild an authentic J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO, that's impossible, but maybe at least something that comes as close as possible to the rum of that time. Because that's also quite interesting for the Mai Tai as well. And now, if we're already talking about the Mai Tai: just by the way, the assumption that the French rhum which Trader Vic put aside the Jamaica rum he used after the supplies of J. Wray & Nephew 15 YO and 17 YO were empty wasn't an Rhum Agricole but a Rhum Traditional is supported now. Because the associations with molasses rhum from Guadeloupe were there and who knows, maybe Trader Vic was able to create something similar to J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO with the available rums at that time. That, however, we will probably never know. And so, a part of the myth goes on, even if many questions have been answered today.
-no rating-
Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO:
Sooooo ... and now, dear rum community, of course, I could not leave it. Yes, after the impressions of the palate, this makes not the most sense ever, I realize that, and of course, the result doesn't show a original of 1944, how could it, nothing can resurrect it 1:1 today, but I had the opportunity to mix a Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO and so I just have to do it.
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The recipe (freely adapted from Trader Vic, 1944):
- 6,0 cl J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO Jamaica Rum
- 1,5 cl Ferrand Dry Curacao
- 1,0 cl Meneau Orgeat
- 0,5 cl Rock Candy Syrup
- 3,1 cl Fresh Limejuice
In the glass it shows the, in fact today you can more than ever say, typical color, because exactly this rum has indeed ultimately establish the visual idea of what a Mai Tai looks like.
Conclusion: I had a Mai Tai with J. Wray & Nephew 17 YO in my glass. What else could I say? :-) Unfortunately, it has to be mentioned and was already announced in the tasting, that's what it might have been about most, because the rum has already suffered too much from the oxidation on the palate. Nevertheless, it was great fun to have lived a piece of liquid history and the drink was, even under these less optimal conditions, even delicious! And before I finally come to the end of my little trip into history, I'd like to say one last time thanks to the address of the two people who made this possible for me today. Thanks alot!
See you soon,
Flo
Sources:
(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7054120.stm
(2) https://refinedvices.com/decadence-and-debauchery-in-foggy-london-town-part-i
(3) https://cincinnaticocktails.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/
Sources:
(1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7054120.stm
(2) https://refinedvices.com/decadence-and-debauchery-in-foggy-london-town-part-i
(3) https://cincinnaticocktails.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/
(4) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10220067881949589&set=pcb.10220067894989915&type=3&theater
