December 3rd 2011 we had a small gathering to test rum. The rules were simple every participant bring one bottle each. Since we were six participants, for the cost of one bottle we could try six. A nice way of trying rum without having to buy them all yourself. We started with a light meal and some socialising and moved on to the testing afterwards.For practical reasons we did the testing one at a time with the option of going back and re-test afterwards.

From left to right: Håkan, Magnus, Jimmy, Mikael & Mikael

The rums we tried were:

Bristol - Classic Reserve 1998 (Bottled 2009) Nicaragua

Dillon - Tres Vieux

Plantation - Guyana 1999

Havana Club - Seleccion de Maestros

Ron Zacapa - Centenario Gran Reserva

Diplomatico - Reserva Exclusiva 12 años

Bristol Nicaragua '98 was very whiskeylike in character and reminded me about a bourbon.

Dillon Tres Vieux is the only cane juice rum I have tried except for Barbancourt 5 Star. It had more of a cognac character with long after taste. It was together with the Havana Club my favourites of the evening.

Plantation Guyana '99 was interesting to try as I like the blended El Dorado 12. This was less sweet but still very nice. Powerful taste with hints of banana.

Havana Club S. de M. is the first rum I have tried from them that works as a sipper. The Havana Club 7 yo have never really impressed me. Their white rums are delicious for mixing and beats the similarly priced Bacardi offerings with a very wide margin. The Seleccion de Maestros was mild in taste with a long after taste. A bit spicy or peppery and had still some alcoholic bite left in it.

The Zacapa is a long time favourite but as the fifth rum of the evening it seemed a bit character less and anonymous with no flavours coming forward. I got surprised since I had put this one as a likely favourite but most people thought it was too bland.

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva was sweet, very sweet. Very easy to drink but the sweetness was too much for me.This was the favourite among several of the evenings participants.Hints of processed almonds or marzipan in the flavour.

Dillon won on getting high average ratings while the one that seemed most popular was the Diplomatico. The Diplomatico got more diverse ratings due to it's sweetness. A more of a love it or hate it rum while the Dillon was not a real favourite with anybody but considered among the best by all.

The final ratings were:

1 Dillon - Tres Vieux

2 Diplomatico - Reserva Exclusiva 12 años

3 Havana Club - Seleccion de Maestros

4 Plantation - Guyana 1999

5 Ron Zacapa - Centenario Gran Reserva

6 Bristol - Classic Reserve 1998 (Bottled 2009) Nicaragua

Afterwards we retried rums we were curious about or tried some that I had at home and had not been part of the test. It was a very nice evening and I hope we can repeat it a few times every year.

Me and my wife went on a wine tasting event held at a local vineyard "Kullahalvöns Vingård" friday evening. They started with a guided tour of the facilities and then there was the wine tasting event afterwards.

We were served a light meal together with the wines. The owners, that were hosting the event, was very entertaining to listen to.

One of their wines "Solaris 2009" won a competition for best wine made from the Solaris grape in a big competition in Germany recently.

This is a small batch producer, they only have 4-5000 plants. Most of their production is sold out already. They produce white wine, rose' wine and sparkling wine. Their wines are kind of expensive costing around 30 US$ and are hard to find.  We tried all of their varieties except the sparkling one, since it is not ready yet.

Varieties:

"Kullahalvöns Vitt Vin, Solaris 2009"

"Kullahalvöns Vitt Vin, Madeleine Angevine 2009"

"Kullahalvöns Rose' Vin, Rondo 2009"

"Kullahalvöns Mousserande Vin, Regent 2009"

Impressions:

"Kullahalvöns Vitt Vin, Solaris 2009"

Half sweet white wine with a smell of green berries or rhubarb. This is the competition winner. A bit to sweet for me but just the way my wife likes it.

My grade 3/5

My wifes grade 4/5

"Kullahalvöns Vitt Vin, Madeleine Angevine 2009"

This is a  drier white wine and more to my taste. A very fresh taste that would make a perfect sipping wine for a summer evening.

My grade 4/5

My wifes grade 3/5

"Kullahalvöns Rose' Vin, Rondo 2009"

This is the rose' wine. It have a  very nice red color reminding of strawberries not the ordinary pink color of other rose' wines. It is made from the Rondo grape that was first introduced as recently as 1963. Smells of red berries specially strawberries. The taste also have a hint of strawberry in it. All in all a very nice wine that I would probably never have bought unless I had tried it here. Both me and my wife liked it.

My grade 4/5

My wifes grade 4/5

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