Overview
Brand: Alambique Serrano
Origin: Distillería de Rommel Krassel, Santa María Tlalixtac, Oaxaca, Mexico
Still: Pot & Column Blend
Age: NAS
Finish: ex-Cognac & New French Oak
ABV: 55.6%
While Cinco de Mayo in the US is often associated with tequila or mezcal and their respective cocktails, I thought it would be great to use this occasion to highlight a newer Mexican rum.
Alambique Serrano seems to have been born out of a series of chance encounters. American Jason Cox was working in a mezcal bar in Oaxaca, Mexico, in an effort to deepen his Spanish language skills, when he met members of the Krassel family and their rum. Long story short, Jason– who is the face behind the mezcal independent bottler Cinco Sentidos– ended up partnering with the Krassel family to release their rums in the United States.
The Cañada brand– named after the region in Oaxaca where the Krassel's third-generation family-run palenque is located– offers an unaged aguardiente, while Alambique Serrano provides aged and cask-driven sugarcane juice-based rums. Isidoro, Rommel, William, and Axel Krassel Peralta are four brothers whose grandfather– Max Krassel, a German immigrant to Mexico– started a distillery that now includes a custom column still invented by Max, and an alembic pot still.
Alambique Serrano Blend #1 contains two single-cask rums: one produced by Axel and William through their column still and aged for 2 years and 6 months in an ex-Cognac cask, and the other produced by Rommel in the pot still and aged for 9 months in new French oak, followed by 8 months of rest in open demijohns. After blending, the rum was bottled at 55.6% ABV.
Appearance
Bronze, low viscosity
Nose
Lightly-toasted marshmallow, almond butter, grilled peach, flamed cinnamon bark, muscovado sugar, BBQ rub
Palate
Sweet red grapes, muscovado sugar, nutmeg, blanched almonds, vanilla, toasted sugarcane, maple syrup
Finish
Medium-long, grassy, complex; toasted sugarcane, vanilla extract, nutmeg, black pepper, lightly-toasted marshmallow
Rating: 9/10
Summary
Blend #1 is a huge hit in my book. There's a lot of complexity born from the base sugarcane juice and the mix of casks used for maturing the constituent rums.
The nose opens up typical of aged sugarcane juice rums, with lightly-toasted marshmallow, grilled peach, and almond butter up front. Searching more, I get flamed cinnamon bark, muscovado sugar, and after a splash of water, smokey BBQ rub.
Hints of sweet red grapes join muscovado sugar, nutmeg, and blanched almonds on the palate, which eases perfectly into a medium-long, complex finish of toasted sugarcane, vanilla extract, black pepper and nutmeg. Despite the savory and spice notes, the finish has a grassy quality that sits just below the surface, calling back to the raw material used for this blend.
This is honestly a contender for my favorite new rum of 2024. From the nerdy amount of production info on the label, to the straightforwardly beautiful but complex rum, Alambique Serrano as a project is very well-done, and absolutely one to keep an eye on.