Overview
Brand: Old Town Spirits
Origin: Bendt Distilling Co., Lewisville, TX, USA
Still: Pot/Column Hybrid
Age: 7 years, 1 month
Finish: ex-Port
ABV: 45%
I had not heard of Bendt Distilling Co. until I noticed a Facebook post by the DFW Rum Club, who had selected a single Sherry cask aged rum for their group. The distillery is based in Lewisville, TX, and primarily creates a number of whiskies and liqueurs, and occasionally other distilled spirits under their Old Town Spirits label.
When I was finalizing an order for the DFW Rum Club single cask, I had the option to tack this onto my order. Since I've been a fan of sherry and port cask finished/matured rums in the past, I was interested to try such a release from an American producer.
Old Town Spirits 7 year Reserve Rum Port Cask is a molasses-based rum distilled by Bendt using a hybrid pot still. It was matured for some amount of time– perhaps the entirety of its 7 year, 1 month age– in an ex-Port cask (#901). This was bottled at 45% ABV; I have bottle #35 from the yield.
Appearance
Orange brown, medium viscosity
Nose
Baked raspberries, fresh cranberries, lightly floral perfume, Jujufruits, toasted marshmallow
Palate
Pressed cranberries, baked raspberries, Jujufruits, strawberry syrup
Finish
Long, fruity, dark; craisins, muddled raspberries, black cherries, cherry cough syrup, underripe strawberries
Rating: 4/10
Summary
Oof, where to begin with this one. This port cask aged rum is more port than rum, with the latter getting all but drowned out by the former.
There is plenty of dark, moody, red fruit notes throughout the experience, leading me to believe this must have been a wet cask, and/or the aging was for a significant length of time. Virtually no traditionally rum notes are present, but to be fair I have not had a non-secondary cask matured rum from Bendt before.
As a spirit, I'd probably give this a rating closer to a 5. It's not bad, but just doesn't fit in as a rum, given the overzealous cask profile.