Overview
Brand: Raising Glasses
Origin: Rummieclub, Diemen, North Holland, Netherlands
Still: Pot
Age: 3 months
Finish: ex-Rum
ABV: 60.2%
Today we look at the second batch of a special release from the folks at Raising Glasses. Entry #16 in their Folklore Series is Kyrië II, named after a Dutch gnome king who– according to legend– ruled over a group of gnomes that helped people with housework overnight, unseen by humans. This group disappeared, never to return, after a farmer attempted to capture Kyrië, who subsequently died in the process.
Connecting the legend to this bottle, Kyrië is a pot still rum that was produced by the now-defunct Rummieclub distillery in the Netherlands. This rum is unique in being the only (as far as we know) one that uses sugarcane juice that was shipped frozen from a producer, before distilling. Rummieclub used juice from a source in Vietnam. Batch II is identical to batch I, aside from a short 3 month aging in an ex-Rum cask. This is released at 60.2% ABV.
Like their other releases, a percentage of profits from Kyrië goes to support organizations in the country of the rum's origin. This bottle supports Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice in The Hague; I love to see the rum community rally around worthy causes. Now, to the rum.
Appearance
Clear with a slight white gold tinge, low viscosity
Nose
Artificial pineapple, processed sugarcane, apple cider vinegar, hint of aloe
Palate
Sugarcane, underripe green bell pepper, banana, hint of fresh pineapple, vinegar
Finish
Long, tangy, grassy; sugarcane, banana, sea salt, apple cider vinegar
Rating: 6/10
Summary
Kyrië II is a good rum that clearly shares DNA with other sugarcane juice-based rums, but has a very specific and new type of funk to it.
Vinegar, sugarcane, and banana all have major parts to play in this profile, which twists and turns through tangy to sweet and fruity notes. Bell pepper– a flavor I usually find in other unaged sugarcane juice-based rums– comes through on the palate after cane, before swinging back to sweet banana and pineapple. The finish is long, tangy, and grassy, with fruit and vinegar-derived funk rounding out the experience.
This is a cool one, although as the Raising Glasses folks point out, it can be divisive. I like the unique premise of using frozen cane juice, which sets this rum apart from other cane juice rums that I've tried, and I think the experiment worked. It is a shame that this distillery shut down, but nice that it will live on through this Kyrië release.