Background
I’m late to the party on this one, but I’m just happy to have been invited. The Aficionados Group did a handful of unaged rum picks with FineDrams back in 2020, among which was this NYE-HM. This marque from New Yarmouth sits in the middle of the distillery’s range in terms of ester count, with this expression containing 585.5 gr/hL AA. It was bottled 69%.
Tasting
As I’ve come to expect from rums like these, the first couple whiffs are full of glue and varnish. Once I get acclimated to it, I get green apple, flowers, fennel, pineapple, freeze dried strawberries and blueberries, cigarette ash, lime peel, rocks, and sea breeze. While this doesn’t even contain half the esters of New Yarmouth’s highest marque, it has nonetheless crossed the threshold of smelling like high ester rum.
On the palate, it’s all fruit and flowers. I get freeze dried strawberries, green apple Jolly Ranchers, bunches of flowers, lemon-lime soda, and also some rocks. There is a little less tartness than other NYE marques I’ve tried like WM, but the notes which I associate with that tartness are still present.
Verdict
Another big winner from NYE. Apparently 500-700 gr/hL AA is my Goldilocks zone for estery unaged rums; I’ve found WPE, STCE, HLCF, HERR, and now HM all to be funky and intense but nicely balanced. It’s too bad this particular release has run its course, as it’s pretty extraordinary. Here’s hoping we see more HM in the future. (8/10)