Fiji 2010
Cask Type: Barrel
Bottled: 2022
Age: 12
Region: Fiji
No. of bottles: 268
ABV: 64.6%
Release: Winter Release 2022
Rob Whitehead
“Whilst I have never had the honour of facing the Fijian national Rugby team and experiencing their formidable Cibi war dance at close range, after gustatorially wrestling this remarkable Rum, I feel I can at least sympathise with those brave souls who have. This is, by turns, like having your head, and upper body, repeatedly trapped in a car bonnet and yet also as if being vigorously beaten with variably-sized plastic bottles of lurid carbonated tropical fruit drinks. It is preposterous, and I am richer for having experienced it!”
Tasting Notes
Whack. This Fijian rum leaps out of the glass from metres away; an incredible hybrid of Jamaicanstyle tropical funk and agricole-like synthetic fruit rampages across the olfactory senses, leaving one astounded and wanting more. The palate offers linseed oil, pineapple, guava, grapefruit, engine oil, beeswax and paraffin, all with a backbone of cream-soda-like vanilla. This is an immense rum - be sure to warm up before approaching it.
Distillery
Although sugar cane is indigenous to Fiji and grows wild, its importance as a crop was not realised until 1870 when cotton prices slumped. Commercial production of rum is thought to have begun 20 years later
Doug says: “Fiji’s rich volcanic soils are perfect for the growth of sugar cane. There is now only one distillery on the island, South Pacific, although once there were around 5 until sugar prices fell. The rum is known for its gutsy, complex quality.”