In or about September of 2010, Diageo made a decision to discontinue the Oronoco brand. We sold off the last of our available stock yesterday at the Rum Bar in Key West and unfortunately will not be able to replace it."There always has to be something that defies categorization, and in white rum that would be Oronoco. A very different type of rum, made in Brazil from fresh pressed cane juice, with its first distillation in a pot still and two more in a column still. It’s then blended with aged Venezuelan rum and aged several more months in casks made from a Brazilian tree, Amendam." This rum has many of the characteristics of an agracole rather than a Spanish style rum.
The rum is a very shippable rum that seems to blossom on the palate and through the finish. There is a vanilla and caramel sent along with a slight bit of grassyness on the nose. This is a very smooth white with a very minimal burn to it. it is not a dry rum, but rather sweet from the first scent to the finish. The finish is rather sweet, with a flowery and grassy aftertaste that is very pleasant.
The bad news is it is no longer available. Southern Wine and Spirits has been out of it for several months. It is a good time to search the various liquor stores and grab up any remaining bottles for your collection. ;o)
This is indeed very bad news. I wonder why they had to discontinue their best-seller. My friends used to tell me how they loved this rum 'cause of its unique taste and caramel scent. I hope I can still grab one of the remaining bottles. Fingers crossed! :)
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I was lucky enough to procure the last bottle at my local retailer in January 2017. (Wondered if it just sat on the shelf for 2 or 3 years or if it'd just been pulled out of the back; whatever the case: the name & the leather label struck a chord with me & I researched it when I got home. Anyway, called a week later, said it was gone then called me back in two minutes saying it was stashed behind the counter (like they'd read my mind). I consider myself very lucky on this count). The reviews were an understatement. It's the best "white" rum I've had (I haven't tried Brugal Extra Dry; but I understand it's a similar aged rum, triple distilled to render the color clear with a slight golden cast). I bought a bottle of Pyrat XO Reserve as a comparative (highly underrated & undeservedly maligned Añejo with the most complex, delicious (the tobacco undertone, often referred to as "smokey" and "woody", is rare in a rum, I find, & Oronoco is the only white rum I've tasted that shares this rare & complex note. The overtly orange taste most often attributed to Pyrat I fail to discern). Oronoco is definitely a sipping rum--certainly the only white rum (and I suppose triple distilled aged white rums should carry the disqualifier that they are strictly almost colorless Añejos, albeit with the dry sweetness (an oxymoron?) & fruitiness of a fine unaged, straight from the pot (as Plantation 3 Stars would be without its third Star: a 45 day or so Jamaican) with the smokey, oakey bourbon barrel tobacco/vanilla/caramel note of a fine Añejo or Gran Añejo (which again, I have so far only tasted in Pyrat XO Reserve and also Plantation 5 Year Barbados Grand Reserve). At any rate, this review, being moot as it is as Oronoco Brazilian White Rum (which is actually probably one-third Venezuelan) was discontinued in 2014 (why is one of those enduring mysteries; actually, likely not: the simple case being most people have poor taste & are ill-defined, plus marketing & economics (otherwise how could Barcadi, the foulest swill called rum on Earth, find any kind of following?).
ReplyDeleteOne last note on Oronoco: the bottle: the main paper label which includes in type-face the day of bottling is augmented with a large leather overwrap depicting a stamped (bas-relief?) map of Brazil: very unique indeed as is the care and detail taken to mold & color the albeit plastic screw cap which looks to be a stylized bronze engraved compass set into the top of a pewter cylinder also bearing intricate reproduced relief carvings molded into the plastic (I'll certainly collect this bottle). Seeing as I'll no doubt want this bottle to last for years, I feel more comfortable with a sturdy plastic screw cap than a cork which is liable to fragment or a metal cap which can easily deform. Of course, a fancy bottle is nothing without a transcendent spirit inside & Oronoco is my reference for certainly the best of white or light rums if not all rum. If you're perseverant you'll find a bottle (I believe there's a UK distributor that still has stock) & if you appreciate the finest things in life use it as a benchmark with which to measure all other rums
I was lucky enough to procure the last bottle at my local retailer in January 2017. (Wondered if it just sat on the shelf for 2 or 3 years or if it'd just been pulled out of the back; whatever the case: the name & the leather label struck a chord with me & I researched it when I got home. Anyway, called a week later, said it was gone then called me back in two minutes saying it was stashed behind the counter (like they'd read my mind). I consider myself very lucky on this count). The reviews were an understatement. It's the best "white" rum I've had (I haven't tried Brugal Extra Dry; but I understand it's a similar aged rum, triple distilled to render the color clear with a slight golden cast). I bought a bottle of Pyrat XO Reserve as a comparative (highly underrated & undeservedly maligned Añejo with the most complex, delicious (the tobacco undertone, often referred to as "smokey" and "woody", is rare in a rum, I find, & Oronoco is the only white rum I've tasted that shares this rare & complex note. The overtly orange taste most often attributed to Pyrat I fail to discern). Oronoco is definitely a sipping rum--certainly the only white rum (and I suppose triple distilled aged white rums should carry the disqualifier that they are strictly almost colorless Añejos, albeit with the dry sweetness (an oxymoron?) & fruitiness of a fine unaged, straight from the pot (as Plantation 3 Stars would be without its third Star: a 45 day or so Jamaican) with the smokey, oakey bourbon barrel tobacco/vanilla/caramel note of a fine Añejo or Gran Añejo (which again, I have so far only tasted in Pyrat XO Reserve and also Plantation 5 Year Barbados Grand Reserve). At any rate, this review, being moot as it is as Oronoco Brazilian White Rum (which is actually probably one-third Venezuelan) was discontinued in 2014 (why is one of those enduring mysteries; actually, likely not: the simple case being most people have poor taste & are ill-defined, plus marketing & economics (otherwise how could Barcadi, the foulest swill called rum on Earth, find any kind of following?).
ReplyDeleteOne last note on Oronoco: the bottle: the main paper label which includes in type-face the day of bottling is augmented with a large leather overwrap depicting a stamped (bas-relief?) map of Brazil: very unique indeed as is the care and detail taken to mold & color the albeit plastic screw cap which looks to be a stylized bronze engraved compass set into the top of a pewter cylinder also bearing intricate reproduced relief carvings molded into the plastic (I'll certainly collect this bottle). Seeing as I'll no doubt want this bottle to last for years, I feel more comfortable with a sturdy plastic screw cap than a cork which is liable to fragment or a metal cap which can easily deform. Of course, a fancy bottle is nothing without a transcendent spirit inside & Oronoco is my reference for certainly the best of white or light rums if not all rum. If you're perseverant you'll find a bottle (I believe there's a UK distributor that still has stock) & if you appreciate the finest things in life use it as a benchmark with which to measure all other rums
In 2003 a friend gave me a bottle of Cuban white rum that was a sipping rum - a few years later I tried Oronoco- loved it because it reminded me of that fantastic Cuban white rum. Is there something out there that comes close to Oronoco, maybe from Cuba?
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