Ferrand Plantation O.F.T.D. Rum, 70 cl

Product Information

Plantation O.F.T.D is another trip into history from the French producers. Following on from the Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple rum, O.F.T.D. which stands for Old Fashioned Traditional Dark is another attempt at recapturing the rum glories of old. In Plantation’s case, though, Original Dark feels like it was named less to take advantage of the category’s loose restrictions, and more to simply fill a gap that consumers expected. There’s no unaged rum in this blend, and the company claims its use of caramel coloring is “solely to adjust—if needed—the color between different batches.” This one is a blend of 1-3 year old column and pot still Barbados rum, and (presumably a smaller quantity) of 10-15 year old Jamaican rum, which are “blended into a wooden vat to age for 3-6 months in the southwest of France.” This is the standard Plantation playbook, as rums are moved from tropical aging to blending and secondary aging in France, often in cognac barrels.

As is expected of Plantation rums this is presented beautifully. It has been given a more distinctive appearance than the standard island bottlings from the normal Plantation range. Unlike most Plantation rums there is no added sugar. This is a dark rum. Deep, deep toffee amber. Nothing light about this. Of course the O.F.T.D. stands for "old fashioned traditional dark". Definitely a dark rum. No doubt about it. The Fat Rum Pirate does a fantastic job summing up this rum as a mixing rum and giving some history It’s critical to understand that “ester” and “volatile element” measurements don’t tell you anything about a rum’s flavor profile, however. Martinique rhum agricole is also high in volatile elements, yet tastes very different than Jamaican rum, also known for high levels. Ester and volatile elements counts are about intensity, not flavor notes.

Review and Tasting

With the advent or more advanced laboratory techniques, it’s possible to measure the concentration of other volatile elements in addition to Ethyl Acetate, such as higher alcohols like propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and butan-2-ol. This provides a more comprehensive reading of how much flavor adding components are within the rum. If you really want to geek out on exactly what these are, read this, although it’s far from light reading. Fun fact: The Martinique AOC actually specifies minimal volatile element levels. For Christmas last year, I got Ann Marie a copy of Smuggler’s Cove’s book and our rum collection hasn’t been the same since. The book is a fantastic overview of tiki, talking through the history, providing recipes, and more importantly a list of rums to make the recipes. The list of rums is broken down into categories, typically referring to the base material used (molasses or sugar cane), the form of distillation (column or pot still), and the age (lightly aged, moderately aged, long aged, etc). In addition to these categories, there’s also recommended overproof rums – including Plantation O.F.T.D. Rum On Its Own Plantation O.F.T.D. Rum is our take on that classic style of overproof rums. And not just ours: to join him on the quest to get the blend and the proof just right, Alexandre Gabriel scoured rum joints around the world to find six grizzled old salts who knew which end of a rum bottle was which. When first poured the rum smells unsurprisingly heavily of alcohol. There are definite fumes when you pour. However, it is advised to allow the rich mahogany coloured rum to settle in the glass a few minutes before nosing.

On the nose of this one there’s plenty of brown sugar and some grilled pineapple, although it’s not particularly punchy—I genuinely think that if you gave this to someone blind and told them that it was simply “aged rum,” they wouldn’t suspect that there had been actual pineapple involved. On the palate I’m getting some roasted cane flavor, and a bit of that “raw” booze I was tasting in the Original Dark, paired with citrus, green apple and a puff of smoke. It honestly seems like a moderately aged rum that could be used in practically any application, rather than doubling down on drinks that already call for pineapple elements. As a blend I am not sure what the Bajan rum adds to the mix. Aside from some balance. It maybe acts as a calming influence on the other two rums. I’m not a master blender so maybe I should just accept it is needed? I’m sure it is. I really like the young sweet Demerara notes which shine through even in mixed drinks, I’m also very keen on the Jamaican funk that is present throughout. After a few it can become a little two sweet but that is perhaps a good thing! Alongside the sweetness you get a good dose of Jamaican funk. Slightly rough and ready adding a good layer of complexity. Coffee and cocoa are also present. It reminds me in many ways of both Myers’s and Wood’s 100. O.F.T.D. Rum is Plantations take on the classic style of overproof rums. Alexandre Gabriel scoured rum joints around the world to find six grizzled old salts who knew which end of a rum bottle was which.

Rum: Plantation O.F.T.D. Overproof

Nose: Molasses – Caramel – Cloves – Hints of Jammy orange like marmalade. Demerara sugar and brown sugar come to play. Alexandre Gabriel : “At Maison Ferrand, I often feel that we are a team of misfits having fun. With the O.F.T.D. band of rum geeks, I felt at home. I will never forget the special moments we had creating this rum: the secret meeting at Arnaud’s, the week in Cognac, the many samples tasted and the discussions about the true nature of overproof rum spoken with the same gravitas and intensity of statesmen discussing peace treaties. And all the time we were having a ball! These special moments of communion with a talented and passionate team are the reason I love my job.

Cask type/Age: ex-Bourbon, ex-Cognac casks, 2008 distillation. 7 years in ex-bourbon, then 1.5 years minimum in ex-cognac casks I really like the O.F.T.D. in rum and cola’s. It is similar in many ways to Pusser’s. It’s quite sweet but at the same time has quite a lot of “oommph” to it. Which I think is what you want in a rum and cola – especially on a cold night.

The Bar Classics

Plantation O.F.T.D will be used predominantly in the Tiki Culture and it will top things such as Zombies and be used in Mai Tai’s etc. It is a big rich rum which is meant to be drank in small quantities. Adding a little muscle to tropical drinks. I am confident that this will take some beating in such combinations. This brand is essentially Plantation’s slightly more approachable (but unsweetened) take on the higher-ester, funkier Jamaican rum that is so beloved by the rum community, and increasingly being discovered by the average consumer. This is a 100% pot still blend of rums from Jamaica’s Clarendon and Long Pond distilleries, coming from John Dore and Vendome pot stills, lightly aged for 1-3 years tropically and then married for 1 years in France in Ferrand casks previously used to mature cognac. In this way, Plantation puts their signature spin on this Jamaican rum, although in this case there’s no dosage, which is what makes this one “special dry.” Fans of Jamaican “funk” should know that this one is modestly estery, at 156 g/hL AA. The nose is surprisingly sweet. I would suggest the Demerara element of the blend is providing much of that. High ABV youthful Demerara can be very sweet smelling, even without any added sugar. It’s a sweet yet almost bitter, molasses heavy nose. Fruity notes such as Damson Jam and some Banana coming in from the Jamaican element. Pôvodne boli všetky rumy destilované v malých bankách. Dnes sa však väčšina rumov destiluje kontinuálne v stĺpcoch. Táto moderná destilačná metóda, ktorú Kuba prvýkrát prijala v 19. storočí, umožňuje rýchlejšiu a plynulejšiu výrobu. Destilácia v kotli je stále dlhšia a ťažko zvládnuteľná, ale stále sa praktizuje na Jamajke, na Barbadose, v Svätej Lucii, na Haiti a v Guyane. Zrenie Together they came up with this blend of Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados rums, bottled at 69 percent alcohol.

So we best move onto the tasting part of the review and see if this rum really is worth all the hype.

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In this enlightened era of bespoke, high-end distilled spirits, we celebrate the soloist – the carefully nurtured, single estate gems rising to the top of category: Pappy Van Winkle 23 year bourbon, Fuenteseca Reserva 21 year tequila, Appleton 50 year rum, Macallan M Single Malt, and so on. Each represents a high point, a moment in time and the essence of a particular place. A pinnacle of individuality and greatness. Maison Ferrand Owner and Master Distiller, Alexandre Gabriel works closely with distilleries across the Caribbean and America's crafting rums, they are left to age in warm Caribbean cellars for the initial part of their life. During the secondary process, the rums are exported to Cognac where they undergo a series of age old Cognac making techniques. This centuries old application is known by the French as 'elevage' and the process used is unique to Plantation. Vibrant, full flavoured Caribbean rums, finished with French finesse.