In the glass Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum HMS Princessa is a vivid orange/brown almost Mahogany colour. The nose is immediately recognisable as a Saint Lucia Distillers rum. Which for me, is definitely a good thing.

From speaking with representatives of Saint Lucia Distillers GBH found the sheer amount of marques used in some of the SLD rums to be very much at odds with what they have done for many years with Agricole rhums. With that in mind it is perhaps not surprising to see one of SLD’s more “simple” blends, all column get a re-vamp. Some may turn their nose up at such things. I was fortunate enough to tr ia y the original Admiral Rodney long before I understood all things Pot and Column – I’ve always been glad I didn’t have such reservations about the rum. The original Admiral Rodney has long been a solid go to rum, when I want something not to challenging or aggressive. This is more complex than the HMS Royal Oak. It bridges a gap between that and the “old” 1931 series of rums. It is however, not quite as briny as those releases. In some respects less is more with this rum. The 1931 is a very complex blend of both pot- and column-distilled rums between 6 and 11 years of age, aged in a combination of bourbon and port casks, and bottled at a more substantial 46% ABV (92 proof). As an extra X-factor, it also contains a notable percentage of sugarcane juice rum, distilled from the estate’s own sugarcane fields next to the distillery. The distillery refers to this as “agricultural rum,” distinct but related to the concept of rhum agricole, but presumably similar in character. This portion is effectively the most “Lucian” product the distillery makes, given that everything about the spirit hails from Saint Lucia.The rums in this blend are aged between 9 and 12 years. Maturation has occurred exclusively in Saint Lucia. So it’s a fully tropically aged rum. It has been produced on a Coffey Column Still. There are no Pot Still distillates in any of the Admiral Rodney rums to date. It is certainly more characterful than most column distilled rums could ever hope to be and has been really well put together. The Admiral Rodney line of rums is named for a British admiral (George Rodney) who took part in the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, a pivotal naval engagement between the British and French. Each of the three expressions in this line fittingly take their name from one of Rodney’s ships: Princessa, Royal Oak and Formidable, with ascending age statements and price tags. All three are exclusively column-distilled rums, which means they’re somewhat lighter bodied than pot-distilled rums or blends of pot and column distillate, as is found in the Chairman’s Reserve lineup. Regardless, these rums have some decent age statements, and fairly high price tags as a result. I’m not sure why exactly this is referred to as a limited edition, because it seems to have been a made into a permanent, premium part of the Chairman’s Reserve lineup for the last few years, but it’s not really important. What is important is the liquid in this bottle: The crown jewel of the St. Lucia Distillers collection, as far as I’m concerned. This is some absolutely lovely rum. The nose has a really good balance to it – it is a little more “boozy” than the old Admiral Rodney (now the HMS Royal Oak) but that is to be expected from a younger blend.

Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum HMS Princessa. Regular readers should by now be familiar with Saint Lucia Distillers. We have featured all their Chairman’s Reserve range as well as all 6 of their annual 1931 series. We’ve also covered their Bounty Rum and one or two independent offerings. Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum was actually one of the first “Premium” rums I ever tried. I was able to taste four rums from SDL: Two from the Admiral Rodney line, and two from the Chairman’s Reserve line. With that said, let’s get to tasting.Alright then! Aphrodisiac rum. Beyond that, “added to the rum are local spices and fruits such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, allspice lemon and orange peels.” This is quite a good introduction to “pure rums”– it shouldn’t offend palates more used to sweetened nonsense too much. The alcohol burn is there but overall this is a rather mellow sipping experience.