Aged rum has always been a delicious and underappreciated corner of the world of sipping spirits, but a new 40-year-old release from Planteray might be the right bottle to start changing that. Planteray Rum Jamaica 1984 is a first of its kind—one of the oldest bottles released by one of the most prolific producer of vintage sipping rums in the world.
Jamaica 1984 comes from the respected Clarendon Distillery—Jamaica’s second oldest distillery. It’s a Lionel Town-based pot-still operation famous for Monymusk Wedderburn rum brand and a slightly smaller one you may know as Captain Morgan. But unlike the spiced and flavored frat-house staple, this unadulterated rum has only been in contact with two things in its life: the still, and the barrels.
Maison Ferrand, which owns Planteray, allowed Jamaica 1984 to mature in Jamaica for 35 years before eventually moving it to the Southwest of France and re-casking it in spent Ferrand Cognac barrels.
It’s clear upon tasting this rum why they chose to move it to a considerably milder climate and fruitier cask —Jamaica had already worked intense magic on this rum, giving it deep espresso and dark chocolate notes that swirl around flavors of leather and varnish that are more typical of elder bourbon and scotch releases. The time in France likely granted this rum the time to make it to 40 without simply becoming undrinkably intense.
With a touch of water (or even just the patience to allow your palate to adapt), Planetary Jamaica 1984 blasts dried cherry, raisin chocolate bread, and charcoal-roasted fruit leather at you. Drinking this stuff is akin to taking a psychedelic—the first bit is sometimes unpleasant, but once you adjust, the rest is mind-expanding.
Planteray has been one of the more collectable and reliable rum bottlers as the rum world has grown over the last couple of decades. Their vintage releases include rare rums from Peru, Guyana, Panama, Venezuela, Fiji, and other countries, along with Jamaica. Vintages from the 1980s, however, are absurdly rare in the rum world generally, and probably as rare within Planteray’s aging stocks.
Now for the bad news: only 317 bottles of this single cask rum were produced. With a $1,900 price tag, it’s within reach of a wider audience than, say, a $50,000 single malt scotch, and at 114.4 proof, it’s in a great sweet spot for spirit lovers generally.
If you can get your hands on one of these bottles, treat it with caution — Planetary Jamaica 1984 Rum may have taken on considerable age and barrel influence, but it’s got a lot of life, complexity, and bold flavor yet left to offer. For those of us who don’t find a bottle, it offers one thing for free: proof that great rum can always push the limits of what we think it can do.
