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Country: Antigua & St. Lucia
ABV: Various
Cost at Time of Purchase: Various
Type of Rum: Various
Hydrometer Test: N/A

“Following on from the Jamaica versus Barbados tasting,
let’s see how two more islands rate against each other.”

Recently I did a fascinating tasting comparison between Jamaica and Barbados (refresh your memory by clicking here). That prompted a “what’s next?” question! Well, the answer is two other great rum producing and also stunningly beautiful Caribbean islands, Antigua and St. Lucia.

Unlike Jamaica and Barbados, Antigua and St. Lucia each have only one distillery. Antigua Distillery Limited (ADL) and St. Lucia Distillers (SLD) each produce fine rums. ADL only uses column stills while SLD has both pot and column stills. Whilst ADL only uses molasses, SLD uses both molasses and cane juice. This is a nod to St. Lucia’s chequered history flitting back and forth between British and French rule. The rum choices were challenging especially when trying to match up styles and ABVs etc.

Which Rums To Compare?

Once again, I chose rums from my collection of 650+ different rums. Matching ABV and style of rum was not always possible. I did put rums as close together as I could given the constraints. Like the Jamaica versus Barbados tasting, wingman Kevin Brooks and I put these two great rum islands through their paces. In one session we consumed 14 double measures of rums, what could possibly go wrong?

Here are our tastings and our preferences.

ONE

Result: Antigua 2 – 0 St. Lucia

TWO

Unlike the first rums, these have benefited from different cask finishes.

The Sherry cask English Harbour has had five years in ex-Bourbon barrels and six months in ex-Oloroso Sherry casks.
The Whiskey Cask Admiral Rodney, spent 11 years in ex-Bourbon barrels and nine months in ex-Irish Whiskey casks.

Once again, the English Harbour won comfortably for both of us. The rich fruity notes from the Sherry Cask along with some chocolate, vanilla and caramel was superb.

The Admiral Rodney had some subtle fruit notes but was much more spicy on the palate. This

Result: Antigua 2 – 0 St. Lucia

THREE

Unlike our first two comparisons, SLD’s 1931 2nd Edition was comfortably the tastier rum. This blended rum was sweet and spicy but with plenty of body and a rounded mouthfeel. The ex-Madeira cask by comparison had a slightly bitter off-note.

Result: Antigua 0 – 2 St. Lucia

FOUR

I have to declare a hint of personal bias in this tasting. English Harbour’s famed 1981 is one of my all-time favourite rums. Despite being only 40% (Kevin said it’s almost water), this 25 year old rum was bottled in 2006. It is sublime and exceptionally smooth with some soft fruits, caramel and vanilla.

I paired the rare 1981 with an equally rare SLD rum. Bottled in 2019 to celebrate St. Lucia’s 40th anniversary of independence, the Ruby Reserve is a fine rum. This six to 12 year old rum is a pot and column blend. Some caramelised fruits and an underlying spicy smokiness on the palate.

My [probably] biased opinion was in favour of Antigua here.
Kevin preferred the St. Lucian rum.

Result: Antigua 1 – 1 St. Lucia

FIVE

ADL’s seven year old rum presented at almost 65% ABV was mouth-warming. It was slightly oily with caramelised fruits, dark chocolate and spices. The Chairman’s Reserve tasted very fiery, despite being almost twice the age at 13 years old. It had ginger and capsicum and tasted almost medicinal.

We decided that it was SLD’s pot stills that made this rum a challenge to enjoy. Nothing wrong with the quality of the rum, just our personal preferences for styles of rum.

Result: Antigua 2 – 0 St. Lucia

SIX

As with the previous tasting, the Chairman’s Reserve was too fiery. Those pot stills at SLD produce medicinal flavours. Although there was some underlying dark chocolate and candied fruits, it was a challenge to enjoy.

Result: Antigua 2 – 0 St. Lucia

SEVEN

I had two rums that I wanted to include in the tasting. Unfortunately, they were a mis-match despite both being fine quality rums. I did not have other rums in my collection that I felt merited being included. So these two ended up alongside each other.

From ADL, a Velier bottled six year old rum at 66% ABV. Chocolate, caramel, spice and vanilla. This is a fine rum that often flies under the radar despite being a Velier product.

From SLD, their 1931 rum that has become a consistent blend each year. It has rums aged from seven to 12 years. This superb rum is at a lower 46% ABV. Plenty of dried fruits and caramel on the palate.

Result: Antigua 2 – 0 St. Lucia

Overall:

So, what did we discover?

Antigua 11 – 3 St. Lucia. I am glad this wasn’t a football match as it was one sided. But that doesn’t tell the full story. Our preference for the Antigua rums was obvious, but we love rums from St. Lucia, too.

English Harbour’s five year old is a superb rum, especially for the relatively young age and inexpensive price point. Even when paired against longer ageing, it is a fine tipple. The enhancements from the extra ageing in various fortified wine casks takes an already fine rum to a higher level. Given the price point, it/they have to be some of the best value to quality rums available.

On their own, SLD’s rums are fine quality offerings that I regularly enjoy. But when pitted against the softer styles from ADL, the pot stills often tasted harsher. This made them more challenging to sip and savour side-by-side.

Antigua comfortably came out on top. I think that rums from each island are unique and fine in their own right. St. Lucia’s variety of stills brings more options to their distillations. They even have a nod to their French history and influence by using cane juice in some of their fermentations. SLD’s Chairman’s Reserve Legacy, which I omitted from the tasting uses its own estate-grown cane juice and molasses in its blend. This is because there was nothing from ADL to use as a comparison.

We sampled 14 rums in our session. Most of the match ups were fair. But it was very much subjective. As in, what flavours and styles of rums we prefer were more likely to “win”. That is why some of the St. Lucian rums lost out.

It was another fun experience. I am sure we will repeat this with other islands and nations at some point.

Links / Notes:

I have a new project coming soon. Watch this space (literally)!

NOTE: The header image on this page was generated by AI.

Review No: 187

Here is a link to all of my hydrometer tests:
RumShopBoy Hydrometer Tests

Why are rums marked out of 100? Click HERE to read about how I mark a rum.

*
P Denotes the rum contains POT still distillate.
C Denotes the rum contains traditional/Coffey COLUMN still distillate.
B Denotes the rum contains a BLEND of POT and COLUMN still distillate.
M Denotes the rum contains MULTI-COLUMN still distillate or is a MODERN rum.
A Denotes the rum is an AGRICOLE i.e. from Cane Juice.
S Denotes the rum is presented in a SWEETENED style.

Single Blended Rum: A blend of pot still and traditional column still from a single distillery.
Pure Single Rum: 100% Pot Still from a single distillery
Pure Single Agricole Rum: 100% Pot Still from cane juice
Single Blended Rum – A blend of pot still and traditional column still from a single distillery.
Traditional Rum: From a traditional column still.
Modern Rum: From a modern multi column still.