Bundle Chairman's Reserve Forgotten Casks + Matusalem Gran Reserva 23 Enigma
Chairman's Reserve Forgotten Casks is an edition of rums that were created against the background of a large fire that engulfed the distillery on the island of St. Lucia. The distillery did not have enough space, so Master Distiller was forced to hide barrels of maturing rum somewhere from the fire. Over time, they were forgotten under these circumstances, and some of the barrels were not discovered until several years later. However, the rum in them was too old to create the original flagship of the Chairman's Reserve distillery. And so it was decided that the forgotten rum must live its own life. A completely new special edition of extra old rums was created, with the distinctive name Forgotten Casks (forgotten barrels) and also with a taste reminiscent of the originally forgotten rum. Today, each batch matures separately in bourbon barrels, then mixed and left to rest in oak vats for another 6 months.
Matusalem Gran Reserva 23 Enigma is a luxury rum that represents excellence in craftsmanship. This premium rum comes from the Dominican Republic and is the result of more than a century of tradition by the Álvarez family. It is aged in French oak barrels using the Solera method, giving it a uniquely balanced and complex flavour.
The aging and blending process is based on the Solera method , which was originally developed for the production of sherry and brandy de Jerez and involves the use of several layers of casks, with the youngest rum at the very top and the oldest at the very bottom.
Once the product has been drained from the bottom of the system, the spirits are gradually added to and from the higher layers. The use of this method in the production of Matusalem rum is unique in its own way and ensures perfect blending of rums of different ages. Its use results in an exceptionally fine spirit.
Matusalem produced rum in Cuba until the 1960s, when it was confiscated by the Castro regime. At that time, Matusalem had a 50 % share of the Cuban rum market. Production was subsequently relaunched decades later by the founder's great-grandson, Claudio Álvarez Salazar, in the Dominican Republic, which has a similar microclimate to Santiago de Cuba. Rum is produced here according to the original Cuban recipes.
Today, the company is owned by the fifth generation of the Álvarez family and it is the Matusalem Gran Reserva 23 that pays homage to the family tradition, with roasted almonds, honey, nutmeg, banana and pineapple on the nose. Its dry palate then offers a refined spicy combination of vanilla, caramel, molasses and wood.