Substation No.41 Rum comes with exceedingly high expectations.
This is because Substation No.41 is the name of the rum bar inside the Breakfast Creek Hotel. It’s not just any old rum bar – it’s probably the best rum bar in Australia, and certainly the best rum bar according to The Wenches. So you would expect that the guys over at the rum bar wouldn’t just let any old molasses juice get bottled with their label. They probably did some good QA on this stuff before it hit the shelves.
It’s a 2 year old rum, so just a spring chicken on the rum circuit, but even at 2 years it’s showing some impressive characters. We Wenches think it eclipses all other Aussie rums in terms of flavour, and will a bit of age behind it, may even be a worldwide legend. That QA looks to have paid off.
Interestingly, the rum bar itself has only been operating for 3 years, so we’re thinking they pretty much had this secret rum brew planned from the beginning. It was only launched in July 2015. Such clever pirates.
This is definitely a premium Aussie rum, but information on it is scarce. I couldn’t find anything about its distillation outside of what’s on the label; that it’s made from Queensland sugar, in Australia. Aged in oak barrels. You’d think they’d buried some bloody treasure at the distillery to keep such details secret.
Substation No. 41 Rum Tasting Notes
Smells like a school fete
All the things you love (hate) about a school fete are right here on the nose! There’s overripe banana, just like the one that little kid dropped, and you’ve stepped in it. There’s metho, for cleaning off the graffiti that the cool kids just spray painted over the dunny doors. And there’s soft molasses, a subtle sweet smell that wafts in the air near the fairy floss machine.
Finally, we’ve got honey from the baklava the Greek kid’s mum made. We love her stall the best.
- Overripe banana
- Methylated spirits
- Soft molasses
- Honey
Tastes like Thanksgiving
Have you ever actually had a Thanksgiving dinner in the USA? It’s a freaky feast unlike any other. The true excesses of the 1st world can be seen across the USA on Turkey Day.
The palate of this Substation No. 41 Rum is just like that, with a confusion of savoury and sweet. Excessive on the sweet end, but enough warmth and interest to keep you sipping through the night.
- Intense honey, much like baclava
- Bee pollen
- Light fennel aniseed
- Hard toffee
- Marshmallow fluff
Overall Thoughts
We like this rum, but we don’t love it. It’s definitely an Aussie standout, and still stand out because the flavour is good. With a bit more age in the barrel this rum will be a real stunner. Dan Murphy’s seem to be doing some tastings this week too, so if you want a free nip, head on down to your local Dan’s.