one filipino dish a week

Oh the wonderful sugar cane! Yes! Ohhh yes! It’s time for some rum tasting! On my recent trip to the Philippines I decided to bring back some goods. And now is the time to have a little taste test. Tanduay is pretty much synonymous to Philippine rum(I don’t think there’s any other brand that I can name). A little fun fact about the Tanduay name from the company website:

Tanduay have adopted its corporate name from its location, a triangular region encircled by the esteros of San Miguel and San Sebastian, which Spanish mapmakers referred to as Isla de Tanduay. The word “Tanduay” originated from the word tanguay, an old Tagalog term for isthmus or peninsula. It also means “low-lying land” because the entire area, including Quiapo, was frequently flooded during the rainy season. In the Cebuano and Visayan dialect, tanguay meant “a place where tuba, a local coconut-based liquor, is bought and sold”.

First up is the most commonly seen yellow label 5 year old dark rum. The color is dark amber. The smell? forget it about it. I couldn’t get past the harsh alcohol aroma that consumes your face.  It smelled like it was way higher than 80proof. How does it taste when it goes down the hatch? I can’t really tell you because it was just a burning sensation all the way down. I think this hairless Asian man just grew some chest hair after that drink. There is no way I will drink this by itself (unless I just want to get recklessly drunk). I do not enjoy this and it needs to be mixed heavily with something that has some taste!

Up next, ESQ. Extra Smooth Quality. I love the marketing on this one. Does it live up to the hype? Eh, It’s ok. The color is definitely lighter than the 5yr version and this is only 65 proof. The tast was definitely smoother than the first one. However, it had this medicine-y taste to it. I feel like this is just a less stronger version of the previous rum and that’s why I can actually taste something. The Girl liked it because it had a slight sweetness to it. I would also not drink this by itself. I would have to make some cocktail out of this to mask the weird taste to it.

There is a significant jump in price between the first two and the next two. The third in the flight is Superior, 12 years old.  I assume the price difference is because of the aging process and the quality of final product. The color of the Superior is golden brown and you can definitely smell vanilla and caramel. This is also 80 proof but with this one you can definitely put your nose in there and smell the rum without being overwhelmed by the alcohol. I still don’t think the 5yr old is 80 proof. This goes down nice and smooth (a lot smoother than the ESQ). The Superior can be drank by itself and is an excellent sipping rum.

The last of the bunch the Tanduay 1854, 15 years old. This is the top of the line and has earned a gold medal in the Monde Selection. The 1854 has a light gold color and has a wonderful aroma. The alcohol smell is very subdued and the caramel and vanilla smells comes out. The Girl described it best as vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce on top. The taste is absolutely amazing and I would drink this by itself any day. I’m not a rum expert by any means but I think this can definitely be put side-by-side with the best rums from the Carribean.

It’s actually quite interesting how the two higher end products have a black and blue label. What other popular spirit has a prominent black and blue label? Hmmm… Another “creative” copycat marketing scheme by the Pinoys!

Eat (drink) Filipino Food!