Parhelia Spirits Indonesia Cask #7
Reviewer: Tashtego (with notes from Pickwick)
Distillery: Unknown (“genuinely unknown” according to Parhelia)
Origin: Indonesia
Bottle Size: 700ml
Bottle Count: 198
ABV: 61.1%
Distilled: December 2015
Base Material: Molasses
Still: Pot
Aging specs: 8+ years. Placed in a teak vat until November 2016, then placed in an ex-English malt whisky cask until October 2025
Bottled: Not stated; decanted from cask in October 2025
Nose: Diesel, rotting apple, pencil shavings
Palate: Charred fruits, chocolate, industrial flavors, burned rubber, permanent marker, caramel, cedar, lemongrass
Finish: Anise, industrial flavors
Our third and final 2026 Parhelia Spirits bottle is a doozy. Our first two were both from New Yarmouth in Jamaica, offering fruity notes and intense esters. This one goes in… another direction. The specs on this bottle are the first clues that this is going to be an interesting tasting. First off, we don’t know the distillery. In fact, Indonesia is a fully new origin for me and Pickwick (unless you count Batavia Arrack, which is kind of its own thing). So we’re in new territory - and then there’s the aging. This was placed in a teak vat right after distillation, and then aged continentally in an ex-whisky cask. It’s a rum that’s been put on a journey, and that’s exactly what your palate goes through.
The nose is fascinating and ever-evolving. At first I’m put off by ash and diesel, then I’m getting rotting apples that have been left on the ground. Then it’s pencil shavings, which is a note I’ve read a lot from other reviewers about rum, and I’m getting now for the first time. The malt whisky cask influence is clearest here on the nose; there’s a sourness too. The first sip is an absolute explosion of flavor. It’s diesel and factory floor (motor oil, grease, etc.) - you could have fooled me and told me this was a heavy Caroni. But there’s so much more here if you dare to go on. Once you get a bit used to the industrial aspect, there are many more layers. There are caramel and molasses notes to remind you that yes, in fact, this is a rum. I get some sweet chocolate and charred fruits. I also get some woody flavors like cedar. In fact, just about every time you go back in for a sip you get something new. It’s like a Willy Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper of rum.
To call this rum challenging is perhaps an understatement. If this were your first sip of neat rum, you wouldn’t come back. But there is a lot here to enjoy if you spend some time with it. The flavors meld, evolve, build and blossom as you work your way through your glass. While it’s a flavor gut-punch, it’s pretty drinkable at 61.1%.
This is a rum that rewards the bold. On Taste, I’ll give this a 4 for entirely different reasons than I’d give that score normally. This rum is a tropical adventure through dense forests and cacao groves with a stopover at some kind of automotive plant. It’s got twists and turns that will delight a seasoned rum drinker. For Haste, I’ll give it a 3. At $135, this is Parhelia’s most expensive offering. And as we’ve noted before, you have to spend $300+ to be able to order any Parhelia from Cellar.com. If you find this on the shelves somewhere (like in DC where they’re based), and you want a wild rum, I say go for it.
Taste/Haste Scale: 4 / 3
