Very excited about this one. This is the first entry where I actually got a 2oz sample sent to me by a cult I mean organization that promotes rum and I mean—

I know a good accountant.

Review

Smell

I get a smell of sweet vanilla and oak. Pretty similar to how Ron Abuelo 7 or other aged spanish rums smell.

Taste

Honestly, I am blown away. It’s just so thick, so rich, so complex. I actually really like this rum, despite it tasting pretty much the same as The Real McCoy 5. The flavor is so dense and full-bodied, and it melts on my mouth perfectly. But it’s very much dominated by the cask. I get vanilla and oak, but nothing else. Absolutely nothing fruity or anything— maybe a hint of some spice like cardamom.

Verdict 8/10

I feel like this rum is perfectly executed in almost every way. The flavor is rich and dense, it’s wildly interesting to just drop on my tongue and feel it unfold. Maybe it’s even the perfect ABV, because 40% just feels kinda sad and flat, and 60% and above just burn my taste buds off, so around 50% feels perfect. There’s basically only one flaw with this rum, and that’s the terroir. Like Mount Gay, like The Real McCoy, like Planteray 5 Year, there’s only so much you can do when your only flavor is barrel.

Yeah, maybe that’s a noob opinion to have. Maybe, as time goes on, I’ll appreciate even higher ABV rum, and will appreciate Barbados rum for what it is, but right now, I feel like I would really love for this exact kind of rum to be made by Hampden or something. I just don’t feel like I can ever go more than an 8/10 for a rum that is so one-note in flavor, despite being pretty much fantastic in every other category.