Jamaican rums are some of the most wonderful rums. Most of my favorite rums are Jamaican. Myers’s is what got me seriously into rum to begin with, and most of the big winners in my 2025 Noob’s Choice Awards were for either Jamaican rums, or blends with strong Jamaican character. Is it just safe to say that I will love any Jamaican rum?

Well, ok, I don’t like Appleton 8 Year, but surely, there’s no other Jamaican rum that could disappoint?

Review

Smell

I smell a lot of grass for a rum that’s supposed to be molasses based. It smells more like a clairin, with some distinct notes of pickled olives along with the Jamaican fruityness.

Taste

You can definitely tell that this is a worthy park rum. Very strong notes of industrial burnt rubber, and a bit of vomit. It’s dry and light bodied, and just overall this rum is quite harsh. Even on the taste, though, it comes across like a cane juice rum. It’s quite strange, and not very good. I wasn’t sure what rum to compare it to, since it’s so much grassier than WP109, and it has a random stab of bitterness to it. The aftertaste is like a brown butter— buttery nutty aftertaste that reminds me of hollandaise sauce. I ended up comparing it to Bacardi Superior, because honestly, I just wanted to know if I would like it more than Bacardi.

Just in case anyone says that this rum is meant to be mixed, not drunk neat, I made a daiquiri with it, along with Bacardi Superior. Bacardi is way harsher, and has a bit of flavor, but, well, it’s Bacardi. Hamilton pot still gold is also harsh, but not as harsh as Bacardi, and while I want to enjoy the fruity jamaican flavors, the industrial rubber, the bitterness, and the weird grassy flavor just keeps bringing it down.

Verdict 4.5/10

So, I’ve never had Rum-Bar white overproof, and I feel like that might shed a lot of light on whether that is specifically what I don’t like about this rum. But, I guess we did it, we found Bacardi’s equal. Drinking the two side by side, they are wildly different rums, and I kept switching back and forth between which I like more. That good Jamaican flavor swings me to the Hamilton, then the bitterness and off flavors push me back to Bacardi. I really can’t decide if I like it more or less than Bacardi, so it’s a draw. 4.5/10.