I think that I am going to do this review a little differently, because clearly, funky rums are in a league of their own, and just trying to assign a number out of 10 is, at a glance, easy for quick comparisons, it really misses the nuance. Just because I rated Zacapa 23 7.5/10, and Appleton Signature 7.5/10, doesn’t mean that they are equal. We’re not really comparing apples to apples. So, I sort of touched this in my Myers’s review, where I decided to compare it to Appleton Signature, but going forward, I will try to find some “classic of the category” rum to serve as a baseline. And speaking of classics of the category— for dark, funky, lightly aged rums, there really is no rum better known than Myers’s.

I don’t know if this approach is right, or if eventually I will grow tired of comparing every lightly aged pot still dark rum to Myers’s and saying “yeah it blows Myers’s out of the water” as I predict will be the case, but I can try it and reevaluate later.

Anyway, this rum is a blend of rums from Long Pond and Clarendon distilleries (both under NRJ, part-owned by Maison Ferrand, who also own Planteray). The rums are aged for 1-3 years, then finished in Ferrand casks.

Review

Smell

It’s absolutely incredible. It positively blasts you with esters of Jamaican hogo. Sweet, overripe banana, pineapple, molasses, and a bit of raisin and oak. It is very fruity and inviting.

In contrast, Myers’s comes across as rather plain. I still get the nose of Jamaican pot still, like the same classic banana, pineapple, molasses smell, but it’s a lot less forward, and my nose gets blasted more with alcohol fumes instead.

Taste

The contrast only grows here. The flavors of Xaymaca are so bold. They fill my nose when I exhale, and the palate is long with sweet, fruity hogo. The actual flavor profile of the funk doesn’t really differ much from Appleton Estate Signature or Wray & Nephew OP, but it feels like it’s just right in terms of amount of funk and age.

Myers’s also doesn’t really differ in the flavor profile of the funk, it’s just… muted. Hidden behind more alcohol burn and more sweetness. I’d say it has more body to it, probably from the added molasses, and, I mean, it’s alright, but I wouldn’t sip Myers’s. I will gladly sip Xaymaca. And actually, on the back end, I get some of that slight burnt rubber industrial chemical taste, the same one as in Wray & Nephew OP, which is generally my only criticism of Jamaican rums, but I get absolutely none of that from Xaymaca.

I think that Daiquiris really are great for comparing rums side by side, because pretty much any Jamaican rum can go in a daiquiri and it will be sweet, sour, fruity, and funky, and I would enjoy it, so being able to compare two side by side would really show how the two rums would be different in a cocktail. But in this case, it really is so night and day, that maybe a daiquiri test wasn’t even needed. Genuinely, I like Myers’s. I had it, I enjoyed it, and I was in philly, where Myers’s is under $20, so I brought a bottle home with me, and I don’t regret it. That said, it just doesn’t hold a candle to Xaymaca. Myers’s gets me tickets to go to the Jamaican funk show, but Xaymaca puts me in the splash zone. It’s so incredibly fruity and funky, that actually, after sipping it for a bit and going back to Myers’s, it almost tastes tepid.

Verdict 6.5/10

(Edited from 10/10 on 1/3/26)

My go-to fix, if I want a lightly aged funky Jamaican rum, has been Appleton Estate Signature mixed 3 parts to 1 part Wray & Nephew white OP. It is delicious and close to perfect. I said before that this blend is a 9/10, and so far, I have not had a rum that is straight up better. Until now. Xaymaca is basically that perfect mix in a single bottle, but with one additional improvement: the removal of that slightly industrial burnt rubber aftertaste that comes from W&N. It never really bothered me that much, but I’ll give it an extra half point just for refining that even further. 9.5/10.

Now, it makes me wonder what a 10/10 rum would look like. I love the fruity banana funk of Jamaican rum, but I also love the raisiny pruney funk of Guyanese rum, so maybe if Plateray would mix Jamaican and Guyanese rum, and maybe instead of watering it down all the way to 43%, keep it way overproof at 63% like Wray… or better yet, pick the funny sex number 69% (nice)… oh hey look at that I am spoiling the next review!

January 3, 2026 Update:

Xaymaca is still wonderful. It’s fruity, well-rounded, smooth, and nice for mixing and sipping. In fact, it won my overall best rum award for 2025. That being said, I know that there’s better rums out there, and there definitely is room to improve, despite it being excellent already.