Worthy Park is a pretty iconic distillery. It’s a very historic one, but only recently restarted after a long hiatus, and with the shutting down of the Frome sugar mill, it is also the only sugar mill in the country, making it the only single-estate rum in Jamaica currently. It only has one still: a Forsyths pot still. So everything at Worthy Park is distilled in that pot still.

Note: No age statement, but claim that it’s a blend of rums aged 4-12 years

Review

Smell

It’s relatively mild on the nose, with a sweet banana and mango nose. Not super bold like some other expressions from Worthy Park, but you definitely get some funk.

Taste

The flavor is soft and mild, with vanilla, pineapple, orange peel, and just a touch of Worthy Park’s signature industrial rubber note. It’s mellow with a slight grassiness and a slight burn. The palate is long and fruity.

I think the two closest rums to this would be Hamilton Pot Still Gold rum and Appleton Signature. Worthy Park Select is pretty similar to Appleton Signature, other than also having that very distinct Worthy Park note to it that most WP rums have. I didn’t like Hamilton Pot Still Gold at first, but it started growing on me. But in terms of sipping, I strongly prefer Worthy Park Select, as Hamilton has a similar flavor, but it’s just more grassy and unrefined.

In a daiquiri, Worthy Park Select is rounder, smoother, more banana and pineapple and less rubbery than Hamilton Pot Still Gold. It’s a far superior daiquiri, in my opinion. Against an Appleton Signature daiquiri, it’s about even. They are slightly different, as I think Appleton is slightly funkier, but both are solid.

Verdict 6.5/10

The taste of the funk as well as the overall ester level is very similar to Appleton Signature, and in a lot of ways I think that they’re basically interchangable. It’s no Smith & Cross, but there’s certainly some funk to it. I wouldn’t say that either one is purely a sipper or mixer, as I can see myself enjoying either on the rocks or in a cocktail, unlike Hamilton Pot Still Gold which I really prefer mixed and preferably in a split base. There’s nothing wrong with Worthy Park Select, it’s a solid budget rum, I just don’t really see the value in it when it consistently is on shelves in the $30 range and Appleton Signature is in the $20 range, and I have seen handles of Signature for under $40 if you really like it. But, ignoring price and just focusing on the liquid in the bottle, I give it the same score as Appleton Signature. 6.5/10.