Wow, a rum from India! To be honest, it’s not incredibly surprising that India produces a lot of rum, but it never really crossed my mind until I saw Old Monk at the liquor store. What caught my eye was the big 20 on the box and how it was only $20. Kind of sus for that price, I figured some solera shenanigans might be going on, but I have never had an Indian rum before, so I was excited to give it a try!

Note: This rum itself is a blend of the original Old Monk 7Yr XXX rum, and a 20-year-old rum.

Review

Smell

This rum smells like no other rum I’ve smelled before. Vanilla, oak, butterscotch, caramel, brown butter… it literally smells like a buttered rum or a butterbeer!

Taste

Holy vanilla! Very vanilla forward. It’s also spicy, not like in a hot way, but it’s definitely borderline a spiced rum. Quite sweet but not terribly so, with butterscotch, anise, cardamom, and notes of dark chocolate, cumin, and orange peel. It’s quite smooth, has some decent body, and is only a little bit bitter, with a bit of burnt rubber on the back end. But, it’s not like an artificial industrial rubber, but more like a bitter burnt spice. But, again, the overall dominant flavor is vanilla and butterscotch.

It makes probably the best spiced rum & coke I’ve ever had. I’m sorry if this rum is supposed to be too fine and delicate for mixing, but I really think that a rum and coke is the best way to consume this.

Verdict 6/10

I wish I had Old Monk 7Yr XXX to compare it to, but it was only $3 cheaper, and I didn’t want to buy both, lest I don’t like one and regret buying a second. Overall, this is definitely not a fine rum, and the 20 on the box is definitely misleading, but if you ignore the fancy box it’s in, if you ignore the claims of it being “premium”, and judge not as a high quality dark rum, but from the perspective of it being a spiced rum, then it’s a darn good spiced rum. Seriously! Admiral Nelson, Captain Morgan, and Sailor Jerry have roamed the seas for so long on their quest for spices, and didn’t think to add anything other than cinnamon and cloves this whole time‽ This mix of Indian spices is actually really good, and actually more complex than the rum itself! 6/10 would rum and coke again.