Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Guess what review you’re getting today in your stocking? Here’s a hint: it’s black and lumpy and tastes bad!

Well, I was at a Christmas party about 2 weeks ago, and, of course, I tried a little bit of everything. A bit of egg nog, a bit of jungle juice, a bit of the brownies (this was a mistake!!), and also I asked if there was any rum behind the bar. turns out, the host indeed had one “premium rum” saved for a special occasion.

Review

Smell

Big hit of alcohol fumes that reveal a strong smell of vanilla. I cant get any subtle complexities through the overwhelming alcohol and vanilla smell.

Taste

The alcohol is quite harsh. Often I get that if im just starting out the night, but this is after drinking egg nog and jungle juice. It’s just simply not a smooth sipper. I’m getting a strong taste of sweetness and vanilla, and on the finish, there’s an off taste. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like, the taste of a very oxidized beer. Just a slight taste of something super skunky (this is a freshly opened bottle).

Verdict 4/10

Overall, this rum was, to my surprise, not horrible, like the original was. It’s not great, but I like my rums sweeter, and this rum wasn’t offensively sweet, and the amount of vanilla flavor seemed to be slightly too high to come from barrel alone, but it wasn’t so high that it tastes like I’m drinking vanilla extract, like it was with Kirkland spiced rum. It’s a believable amount of vanilla flavor. In harshness and lack of flavor and lack of body, it reminds me of other young Central American rums, like Ron Abuelo Añejo. I dumped it in a Moxie, and you can’t even tell that it’s slightly skunky! Not bad for just getting yourself drunk! But, obviously, it completely lacks the smoothness and complexity that I would expect from a $35 rum. It’s a terrible value, but regardless, I’m giving it a 4/10, so it can hang out with other similar subpar rums like Viejo de Caldas 3 Yr and Havana Club (US version).