I was in Pittsburgh this past weekend, and it was such an insane party… not a night went by where I was sober. After leaving a friend’s hotel room and heading to the elevator, I heard music thumping down the hallway. I went to check it out, and it was a complete mosh pit of a room with people dancing and drinking, and the tables were overflowing in bottles of liquor— none of which was good liquor, of course, but I saw a big ol bottle of Kirkland spiced rum on a table and thought that Kirkland couldn’t steer me wrong. I associate that brand with surprisingly decent quality for the price.

Also, apologies for the poor quality photos for these reviews. I took my Appleton and Angostura out for a beach photoshoot with my expensive camera and lens at the perfect time of day, meanwhile I took these photos with my smartphone at a dimly lit room party.

Review

Smell

It smells very strongly of vanilla, followed by a rubbery smell, like the smell of a worn out rubber band.

Taste

Drinking it straight, it’s very sweet, and I definitely sense vanilla, as well as cinnamon and maybe allspice? But it also has an off-putting aftertaste of old rubber band. It has a bitter, medicinal quality to it that I just do not like at all.

With diet pepsi, it’s still not great. All I ask from a cheap rum is to make a decent rum and coke, but the rubber bandy medicinal taste lingers even when mixed. After a few sips, I’m not even going to finish it because there’s other liquors here to try.

Verdict 2/10

(Edited from 6/10 on 12/14/25)

This might be the worst rum I’ve had so far. Yes, even worse than Bumbu. And to top it off, unsurprisingly, it’s not rum, but “rum with natural flavors & caramel color”. My opinion of the Kirkland brand has been shattered. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. It’s a 3.

December 14, 2025 Update:

Not much more to add, I am just amending the score down to a 2 to reflect my new scoring system.