The Rums of México have been on my radar for a while, mostly because of the overwhelming hype I see for them online. However, after trying several rums from Alambique Serrano and realizing that it’s a mixed bag for me, I didn’t want to rush and buy these bottles, and maybe wait to try a sample at some point. Well, that some point was this past weekend!

This rum is made from molasses and muck fermented for 15 days and distilled on a copper hybrid still.

Review

Smell

Very strong dubble bubble. There’s a hint of some fruity Jamaican funk, almost like Worthy Park overproof, but fake strawberry candy is the predominant note.

Taste

Kind of like Hampden rums, it’s kind of hard for me to drink this just because it’s so overwhelming. It doesn’t help that it’s over 57% ABV as well. The initial sensation is not that great. Strong flavor of strawberry candy, industrial glue, bitterness, and olives, though it finishes fruity with pineapple and banana. There is a lot going on in this bottle. I was hoping that mixing it with papelón con limón would open it up more, but it didn’t. It was still industrial, fake candy, and somehow briny (even though it’s made from molasses) and just didn’t make the best drink. It’s actually kind of savory, and I wasn’t expecting that. Overall it wasn’t bad, but it’s overwhelming and complex in a way that I found hard to appreciate.

Verdict 6/10

Maybe my expectations were just a bit shattered by me going into this hoping for another Hampden. This isn’t it, and it’s really hard to categorize it as I really don’t think I’ve had a Caribbean rum quite like it. It’s quite hard to drink neat, and I don’t think that papelón con limón was the right mixer to tame it. It was a wild ride just sipping it, but I don’t really know what I could mix it with to properly enjoy it. Just for the ride, though, it deserves a 6/10