I was highly recommended Chairman’s Reserve by a friend of mine, and, if unable to find it, he recommended me Bounty. These are two of his favorite rums of all time. I could find not a single Chairman’s Reserve product in any liquor store near me, but one store had one bottle of Bounty nestled at the back of the bottom shelf. The glorious, Saint Lucia’s own, Bounty Strong 151 rum! What a find! Only $23 too, I guess they were trying to just get rid of this thing. I think. I have nothing to compare the price to, since nowhere else sells any Bounty products. It is by far the strongest rum that I have ever bought, second being Wray & Nephew OP, which was, at the time, by far the strongest rum that I had ever bought.

Review

Smell

The smell is very spicy, like a spiced rum. I get vanilla, cloves, and anise notes.

Taste

Tasting it neat is a real experience. It feels like cotton candy melting in my mouth. Then, I realize that that’s just my taste buds frying, as my whole mouth goes numb.

I watered it down to half strength to give myself a better chance of tasting it, and it really has interesting spiced rum characteristics. It’s very bold, with pineapple and toffee notes as well. It’s not super spice-forward, nor funky, as overall it still has the profile of a column still rum, but I might say it most closely relates to a Bajan rum in terms of palate, as it’s not just “vanilla and oak” as is the case with a lot of Spanish-style rums, but is also not incredibly fruity like Guyanese and Jamaican rums.

I tried it in a daiquiri, but I only used half the amount to not overwhelm myself, and the flavor of the rum doesn’t really come through. In fact, the proportions are just off. I added more water to it, and I feel like I am just making a grog at this point. It makes an alright grog, though. Nothing really stands out.

Verdict 5/10

(Edited from 6.5/10 on 1/3/26)

I found it hard to rate this, as 151 proof rum is no joke, and I felt like I was trying to make it work like a normal rum, which is not using it the way it’s intended to be used. Sure, I could make a zombie, but for a review, that would completely hide the rum. I was told that 151 rums are great for making liqueurs and syrups for my home tiki bar, so I will definitely be using it for that, but aside from that use case from a chemistry perspective, the flavors are interesting enough for me to warrant giving it a 6.5, but I just feel like I haven’t yet unlocked the full potential of this rum. My score is very tentative, and feel free to give me some advice on how I can best make use of this product.

January 3, 2026 Update:

I gave it another taste, and yeah, nothing too spectacular. Just a very high proof rum with a bit of good rum flavor, but nothing to write home about.