It’s the new year, and I’ve been tasting a lot of whisk(e)y lately and noticed that I haven’t given much love to my other favorite spirit, Rum! So, instead of doing a multitude of tastings with detailed notes, I decided to do a blind tasting and give very small notes. Method: pour spirits into glasses, close eyes, mix them up as best as possible, smell, taste, take notes, then guess as to which one was which. Then taste again side by side with spirit poured from the bottle in separate container. Also, sips of water were taken in between each taste of spirit. Today’s contenders- we have Brugal Anejo Rum weighing in at a standard 40% ABV and wearing a stylish net with blue label, Captain Morgan limited sherry oak cask weighing in at a lighter 35% ABV with its silver sleek design. Next we have Shellback spiced rum weighing in at a standard 40% ABV and featuring the likeness of the legendary sea god Poseidon , and last but not least, the hard hitting, over-proof hoola skirt weighing in at a whopping 46% ABV…..Sailoooooor Jerrrryyy’ssss…..spiced rum.

So, as I said I mixed them up, tasted, smelled etc, but I also put a number next to each glass. These numbers are no indication of rank or how much I like them, but simply just so I could take notes unbiased by the number and not the bottle. Coolest thing about this taste test was that I turned out to be right on all accounts, probably because all of these rums are incredible different. Without further ado..

  1. Guessed this one was Brugal Anejo, due to its grassy notes on the nose and lemon rind flavor, which I quite enjoy in a classic Daiquiri
  2. I had high hopes for it, turned out to be Sailor Jerry’s and my least favorite of the bunch. It had some mild fruit and butterscotch notes hanging out on the nose, but all taste was completely overshadowed by the over-proof ethanol flavor.
  3. Next up we had Captain Morgan Limited Sherry Oak Cask, which ended up being my first pick. Has a very sweet, almost syrupy nose to it, but a welcome smoothness after the other two (also less alcohol content). A candy sweet taste that reminded me strangely of gum drops. Weird because I like this and always hated those candies…
  4. At the end we have ShellBack Spice Rum. Overwhelmingly pleasant nose of vanilla, with a hint of cinnamon. Watery in taste though compared to the nose, but those flavors were all there.

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Order of preference: Captain Morgan Limited Sherry Oak Cask, Brugal Anejo Rum, ShellBack Spice rum, Sailor Jerry’s Spiced rum

Song of the Drink: Electric Joy Ride & Exige- Escape (ft. Zoe Phillips)