Tastes

Alcohol, caramel, & butterscotch aromas (in that order). Meh. A quick taste has light caramel and the spice comes afterwards in sweet, mild pepperiness. A longer taste has the pepper hit stronger with cheap candy-sweet caramel. Definitely best to be used as a mixer!

I rather like this for being such an inexpensive rum! I get my sweet rum that goes well with a cola or alone. Strong caramel aroma with rootbeer. In the mouth it's smooth with the strong caramel again, a little butterscotch, and some rootbeer but that's mostly in the finish. Keeping it in the mouth the flavor transitions into hints of banana & vanilla. Works well for mixed drinks where sweetness and caramel are wanted. No matter how it's downed the spice is not obtrusive and comes on more at the end. Rating is based on neat sipping.

To me it has little smell of funk and bourbon...that and nail polish come to mention it. Flavor is bourbon and dry oak leaves on the finish. Odd, I know but that's what flashed through my head. Sipped quickly it has a smoothness on the tongue and the pepper grows after swallowing. This was disappointing as I expected better from an aged spirit. It's not even good in soda. Rating is based on neat sipping.

Hogo, ripe banana, and a hint of paint thinner aroma. Hogo, toffee -- which becomes carmely-funk if kept longer on the tongue, ripe banana, and faint anise flavors. While the hogo is present at both senses it is not overpowering. Being a rum it does have a sweetness but it is not overpowering at all so if you like funky rum that isn't sugary then this would make a great daily sipper. A small ice cube takes the edge off the alcohol burn, gives the hogo a more mellow taste, and removes the paint thinner smell but adds just a little strength to the anise flavor. Rating is based on neat sipping.

I love port so this is an interesting rum for me. Has the tawny look, albeit darker thanks to the rum, and a deep sniff reveals the aroma is without a doubt port wine! I can also get smooth caramely vanilla if the sniff is short and quick. It has the sweetness and flavor of port as well. To me this is more like drinking port than rum but I'm not complaining at all. This is better as a sipper with a small cube of ice to take the edge off of the alcohol after-burn. I can't imagine a mixed drink would taste good using this. Update: Mixed with Pepsi (not a big Coke fan) was okay...not good because of the port flavour but not necessarily bad either. I find the port flavor is most pure if the sip doesn't linger in one's mouth. The longer it's kept in the mouth the more caramel flavors overcome the port. I tell ya, a 2oz. snifter simply isn't enough! :-D Rating is based on neat sipping.

Brown sugar aroma. There's something else but without other tasters comments I can't put my finger on it. You'd think with my big nose I'd be able to smell better 8^( Taste: Alcohol burn, medium sweetness, & light caramel. The longer it is in the mouth the more the caramel flavor comes out. I think it works better as a mixer than a sipper. I'm more interested in sipping rums thus the lower score. Rating is based on neat sipping.

Cask is bourbon and Ferrand. Alcohol vapor is a bit overpowering, I couldn't find anything save a sense of sweetness. Taste, aside from the alcohol 'sting', is faint raisin. Faint. For the price it's a disappoint. But hey, my wife -- who's from Trinidad-- absolutely loves it with cola! Rating is based on neat sipping.