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Balcones Rumble
Distiller Score 91
The aroma is full of tangerines, leather, pit fruits and flower beds. As you taste, you will find garden herbs, green tea, sugar, and bitter citrus fruits. The finish is of average length and keeps with the herb garden theme with a touch of leather.
Reviewed by Rob Morton
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Foursquare Zinfandel Cask Blend
Distiller Score 89
The aroma delivers notes of creme brulee, roasted almonds, vanilla, black pepper, oak, and spices. The palate provides a myriad of flavors including brown sugar, toffee, dried fruits (apricots, raisins) and spices, particularly ginger, black pepper, and clove. Toasted coconut and strawberries are also present.
Reviewed by Paul Senft
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Arcane Extraroma Amber Rum
Distiller Score 90
A whiff and taste of this rum will instantly bring back sweet childhood memories of biting into Juicy Fruit gum. Sweet and fruity papaya, mango, pineapple, banana, coconut and lychee dominate the palate over notes of lilac, sage, thyme, and malted milk chocolate. The slightest zing of orange zest and lemongrass provide some herbal refreshment to this rich, lush and highly unusual style.
Reviewed by Amanda Schuster
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Kirk and Sweeney 18 Year Rum
Distiller Score 89
This exemplifies well-aged rum. The nose shows brown sugar, vanilla, baking chocolate, coffee and integrated baking spice. The full body mouthfeel carries those flavors in deliberate segments adding leather and baked fruit. The finish is a simple fade of the flavors with coffee notes that linger with the baking spice.
Reviewed by Forrest Cokely
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Ron Abuelo XV Napoleon Cognac Cask Finish
Distiller Score 89
Of the three finishes, this one has the sweetest, most honeyed textures up front. Baked apple with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove enter the mid-palate with more spiciness in the slightly woodsy finish that is somehow sweet without feeling too heavy and rich.
Reviewed by Amanda Schuster
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Ron Abuelo XV Tawny Port Cask Finish
Distiller Score 87
On first sip, there's a Dr. Pepper/Cherry Coke type flavor entering the nose and palate. Additional tastes give way to brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cola spices with some thyme and mint in the jammy finish.
Reviewed by Amanda Schuster
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Ten to One Five Origin Select
Distiller Score 94
Tropical esters load up a nose filled with papaya, overripe bananas, and flambeed bananas with an enticing funk undertone. On the palate, find salted caramel, grape jelly, cane juice, dark chocolate, lemon zest, pistachio shells, and white pepper. The finish is lengthy and layered, with swirls of butterscotch, molasses, tannic oak, and apples.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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Foursquare 2004
Distiller Score 96
The aroma of the rum delivers notes of alcohol and dark vanilla, fresh-cut apples, pears, charred oak, and toasted nuts. The first sip of the rum delivers a punch of ethanol in a swirl of vanilla, and oak tannins. This conditions the tongue of the imbiber to enjoy the complexity of the rum. Additional sips reveal notes of cocoa, more fresh-cut apples with a hint of pears, leather, raisins, dried apricots, pepper and dark toffee. As the rum begins to fade notes of toasted walnuts and tobacco leaf linger and balance in a nice long finish.
Reviewed by Paul Senft
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Maggie's Farm Queen's Share Unaged Rum
Distiller Score 88
The smell of the rum delivers a good amount of aromatic heat with notes of buttery vanilla, sweet grass, and a lovely citrus undertone. On the palate the rum enters with a rush of pepper-laden alcohol countered and balanced by the sweet/buttery vanilla from the aroma. As the rum shifts and begins to fade the lemon citrus notes become more pronounced punctuated by raw minerals and ethyl-alcohol in a long bittersweet finish.
Reviewed by Paul Senft
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Ron Malecon Reserva Imperial 25 Year
Distiller Score 94
In the glass, the color is a dark, lustrous copper hue. It looks like a 25-year rum should. The nose carries enticing aromas of stone fruit, oak, and just a hint of glue. Imagine a fresh-baked fruit pie in the hold of a wooden ship. It enters the palate luxuriously, an absolute flavor bomb of fruit. The mouthfeel and finish are crisp in the style of Cuban rums, with a dash of eucalyptus if you look for it. A complete joy to sip.
Reviewed by Matt Pietrek
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Ron Izalco 10 Year
Distiller Score 87
This rum shows lovely sweet caramel and orange blossom honey aromas. On the palate, it's bursting with spicy chili flavor that fades into sweet caramelized banana. The influence of ex-bourbon barrels lends to its richness. Look for sweet lemon on the finish.
Reviewed by Anna Archibald
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Ron Diplomático Mantuano Rum
Distiller Score 87
Coffee, caramel and spice come on strong at the outset. There are grassy notes along with orange peel, banana and vanilla on the back palate and oaky bitterness toward the finish, which comes on a bit hot.
Reviewed by Amanda Schuster