Goslings Black Seal Rum

Nose - molasses, burnt brown sugar, rich vanilla, butterscotch, creme brûlée, overripe banana, raisin, coffee, boozy chocolate, nutmeg, allspice, coconut, light smoke, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - molasses, coffee, brown sugar, caramel, butterscotch, overripe banana, chocolate, coconut, cola, overripe banana, raisin, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with butterscotch, smoky molasses, overripe fruit flavors. The Old Rum offering from Gosling is significantly better, but this isn’t bad. It’s very thick and full flavored, but a bit young and bright, more appropriate for mixing. I bought it mainly for making Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktails, at which it performs admirably.

Nose: Brown sugar, molasses, caramel. It's all about cooked-sugar aromas and there is no nuance or complexity. Palate: The arrival is full of blackstrap molasses and treacle. As it progresses it loses some of the heavy arrival characteristics and settles down to caramel, butterscotch and gingerbread. There are some cheerful lime and cinnamon notes, but it seems a bit flat. The texture is neutral, but at least it’s not cloying. Finish: Medium. Molasses and brown sugar, fading to demerara sugar. An OK but rather ordinary dark rum. Good in a dark and stormy but that’s about it. There is no nuance or refinement of profile and it lacks hogo, but it is at least on the dry side of the profile divide - if this was sweet it would be diabolical. I’ve tried it several ways now, but nothing so far has inspired me. It’s not a sipping rum, there is not enough character for that, but as a mixer it tends to disappear, which was unexpected. Ginger ale is the best mixing choice. I actually bought this as the base for a batch of crème de cacao liqueur I’m making and I’ve just been tasting it neat and experimenting with the 200ml I didn’t need after setting up the infusion. It guess it’s not terrible value as an all-rounder, but frankly this is the first and last bottle I intend to buy. It’s just ... dull. Mind you - if I was a pirate in 18th century Bermuda I'd probably have lived on this stuff. “Average” : 77/100 (2.5 stars)

Definitely picking up the molasses and dried fruit sweetness.

Mixed with coke the rum gets lost. When you take it straight you can teally taste the sweet and herbal tones. It also smells incredible.