Kirk and Sweeney 12 Year Rum

The nose begins with deep vanilla bean, not--mind you--vanilla wafers or vanilla icing but a bold, dark whole Madagascar vanilla bean that makes no compromises. After the vanilla bomb subsides, there is butterscotch pudding, creme de leche, toasted marshmallow, sweet tobacco and cane sugar. The palate is mouth-coating, syrupy sweet with milk cocoa, butter creme, sweet oak, meringue, cinnamon sugar, and fleeting hints of new leather and brown raisins. Finish continues with the vanilla and an additional wallop of green sugar cane. There are some other fudgy and dessert notes such as bananas foster and Boston cream pie, but this is largely the vanilla's show. Aside from a faint banana-clove note in the finish (married to a maple syrupy note), the fruit and citrus contributions are subdued. The sweetness never subsides, making this unapologetically a digestif.

Pungent aroma of vanilla and butterscotch. On the tongue, very alcohol forward, oakiness and somewhat bitter taste. There’s a subtle lingering taste of vanilla and butterscotch. It’s gradually becoming a favorite.

This is a great rum.

First bottle of Rum suggested by my liquor store. Nice first impression.

caramel, toffee, marshmallow, oak, citrus, cinammon

Strong smoke and vanilla flavor, definitely oaky, butterscotch, cinnamon, and nutmeg