Panamá-Pacific 15-Year

Rating: 15/23 I tried Panamá-Pacific 9 at a bar and apparently liked it, so I picked up the 15 and 23 since they were pretty cheap. N: Molasses, sugar, vegetal. This is on the lighter side. A bit of dry, slightly varnished wood comes in. Occasional hints of barrel spices (allspice, cinnamon, ginger, clove). Not a very complex nose and not one that I find particularly enjoyable, but not a bad one either. P: Pretty sweet. I get molasses, fireworks, wood, light spices, and sugar water. The alcohol comes through a bit. There's nothing terribly off here, but it tastes kind of immature and needs more balance. Some vanilla going into a hint of sandalwood. F: Varnished wood, fireworks, alcohol, some spices, light caramel, a bit watery. - Conclusion - Unfortunately, I probably overrated Panamá-Pacific 9 (15/23) when I tried it originally. This isn't bad and I don't feel ripped off at the price charged, but this does seem like it should be marked $10 cheaper. There's a good core here, but it never gets fleshed out and it has some detractors. This is at minimum a 12. Plantation Xaymaca (14/23) doesn't show its alcohol as much and it has a lot more complexity, but it seems less refined. Between the two, I think I'd go with this one, but the gap isn't large. I'm kind of thinking about going with a 15 for this one just like I did for the 9 year. Comparing this with Elijah Craig Small Batch (sort of my canonical 15 bourbon), I find this to be highly competitive. Right now, if I had to award the win to one of them, I'd give it to this. That said, Russell's Reserve 10, my canonical 15 to 16 bourbon, beats this. So a 15 seems just about right. After extensive comparison to finalize this rating, I locked this in as a high 14 or low 15. I finally decided that it's a low 15, but it was close.

Nose - molasses, butterscotch, cola, vanilla, brown sugar, green vegetal notes, peanut butter, dark chocolate, banana, allspice, clove, barrel char, earthy mint, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - molasses, clove, spearmint, allspice, dark chocolate, dry coconut, underripe banana, brown sugar, bitter herbal notes, vanilla, butterscotch, spicy oak, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with spearmint, molasses, underripe banana, and bitter herbal flavors. Day two of my rum series, and we have another Panama-Pacific offering, representing the midpoint between the 9 and 23 year expressions I plan to review. The nose is not too different from the 9 year, but it’s slightly richer and mintier. Aside from that, there’s a nutty note I don’t remember on the other, but the overwhelming burnt aroma is fortunately missing. The palate is very minty and vegetal. The rummy butterscotch, molasses, and chocolate flavors are still present, but the addition of a Canadian rye finish has certainly made an impact. Overall this is better than the 9 year, but not by enough to improve the score for me. While the finish is slightly longer, the mouthfeel remains markedly thin and watery. And the minty, vegetal notes on this one are a bit heavy handed. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample! We’ll wrap up the Panama-Pacific miniseries with the 23 year bottling tomorrow.