Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum

This is the first rum that I’ve tasted straight in ages. It has a very interesting meaty smell to it, which apparently is bacon fat according to the bottle. I’m having a hard time picking up scents in the tasting glass, but I might have overwhelmed my smelling senses. It has a nice, fairly light palette, though the tobacco definitely comes through nicely. I believe I pickup the honey midway through the tasting. I’ve rated it a 4 because I like it, but I’m also tasting it in a vacuum without anything to compare it with.

Notes are light and hard to detect

First aged rum. Tastes like bourbon.

Nose - light molasses, sweet floral notes, vanilla, orange, cinnamon, pineapple, banana, honey, coconut, grass, mint, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - light molasses, orange pith, grass, honey, allspice, mint, pineapple, banana, sour apple, sweet floral notes, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with light molasses, bitter citrus, and grassy mint flavors. Another cheap Plantation offering, but is it better than the 3 Stars I reviewed yesterday? The nose certainly has more depth than its white rum relative. It’s less like an agricole and more like a prototypical rum. Molasses, tropical fruit, citrus, and honey. The palate is sweet, sour, and bitter with many of the same qualities as the nose. Overall this is a small step up from the 3 Stars as a sipper, but it’s no stud. It’s markedly less funky as well. The profile isn’t very different from the Bacardi 8 Year’s, and I enjoy it about the same. I haven’t devoted much time to finding drink matches for it, but may consider swapping this with 3 Stars if it holds up well to the standard cocktails I make at home.

Nose: very sweet, strong vanilla, faint mint notes. Coconut in background. Palate: vanilla, molasses. Finish: warming spices, sugar, vanilla. Simple, bit one dimensional, but really enjoyable.