Plantation Original Dark Double Aged Rum

Nose: Sweet, light brown sugar with sweeter tropical, almost kiwi-like banana, and some hogo overtones right away. Underneath that, some pineapple skin and green crown plus fresh grilled pineapple, sweet bourbon and charred oak, and the faintest hint of sweet brandy or sherry barrel. Some licorice and cardamom comes and goes. Not very vapory, and the hogo grows after it sits in the glass a while and a drop of vanilla and coconut shows up. Palate: More light brown sugar and molasses, and a lot more bourbon barrel character with charred oak and good, black tea-like tannins. Fairly sweet, which builds up when I don't take a long time between sips like I usually do, but not too cloying. The weakest part of the experience, but not bad. Finish: Medium-long and slightly vapory, neutral spirit flavor with more tannins, light fresh-cut oak (with a pinch of nutmeg or anise depending on the sip), faint funky pineapple, and a little mint. Overall, a good aged, sipping rum that also happens to be a budget rum. If I included the smell of the empty glass in the rating, I might bump it up to a 4.25 for the great spicy, barrel, and brown sugar-crusted banana bread muffin aromas.

Caramel-y with a slight hint of piracy.

Dark, smooth, sweet and Smokey. Lovely sipping rum!

Nose: Funky hogo, molasses, brittle toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, a crisp minty note, prune juice, strong black tea, leather books. [The dry-glass aroma is herbal, funky molasses]. Palate: Oily/syrupy in texture, but the arrival flavours are dry and bittersweet (you can taste the cask used for secondary maturation). A lot of sugar sweetness becomes immediately apparent in the development along with pineapple and mango, black coffee and dark chocolate. There’s an anise presence as well. It's warm and slightly spicy, but certainly not hot – you barely notice any alcohol at all until the aftertaste. The sugar sweetness builds over time to the point where it becomes intrusive. Finish: Medium/long. A pleasant combination of dry, spicy and rancio, but with an unwelcome white sugar aftertaste. There was an earlier Original Dark Rum by Plantation that was discontinued in 2015 and replaced by this "Double Aged" version. I’ve made a new listing here for the Double Aged because the mix of reviews for the two versions in the old listing is confusing. This is a very different rum to the earlier one. The earlier version was more fruity and contained rum from Trinidad & Tobago. You'll still see that recipe stated on most liquor website listings for this new version, but it's incorrect. This new one is a dryer, funky combination of young Bajan pot still and column still rum blended together with 10-15 year old Jamaican pot still rum. The two are married in a tun for 3-6 months in France which imparts a subtle cognac oak overtone. There is a great deal of white sugar sweetness across the palate of this rum, which spoils what would otherwise be an excellent bottling. It's unmistakable and obvious if you taste it in comparison to something like Doorly's 12 or any other Foursquare rum. Plantation employs dosage and this signature added sweetness appears in almost all of their rums, to a greater or less extent - here it is particularly noticeable. There is also a funky hogo note to both the nose and palate, and if you’re not into that you will probably hate it, so maybe try a dram before buying a bottle. It's sippable, but is primarily intended as a mixer. It makes a particularly nice Cuba Libre as the hogo note shows through the cola and lends it character, and it also goes well with dry ginger. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)