Privateer Navy Yard Rum

Green apple, ripe banana, rubber, and caramel are some of the aromas. Passion fruit, apricot, banana, baking spices, caramel, and toffee dance on the tongue with a warming spicy mouth feel.

Pours a nice copper color. Nose is burnt sugar with a slight hint of alcohol. Vanilla and wood notes on the palate with a little heat. No suprise that heat is present since it is 108.6 proof. Medium mouthfeel and medium finish. An old friend from Boston brought this down to me in NJ upon request and it did not disappoint. I started drinking rum with Thomas Tew, which has a similar flavor profile. The Privateer is like Tew but amplified. These New England rums have very clean finishes, indicative of their quality. Barrel #P474

I'll be honest, reviewing this rum is quite the challenge. Its reminiscent of rums like Ron Diplomatico Reserve with its almost desert like sweetness, but also rums like the Appleton 12 year with its slight funk and tropical notes. What sets it apart is the level of sweet wood (think fresh sawdust and fresh spring woodland) and the punch of oak on first sip. I was unsure of American rum (I do have a soft spot for Sailor Jerry due to my underage drinking days), but this really has me happy and wondering; what else does American rum have to offer?

Despite hearing a lot of great things about Privateer over the past year or so, I resisted buying a bottle to give it a try.  The distillery is about a 40-minute drive from our home, giving me the opportunity to sample before buying,   A couple of weekends ago, while the event cancellations were starting to pour in but before social distancing was a catchphrase, my wife and I decided we needed to get out of the house and do something fun.  Off to Privateer! To summarize: the distillery tour was great, the distillery itself is beautiful, the Privateer folks are fanatical about creating great rum, and everything we sampled was exceptional.   Privateer's slogan is "True American Rum:", and they're dead set in their mission to create world-class rum.  Specially sourced molasses, no additives or sweeteners, meticulous distilling and aging processes, and weekly cleaning of the stills, for starters.  But perhaps the best evidence of what Privateer has achieved is this - Velier (if you're not familiar with Velier, it's an Italian bottler that selects and bottles rum from the world's finest distilleries, such as Hampden, Foursquare, and Caroni) will be bottling select Privateer casks soon. As for the Navy Rum, it had some stiff competition from the other rums we tried, but it was one of my favorites.  Just a bit of spice, and some great notes on both the nose and palate of brown sugar, tobacco, leather, and oak.  The oak may be the standout note.  I've seen other reviews that describe it as pencil-shavings, but to me, it's a crisp, dry oak burst that's I've never quite experienced elsewhere.  Beautiful.  My wife grabbed one of Privateer's recipe cards for a "Navy Yard Julip", and she whipped up a batch the following evening.  Although I'm really not a cocktail enthusiast, I was impressed with how well this rum held up to and complimented the mint and simple syrup. We left Privateer with six bottles, although it might have been more if not for the fact that the distillery is easily accessible (in addition to their core products, they have numerous "distiller's draw" limited editions).    Six bottles of really good craft spirits can be an expensive proposition, but our haul averaged just over $40 per bottle.   Excellent VFM, IMO. If you like rum and haven't tried Privateer yet, get some!   I also think Privateer would be a hit with whiskey enthusiasts who often find rum to be too sweet or syrupy.  Because there's no added sugar, the sweetness is kept in check while the barrel notes shine.   

Gordon's Private Barrel Barrel P164 114 Proof 57% ABV Deep copper color. Nose comes at you with toasted coconut, vanilla, molasses, almonds, and incense. Mouthfeel is warm and creamy. Palate has coconut cream pie, vanilla cream soda, molasses, spicy ginger, and charred oak. Finish is long and hot, with more molasses, sweet tea, and peppery oak.

Barrel #P474 Proof 108.6 ABV 54.3% Copper color. Nose has heavy notes of molasses, burnt caramel, burnt sage, allspice and oak. Dense, velvety mouthfeel. Rich, complex palate, with upfront notes of creme brulee, then dark brown sugar, pipe tobacco, leather, allspice, and oak tannins. Medium-long, hot finish, with light molasses notes, more oak and leather, and a hint of black pepper. Spectacular!

For starters, if you see a bottle, buy one. This is great rum in a traditional sense. It's what you'd expect from a great rum, period. Actually, most people buy "spiced" rums thinking they'll get this. There are heavy heavy notes of pepper, some oak, and just the right balance of molasses sweet in the finish. The strength of this rum lies in the the mid taste that reveals the pepper notes and a slightly dry sea saltish note. If a traditionally well tailored suit were a rum, this is what it would taste like. This is for pirates and the CEOs alike.