Probitas White Blended Rum

This is a pretty good rum but not really my style. It has a powerful aroma that somehow seems like fried bananas, a mix of burnt sugar and sweet mushy banana, with maybe a bit of lemon or lime in there too. It's also got that Jamaican funk smell but not overwhelmingly so. The flavor is more sharp, tasting now like green bananas with a pretty strong lime tang, but underneath that there's a darker, heavier element like brown sugar and even brown butter. The banana note is what stays with me through the finish. I'm finding that the "funky banana" Jamaican thing isn't really my favorite in rums. That element is tempered here with softer brown sugar and so I still enjoy this, but not as much as other rums I've tried. This is a blend of Barbados and Jamaica rums, and I find I like the Barbados in it more than the Jamaica, if that makes sense. The Jamaican side is much more prominent on the nose but is mellowed in the flavor. I started making daiquiris with this and it does well there. It's not bad by itself but isn't something I'd really reach for to sip neat. However, at a mere $21 it's enough of a bargain that I could see getting it now and then even just for daiquiris.

A very light white wine color. Aromas of simple syrup, white sugar, rotten banana, overripe pineapple, fresh cane juice, fresh cut ginger, cinnamon, jackfruit, stewed vegetables, carrot, high grass, lychee syrup, jasmine flower, brown sugar, banana flower. On the palate, it is less interesting, though smooth, with an abundance of banana and a subtle black pepper, clove spice, white sugar. Unfortunately, this feels like it's 75 percent a well-made, smooth, somewhat tedious, Foursquare white rum blended with a 25% interesting Hampden swamp bog distillate. Its perfectly fine as a mixer, but it struggles to hold much interest as a stand-alone sipper.

The nose has a vegetal sweetness very similar to agave, along with faint notes of roasted pineapple and confectioners sugar. Vegetal sweetness continues to the palate with notes of agave and sweet peppers, faint vanilla, pineapple and clove. I don't get much of Jamaican funk on this but if I didn't know better I would think I'm drinking tequila.

Nose is on the funky side with bananas and burnt sugar and everything else you'd expect of a Jamaican rum. Nose also has a hint of oaked vanilla. Taste initially hits you with the sweetness but the hogo ramps up through the middle. Ends up a bit like canned pineapple. Has a bit of funk that reminds me of tequila, too. A pretty flavorful white rum!