Rhum Barbancourt White

White, lightly aged, blanco or silver rums, whatever you want to call them are not typically rums that I drink neat, but I do have a good number of them, so I figured I would run thru 8 of them and see which one emerges the winner (between Angostura, Privateer, Havana Club, Cana Brava, Barbancourt, Flor de Cana, Banks 5 Island & El Dorado). I almost put this above the second one on the list, but it just wasn't as complex. This is one though I would gladly drink neat and it also works well in cocktails, albeit not as well as the first two on the list. The nose is heavy on the tropical fruits and vanilla. The palate is a bit grassy and oily, but quite pleasant. The finish has a bit of a burn to it, with hints of pepper. The burn may just be the reason I put it as the third one on the list instead of higher, but either way for the price you can't go wrong with this bottle.

I'm loving this as a everyday cuba libre over the more conventional options.

I don't really drink rum neat, so I don't have much basis for comparison. Regardless, this strikes me as pretty good. Nose has a strong ethanol note that subsides after a couple minutes, at which point overripe banana, green grass, and coconut take over. Palate is sweet vanilla sugar with a tiny bit of coconut and rum funk. Great for the price, and my go to white rum.