The Real McCoy 3 Year Rum

Was looking for a clear rum as a mixer. I saw this on sale for $14, and I really enjoyed other Foursquare Distillery products like Doorly's 12. So I bought it. Its pretty simple on the nose with mostly vanilla and some banana. The taste was similar with vanilla, banana, and a hint of pepper. There's some barrel notes in there too like oak. I think it was just 'OK' neat, but I mainly bought this for mixing. It makes solid daiquiris and mint mojitos. Its smooth and doesn't add anything offensive to any drinks. Sometimes I'll notice a bit of coconut in my mojito, but I have to search for it. My main gribe is the low proof. Its 40%. I wish this was closer to 46% AVB. I prefer to taste the alcohol in my drinks rather than have liquor disappear. Still, this was a pretty solid mixer for $14.

Side-by-side tasting with Plantation 3-Star. Neat in a Glencairn. Simple bottle but an attractive and tasteful label. Synthetic cork. A very, very pale straw in the glass. Minimal viscosity. Thin legs, but they linger a bit. Cream with a splash of melon on the nose - somewhere between cantaloupe and honeydew. Tiny flash of ethanol at the tail end, but very clean and appealing aromatics overall. Quite sweet on the palate, impressively so for the Foursquare-sourced spirit with no added sugar. Simple syrup and honeydew. Banana and mango. There are vanillas there, but more Tahitian than Madagascar. Light and fruity. A gentle tingle on the finish, then the sweetness returns, drawing saliva and setting up shop for a pleasant while. Gonna be honest, this is quite impressive for 20 bones. Delicious, plenty of flavor, and honest as far as rum goes. On par for quality and flavor with the also delicious Plantation 3-Star bottle, but gets the nod for avoiding the added sugar (albeit a few bucks more expensive). I will need to sample against other foursquare entry-levels (Doorly's, Probitas) to see if this one still stands out, but a great value for the $.

Best white rum there is. Full of fruity flavor with very little ethanol notes.

Hoped for better. Pepper spicy lead to a revealing bite that punctuated an ethanol taste I was hoping to avoid. The sweet, vanilla cream, with subtle strawberry is nice. I guess I need something more tame to sip neat.