bigwhitemike
Banks 5 Island Rum
Silver Rum — Multiple Countries
Reviewed
January 11, 2021 (edited March 19, 2021)
Bright and clear, modest weight but leaves decadent legs cascading down the glass, surprising considering its low proof and probable youth.
Hogo slaps the nose, married quite appealingly to a bouquet of young tropical fruits and herbal notes. Pineapple, banana peel. Oregano. 100% agree with a previous taster’s tarragon. Brown rice? Simultaneously assertive, complex, yet smooth as silk. Clean, young, and bright. Can inhale all day. Really nice.
Uh oh. The palate is great too. A dash of sweet syrup and pineapple juice tangoes with the aromatics from the nose, then settles across the tongue with bitter lime pith, mint, and a touch of saccharine. Thin vein of Tahitian vanilla. Finally, those herbs return and settle across the tongue, throwing the finish off marginally with a bitter, earthy vibe instead of a tropical sunset. A modest critique, at most.
Did we just become best friends? Yep!
This is one heck of a lot of affordable fun. Wow. Leave it to E&A Scheer. If you dig young, expressive rum: this is your jam to drink neat. If you dig clean, charismatic rum as cocktail fodder: this is your jam to shake with fruit juice. If you dig neither of those things: just give me one sunny Saturday and I can probably overwrite your operating system.
20.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@ctbeck11 agreed, although that line of thinking is a common crutch for me, lol, and has led me to devoting a substantial shelf exclusively to open bottles of rum... well, at least I have what I need close at hand!
@bigwhitemike Thanks for the insight. I always forget how varied the category is. You really need to have 3+ ‘house’ rums to cover the bases for cocktails. I don’t find that to be the case with most other spirit categories.
@cascode it really is an impressive blend to bring in the unique character/island style of each of those sources as additive instead of clashing and muddled. Am enjoying this bottle. @Ancient33w if you‘re open to a bit more character, this stuff is very well made and should be affordable. I would happily sip neat or mix this. @ctbeck11 It certainly has more character than the Plantation, but honestly that is a great bottle. 3 Star is just so mellow and juicy and tropical/fruity (and affordable, I usually grab it at $14). It is my go-to when I’m looking for easy sippin’ or the young white rum isn’t the dominant flavor (say, a multi-rum tiki drink). This 5 island can be the standalone star in an complex daiquiri etc. but might overpower some other uses. I will keep both on the shelf.
Man, I wish this was sold somewhere near me. Sounds like it might be a great candidate for replacing Plantation 3 Stars as my house mixing rum.
Great review. I have seen this in the store but I am not a huge rum fan but I will get a bottle of this.
LOL - great review 😄 This sounds like just my sort of thing.