I am fairly inexperienced with rum, but so far this is fav. Im still trying to het over the “rum is not always overly sweet” presumption i had in my mind, especially when i taste this. Is this a sweet rum? Surely it is, but it is much dryer than you would expect, which is a great thing because it leaves room for other flavors. First of all even tho, this is 57%, it does not need more than a touch of water to it, otherwise it looses its dense-ness i like so much about it. Tbh, im not a big waterer myself, you might be more comfortably adding more water Nose: Like with all cask-strengh spirit, you have to be patient. Initially the high esther aromas covered basically everything else - especially right after opening - and it was almost like i was smelling glue with just a hint of sweetness in it. After leaving it to breathe and open up, finally the more fruity elements came forward, much more on the 2nd and 3rd glass, then on the first. (Bear in mind i did not have the 3 glasses in a row, but with 3-4 days apart). The nose is mostly occupied by the high ester almost glue like nose, this is not a typical “overripe banana” hogo, this is far stronger. The most accureta description i can give you about the fruit elements is that, it is like a fruit punch bowl, where you put a bunch of fruits like cannes pineapples, apples, cherries, sour cherries, brambles together. Also a faint brown sugar note. Palate: almost these same things translate to the palate too, but the glue like nose doesnt come forward to much in the palate, molasses and oak sweetness and bitterness comes forward (yes go ahead and buy some molasses, taste it, it has a very unique flavor, and you will understand what is the base of most of your rums, also there is a strong bitter, rotting funk to it, very interesting that it comes through the rum). And if you were lucky to hit the sweet spot, the amount of fruit punch bowl/fruit salad mix sweetness will literally make your mouth water, and it will leave a nice barrel tannines after it. Overall, for the price i can get it, it is a very favourable rum, i mostly enjoy it neat, little water added to it, but i did make a Mai Tai out of this one and it was the best god damn Mai Tai i have ever had. Dont want to over rate this one, since i barely tasted any rums yet. I am very keen on trying a Hampden 8 and see how that delivers the fruitiness with the intense hogo