Rating: 8/23 I bought 3 rums from Mission Wine & Spirits in order to be able to buy a bottle of Weller Full Proof from them at something resembling MSRP. The whole lot was cheaper than buying a bottle of the Weller on its own from elsewhere and it seemed like the rums might be fairly good, so I figured what the heck. This is the first one I'm trying. E: This is very light. We're talking reposado tequila light here. I know that this is only around 8.8 years old, but it's still surprisingly light. Looking at the back of the bottle, I'm reminded that this spent most of its life aging in the UK. Oh. That's the cause here. Hopefully there will be some nice nuance here caused by the slow aging. N: Banana laffy taffy and a peppery burn that makes me think of underaged grain whisky. Some oiliness as well, with some lemon. This isn't very complex and it smells too young. P: This really burns at full proof, but there's a nice sweetness to it that has some tropical fruits (orange, banana, pineapple). Then the burn takes over with the harsh pepper, and oil flavored with lemon rind. Tropical fruits peek out again from time to time, but this really doesn't show them much. It's very much a clean coffey still profile, but I'm not really loving that about it. Hints of bubblegum at times. Cutting it with water brings out more of the oily bitterness, losing the sweet tropical fruits. At some point I get hints of baking spices in with wood and hints of chocolate (and faint sawdust). I like these flavors, but most of the rest of the dram is pretty rough and it requires a lot of water to make this not super harsh. Some water is required for these flavors as well, which is a problem because the water tramples the fruits. F: The bitter flavors of the pepper and oil last for a while. There's maybe a bit of woodiness coming out here as well, adding some depth. Possible faint hints of tropical fruits. Maybe a hint of lime now. This is mildly interesting, but not that great. A touch of light caramel. - Conclusion - This is rough. It's not the worst, but it's clearly undermatured. Interesting, I guess? Well, not a ton, but it is kind of interesting how similar it is to single grain scotch. The more I drink of this, the more I Iose the sweet fruits. Signatory's Caledonian 29 (1987) (12/23) is richer with more coconut and vanilla. This is harsher. I'd take the Caledonian over this. This isn't a lot worse, but it is worse. I'm thinking something around a 10. The Sexton (9/23) is less aggressive, but more bitter. Honestly, this is pretty close in quality to that - and the harshness might push this below it, though the high ABV's fullness might make this the winner. I don't blame the distillery for what happened here. Why age this for 8 years in the UK? It's just a weird decision. Overall, this is either an 8 or a 9. I want to give it a 9, but I think that an 8 is more fitting considering the harshness. I'm sure I'll enjoy some cocktails with this, but I think it's worth $20 at most. Coming back to this, this is clearly better than Jim Beam (8-9/23). It's not a whole lot better though. I do like the sweetness here. I'm leaning a bit toward a 9 for this now, maybe even a 10. The problem is that this is harsh. I think I'm giving it an 8 or 9.