As the title says, this is my first sipping rum. I've only had rum in mixed drinks and decided that it's time for me to grow up and have some big boy drinks. Hehe. I decided to start with this one since it is often seen as a standard for tasting rum. Overall I'm happy with my decision. I smell fruit and spice. It's a little sweet smelling. I don't get the banana that others report, but that's good since I hate banana. On my tongue, I get some spiciness, mainly pepper. I also detect some fruit, but my palate isn't refined enough yet to narrow it down. I'll be judging all future rums against this one.