PBMichiganWolverine
Barrell Rum Private Release Blend J553
Aged Rum — Multiple Countries
Reviewed
January 24, 2020 (edited August 7, 2021)
I think I’ve had maybe 4-5 rums ever—-none of which I liked except for a Caroni. I found them overly sweet, an almost artificial sweetener taste. The Caroni, on the other hand, I absolutely loved. It was viscous, oily, and whisky-like complex. This comes in second. It’s very “unlike rum”...not sweet at all.
Herbal , engine oil nose, followed by walnut skins, cocoa, and a bit of a spicy cinnamon after taste.
Really well made...it’s not a Caroni level, but damn close (and much more affordable). Thanks to @jonwilkinson7309 for the sample!
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@PBMichiganWolverine Nice! Good man!
@Soba45 next international aromatherapy will include a Barrell ☺️
@PBMichiganWolverine No sadly I've seen reviews such as yours pop up and i'm like gotta try that but no luck here and also I don't think I could even get an MoM sample
@PBMichiganWolverine It's definitely not targeted towards aficionados of mainstream rums. I saw an interview with Joe Beatrice where he said that their rums are directed towards whiskey lovers looking for something a bit different.
@Soba45 you get Barrell products there in NZ?
@jonwilkinson7309 this was type of rum I’d like to have on my regular shelf—-I naturally can’t keep a Caroni as a regular. I got the feeling this was aimed directly at people that don’t like rum
@bigwhitemike yeah, Barrell is pricey, but they’re quality is consistent. For about $100, I know I’m getting a good quality rye or bourbon. I was skeptical of this rum initially, just prejudiced because I don’t like rum...but they’ve come through.
Interesting...straight in the deep end with single cask rum. I drank a hell of a lot a long time ago but never came across one of these. I wonder if it's going to be a large part of Rums future and you see distillery single cask releases regularly like say Benriach, Glendronach..(maybe this is already a thing as I haven't googled it)
This was my first barrel rum, and I was impressed too. @bigwhitemike - I agree with you - Foursquare is a great recommendation for rums that are not highly sweet but bold and complex.
Good review. I’ve heard good to great things about Barrell but am always put off by the high cost of entry no matter which product. I suppose they’re all cask strength and high quality hand selected sourced products, so probably justified. I can’t help but feel you’re offering a slight challenge to the Distiller community to impress you with quality (whiskey-like) rum. I’ll have to go dig into my Foursquare Exceptional Cask inventory for inspiration, I feel like those would be up your alley (2004, 2005, 2007, Criterion, Empyry, etc).