BrenBarn
Plantation Pineapple Stiggins' Fancy Rum
Flavored Rum — Multiple Countries
Reviewed
September 9, 2020 (edited September 30, 2020)
I have mixed feelings about this. I got it because it had high ratings on here from both experts and users, but I found it doesn't really live up to the hype. It's not bad by any means and it has a certain charm but I'm finding it's not something I feel like drinking very often.
Of course, it's pineapple rum, so the prominent flavor note is pineapple. It's pretty well done, overall, in that it doesn't taste syrupy sweet or artificially pineapple flavored. In fact it almost doesn't "taste like" pineapple at all, but there is a sort of aura of pineapple, especially in the aroma. That aroma is quite nice; it's sweet and enticing. The taste is also sweet, but only partly pineapple-ish; there is a more generic sweetness that is similar to cognac. (Apparently Plantation ages most of their rums in cognac casks; not sure if that's true of this one.) There's also a fairly strong alcohol burn, which frankly is stronger than I think it ought to be for something that's otherwise so mellow and mild. That burn lingers on the finish along with some of the sweetness.
This might be useful in making cocktails, I suppose. And like I said, it's not bad. Whenever I pull it out and have a glass I think, "Huh, yeah, this is interesting, kind of nice, but. . ." I probably won't buy this again, not because I dislike it but because there are other rums I like better or am interested to try out.
32.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@ContemplativeFox intended to mean that in a cocktail with multiple prominent flavors / fruit juices, I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell much difference between the Stiggins, white rum + pineapple juice, or even Cruzan pineapple. Mostly saying that the quality ingredient would be best served as a feature rather than minor component.
We have a bottle of this - the wife likes it for cocktails. I like the fact that it's a mildly flavored dram with a very "natural" taste, in contrast to so many other overbearing flavored spirits. I recently decided to mix a touch of this with the remnants of a bottle of Ardbeg10, and voila! - a poor man's Ardbeg Drum ,(or at least what I would imagine the Drum tastes like, since I opted not to buy a bottle). It actually worked quite well.
@bigwhitemike that's a fair point, though I guess you wouldn't get the alcohol. it sounds a bit like the rum and pineapple answer to Cointreau then?
@cascode It's been on my list for some time as well.
@cascode @ContemplativeFox I haven’t made much of a dent in my bottle. It’s tasty, but more sweet than rummy. In a clear league of its own for flavored rums IMO, but is... still a flavored rum (no matter how naturally or elegantly done). I’d rate this more as a digestivo type / sweet nip to finish the evening. Unless you were going very utilitarian on the cocktail, I think the quality of the infusion would be lost quickly, drowned by too many other flavors. If I were to mix, I’d leverage the pineapple to add a only first or second note (daiquiri, highball, etc). Otherwise you might as well just pour a little pineapple juice directly in there since you’ve lost the nuance.
@ContemplativeFox I've lost count of the times I've seen this on the shelf and reached past it for something else. Hmm. Maybe that's a mission for this weekend :)
The way you describe it, it sounds tasty, but I think you're right that this is more intended for cocktails.