My preferred spirit to sip neat, over all others. Nose of vanilla, blackstrap molasses and coffee. Perhaps a slight oakiness. The palate doubles down with the same flavors, mostly blackstrap, strong enough to overwhelm the scent and taste of ethanol. There is an ethanol burn, however. Mouthfeel is lighter than expected, similar to other rums. The nose after the glass is even better than before, redolent with syrupy sweet scents. Adding water destroys the sweetness, leaving only bitter sadness. This one is best sipped neat. It is an honest, Navy-style, full strength pirate rum. Adding or diluting destroys the relative complexity. Additionally, it has a place in your spice cabinet. It would be useful for Boston Brown Bread, various quickbreads, spice cakes, molasses cookies, homemade vanilla extract, rum cake, etc. Use it as you would blackstrap molasses. It will probably not swap equally for tamer flavors.