cascode
Goslings Black Seal Rum
Dark Rum — Bermuda
Reviewed
November 12, 2020 (edited July 17, 2022)
Nose: Brown sugar, molasses, caramel. It's all about cooked-sugar aromas and there is no nuance or complexity.
Palate: The arrival is full of blackstrap molasses and treacle. As it progresses it loses some of the heavy arrival characteristics and settles down to caramel, butterscotch and gingerbread. There are some cheerful lime and cinnamon notes, but it seems a bit flat. The texture is neutral, but at least it’s not cloying.
Finish: Medium. Molasses and brown sugar, fading to demerara sugar.
An OK but rather ordinary dark rum. Good in a dark and stormy but that’s about it. There is no nuance or refinement of profile and it lacks hogo, but it is at least on the dry side of the profile divide - if this was sweet it would be diabolical.
I’ve tried it several ways now, but nothing so far has inspired me. It’s not a sipping rum, there is not enough character for that, but as a mixer it tends to disappear, which was unexpected. Ginger ale is the best mixing choice.
I actually bought this as the base for a batch of crème de cacao liqueur I’m making and I’ve just been tasting it neat and experimenting with the 200ml I didn’t need after setting up the infusion. It guess it’s not terrible value as an all-rounder, but frankly this is the first and last bottle I intend to buy. It’s just ... dull.
Mind you - if I was a pirate in 18th century Bermuda I'd probably have lived on this stuff.
“Average” : 77/100 (2.5 stars)
65.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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I think that's a really good choice @cascode It may not have much complexity, but it's a strong flavor with high proof. While I don't weight proof tremendously heavily for sipping neat, a low proof spirit in a fruity drink effectively means you're watering down something that is supposed to have a vibrant flavor. A bit less of an overproof rum sounds like a good choice to me :) I've been wondering about Gosling's 151, but it sounds like OFTD is better.
I think I'd choose Plantation O.F.T.D. every time. Huge alcohol, big flavours - it's on a different planet to this. It is almost twice the price, however, but then what is a good cocktail worth to you?
Ah, too bad - I had hopes for this as an especially solid mixer. Do you have a dark rum you'd recommend as a great go-to for mixing?