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.
About this bottle
After the sugar makers have extracted everything they can from the cane juice, blackstrap molasses remains. It's this molasses that lends its name to Cruzan Rum's most interesting product: a dark rum with such a unique flavor profile, it cannot be substituted for. Made on the island of St. Croix, this column-distilled rum is aged one to two years in ex-bourbon barrels and flavored with molasses.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 28 parsed reviews.
*DISCLAIMER My reviews are not palate reviews, they are based on “am I going waste my money on a bottle of this or save my money for something better”* Thicker than most (rums), this is hefty strong in flavour & after spice if drank neat. Huge ethanol hit aftertaste. If drinking on the rocks, lots of flavour profile like molasses, spice & coffee notes. Drank with cola/sprite, lost in the flavour of cola- not worth it. Drank in a coffee flavour is lost but a huge ethanol hit aftertaste which will certainly get you “awake” in the morning say, on a weekend at the cottage drinking. EDIT>>> an absolute winner with dry ginger ale & fresh lime wedge as a dark and stormy
So, describing the smell as “pancake syrup” is spot on. I don’t actually get anything else from smelling it. Just some rich, exotic, pancake syrup. Smell: 16/20 The first sip, it’s thin, it is sweet, that pancake syrup is present, but so is a rough ethanol bite, and then some baking spices and ginger. First sip: 27/30 Additional sips remind me of flat Coca Cola, really interesting, but I think it is best used as an ingredient in something mixed. Finish and additional sips: 23/25 I love the bottle, the label is nice, the cork is satisfying, and for only $15, this is amazing. 19/20 I keep 5 points for completely subjective assignment. 2/5 Total: 87/100
2.25.22 Served 1: Neat, Glencairn Served 2: Jungle Bird Bottle Open: >1 Year Aroma: Molasses, vanilla, candy Flavor: Mouthfeel is thin. Very spicy The sting is felt all around the mouth. Aeration moves all the aromas to the nose. Not my favorite on its own. Brings delightful complexity to a Jungle Bird.
The tasting notes are pretty accurate. A boozy pancake syrup is what you get on the nose and the palate is not far off, except for some coconut and banana notes that hang around in the background. This rum is my new go-to for making a killer dark and stormy, er, I mean rum mule.
Very dark brown appearance, with uniform alcohol legs. Nose- oak and dark molasses. Taste- dark pancake syrup, with background oak. Light-to-medium body, and a rather quick, dry finish. RJT
22 more reviews were collected for this bottle. The longest ones are shown first.
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
