Goslings Black Seal Rum

Rating: 9/23 I'm finally trying this well-known rum with a name that is jarringly different from the animal shown on the bottle. N: Sweet, cola, a touch thin, yet still syrupy. A bit of minerality and just the faintest bit of dry terroir. Not a very interesting nose in any way, but it does smell kind of fun. The cola might be just a hair metallic, but it isn't too bad. I get some actual licorice and vanilla out of this, but they're very faint and I also get a little meat with salt and pepper. P: This is less sweet than the nose suggested, but the cola is certainly there. There's a lot more spicy burn here as well and it's unfortunately a bit harsh. Scratch that, this is quite a bit harsh considering the proof. This is really unpleasant to drink. Yeah, I get the black licorice and such, but that pales in comparison to how this strips the taste buds off of my tongue. I'd like to say that there are some tannins, but that might just be harshness. There is a fair bit of burnt sugar, though there mercifully is a little vanilla and there are occasional notes of tropical banana. The minerality is also a lot more bitter and bold here. I think there's some bitter herbs sprouting out of it. This isn't the sweet rum I'd expected at all. F: Dry and tannic, in a sort of incomprehensible way considering how few tannins were on the palate. Bitter to the point that it's a touch medicinal. The herbs come out a bit here, including the allspice and anise. Faint chocolate too. - Conclusion - This is odd. It isn't very good, but not in the way I'd expected. I thought that this would be sugary and watery with a generic dark rum bitterness. Instead, this is bitter and dry and burns. This still manages to be thin and uninteresting. And it also burns. It doesn't burn nearly as much as my bottle of Ry3 (9/23) does, but it's sure a lot less balanced and interesting. In spite of the Ry3's intense burn, this might not be the better of the two spirits. This is certainly no 12 or even 11. One of the biggest questions right now is whether this or Ry3 is less interesting. I think that the Ry3 has better core flavors, but it burns more. This is weaker with more trivial core flavors. I don't see this being better than a 10 in any world. It's unpleasant enough that I can see it going as low as a 7. I'm shocked to say this, but I might give the win to the Ry3 here. I spent a while thinking that this was around an 8. The flavors and fullness here are pretty bad and this also burns surprisingly much. It's not absolutely painful to drink, but it's not a fun time (though it might work well as a mixer). Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star (a low 12/23) is definitely tastier than this and burns less. It's a good sanity check for this being capped at a possible 10. This can have a 9. Thank you @ctbeck11 for this sample.

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)

Nose - molasses, burnt brown sugar, rich vanilla, butterscotch, creme brûlée, overripe banana, raisin, coffee, boozy chocolate, nutmeg, allspice, coconut, light smoke, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - molasses, coffee, brown sugar, caramel, butterscotch, overripe banana, chocolate, coconut, cola, overripe banana, raisin, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with butterscotch, smoky molasses, overripe fruit flavors. The Old Rum offering from Gosling is significantly better, but this isn’t bad. It’s very thick and full flavored, but a bit young and bright, more appropriate for mixing. I bought it mainly for making Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktails, at which it performs admirably.

Really a decent, all-a rounder to keep on hand. Dark and Stormys, rum and cokes, rum cake, fried plantains and etc. So many uses for this flavorful and easy going rum. Nothing earth shattering here, just a rich and clean, approachable rum. A handle is usually on sale for around $25. Good value.

Burnt caramel on the nose. Strong molasses initially and then banana on the palate. Sweet but not overly so. More molasses and burnt sugar with a little bit of leather and tobacco on the finish. Goes down really smooth on the rocks, and probably makes a pretty great dark and stormy.

Notes of molasses, espresso, baking spices, subtle prune, and roasted almond on the nose. Palate shows more baking spices, espresso, and almond, along with cola and vanilla. Very rich, full-bodied mouthfeel. Finish is short-medium in length, and quite smooth. 3.00/5.00 – Good (neat)