I don't typically like to get multiples of a brand new rum, just in case I don't like it categorically. I only got one Old Monk, just in case I ended up hating it. I only got one Worthy Park back when I bought it, also just in case. But, I felt safe buying multiple Jamaican-forward rums from Hamilton, because Hamilton 86 was alright, and I like Jamaican rum in general. So, now I have Breezeway Blend as well, which I probably wouldn't have bought, had I known that I wasn't going to like Jamaican pot still gold. >Note: This rum is a blend of two rums: Jamaican pot still blonde, and white stache. Jamaican Pot Still Blonde is from the Worthy Park Estate in Jamaica. The white stache blend is a Trinidad base with Dominican and Demerara portions added. The Jamaican pot still blonde rum is pot distilled, and I could find no info about how the white stache blend portions are distilled. Educated guess says all 3 are column still, but that's just a guess on my part. The Jamaican pot still blonde rum is the Jamaican pot still gold/black rum, which is then aged for 18 months in ex-St. Lucian rum barrels, then blended with another 1 year old pot still rum from Worthy Park, and aged another 6 months. Various sources describe white stache as a blend of three lightly aged rums, but I could find no specifics. From Ed Hamilton: "if you're still reading this, I want you to know there is nothing in this bottle but rum and filtered, well water. No flavors, sugar, glycerine or anything else that you might find in other spirits." Review Smell Much like the Jamaican pot still gold, I am getting a smell of grassy, briny, clairin-like rum. A bit of pineapple, overripe banana, and olives. Taste It also has that very specific taste profile of Worthy Park, iykyk. It's a bit harsh, but not as harsh as Bacardi Superior. Lightly fruity, a bit of grassy taste, in fact it kind of gives me San Zanj vibes, with regards to it being both fruity and grassy. I like how crisp and light it is, which is something I like in a white rum. It's actually not as grassy and industrial as I was preparing for, and it has a nice coconut note on the finish. And, I mean, Ed Hamilton himself said that this blend was made specifically for daiquiris. So, let's make some daiquiris. One with Bacardi Superior, one with Breezeway Blend, one with San Zanj, and one with Planteray 3 Stars, just to cover our bases. Don't worry, this test was done over the course of two days. Bacardi makes a pretty darn good daiquiri. Maybe I haven't had it in a while, but Bacardi always surprises me with just how "not that bad" it always turns out to be. Of course, I feel like it's clearly beaten by Breezeway Blend. The fruity and grassy flavors just elevate it. But, alas, I prefer both San Zanj and Planteray 3 Stars to Breezeway Blend. The fruity flavors are just bolder and better. Verdict {rating}/10 (Edited from 6/10 on 6/11/26) I am actually not upset that I got this blend, because I saw it and thought "oh, great, so basically a good Jamaican rum watered down with boring TDL rum, who wants that?", and after not liking the Jamaican rum, I was even more worried about this bottle. But, maybe white stache is just that good. Or, maybe this blend is greater than the sum of its parts. It does make a pretty darn good daiquiri. It's comfortably better than Bacardi, but that being said, it's not only beaten by Planteray 3 Stars (another TDL based rum with a Jamaican component) in taste, it's also beaten in price. 6/10. June 11, 2026 Update: Honestly, this blend has grown on me, and San Zanj and Planteray 3 stars has.... un-grown. Now I think they're all tied at 6.5/10.

Jamaican rums are some of the most wonderful rums. Most of my favorite rums are Jamaican. Myers's is what got me seriously into rum to begin with, and most of the big winners in my 2025 Noob's Choice Awards were for either Jamaican rums, or blends with strong Jamaican character. Is it just safe to say that I will love any Jamaican rum? Well, ok, I don't like Appleton 8 Year, but surely, there's no other Jamaican rum that could disappoint? Review Smell I smell a lot of grass for a rum that's supposed to be molasses based. It smells more like a clairin, with some distinct notes of pickled olives along with the Jamaican fruityness. Taste You can definitely tell that this is a worthy park rum. Very strong notes of industrial burnt rubber, and a bit of vomit. It's dry and light bodied, and just overall this rum is quite harsh. Even on the taste, though, it comes across like a cane juice rum. It's quite strange, and not very good. I wasn't sure what rum to compare it to, since it's so much grassier than WP109, and it has a random stab of bitterness to it. The aftertaste is like a brown butter— buttery nutty aftertaste that reminds me of hollandaise sauce. I ended up comparing it to Bacardi Superior, because honestly, I just wanted to know if I would like it more than Bacardi. Just in case anyone says that this rum is meant to be mixed, not drunk neat, I made a daiquiri with it, along with Bacardi Superior. Bacardi is way harsher, and has a bit of flavor, but, well, it's Bacardi. Hamilton pot still gold is also harsh, but not as harsh as Bacardi, and while I want to enjoy the fruity jamaican flavors, the industrial rubber, the bitterness, and the weird grassy flavor just keeps bringing it down. Verdict {rating}/10 So, I've never had Rum-Bar white overproof, and I feel like that might shed a lot of light on whether that is specifically what I don't like about this rum. But, I guess we did it, we found Bacardi's equal. Drinking the two side by side, they are wildly different rums, and I kept switching back and forth between which I like more. That good Jamaican flavor swings me to the Hamilton, then the bitterness and off flavors push me back to Bacardi. I really can't decide if I like it more or less than Bacardi, so it's a draw. 4.5/10.

Review Smell The smell reminds me of a Martinique agricole, like HSE. Lots of brined olives, lots of agricole grassyness, and a bit of orange peel. The alcohol also hits you much harder than San Zanj or Copalli white, two other white clairin or clairin-like rums that I have. Taste The taste is very powerful. Funky, pungent, and unapologetically Haitian. I would say that, it most closely aligns with the flavor profile of Copalli white, but while Copalli is light and fruity with only a bit of grass to it, Clairin Sajous is significantly grassier than either San Zanj or Copalli. But, I tried it with HSE blanc, and it's definitely a different kind of grassy. I maybe don't have the vocabulary right now to describe it, but HSE gives me more of a salty brine vibe, while Sajous gives me more of a tangy pickle vibe. The palate is also very long. Much like higher ester rums like Hampden Great House and Papalin 5Yr Jamaican, after I have Clairin Sajous, I can drink tea, do things on my computer, and an hour later still notice the lingering taste in my mouth. While the initial taste was like pickled olives, the aftertaste is sweet and fruity, like citrus or red currant. Normally, I try a rum with some other baseline that I have that is very similar, such as San Zanj, which is holding down the score of 7, vs the rum I am currently trying, but I thought that Clairin Sajous has a good shot at being my new 1 favorite white rum, so I actually tried it head to head with my current favorite: Hvítserkur. When I try a better rum vs an inferior rum, even if I otherwise like the inferior rum, its flaws begin to show pretty clearly. I like Myers's original rum, but when I try it against Planteray Xaymaca, it just tastes flat and bitter, and Xaymaca tastes flawless. When I try Xaymaca against Smith & Cross, now Xaymaca tastes flat and bitter. And, I have to say, Hvítserkur does taste a bit bitter compared to Clairin Sajous. There's definitely some flaw in Hvítserkur that I hadn't detected up until now. But, despite everything, when I made daiquiris with them both, Hvítserkur remains fruity and flavorful in the face of Clairin Sajous. I honestly couldn't pick a favorite between them, not because they were very similar, but because they were both very good in their own ways. Verdict {rating}/10 My only option was to give Clairin Sajous an 8/10, tied for my favorite rum. I like San Zanj, and I like Copalli white a little bit more, and I like Clairin Sajous a little more still. And, as time has gone on, I've retried and rescored my favorites, and now we have 3 rums tied for 1st place at 8/10: OFTD, Hvítserkur, and Clairin Sajous. That being said, there's a few rums in my closet that I'll write up very soon, and don't expect 8/10 rums to stay at the top for long.

Haha review 69. Other funny number! I picked this rum up because I enjoyed Pusser's blue label, and I was curious what this version had in store. I used to think that higher ABV rum is the same rum, just watered down less, and longer aged rum is the same rum, just aged longer. This is almost never the case in reality. But, it turns out, it pretty much is the case with Pusser's. Review Smell It smells exactly like blue label, but with a stronger hit of alcohol fumes. Brown sugar, prunes, molasses, and maybe a bit of cinnamon. Taste There's way more flavor, a way better mouthfeel, and just overall it's more concentrated than blue label, but it's still pretty much the same punchy flavor of prunes and brown sugar. Likewise, gunpowder proof makes a better daiquiri just because it's more flavorful in general. Verdict {rating}/10 It really is a slight step up from the regular blue label. I don't really know why you wouldn't get this, unless the price difference is that significant. You're getting 30% more concentrated rum for approximately 30% more in price, so you're not even losing anything, and you're getting a superior product.

I mentioned during my Bounty review that a mixologist friend of mine suggested that I get Chairman's Reserve, but all they had at my local liquor store was Bounty, so it was my "we have Chairman's Reserve at home" rum. So anyway, I got the good stuff. Apparently, a while back, a fire destroyed their aging warehouse, so to salvage what they had, they threw barrels around the rest of the distillery, and many of them were forgotten for a while, and upon rediscovery, they realized that longer aging makes the rum better, so they started aging their rums for longer. So they decided to age rums for longer on purpose and make it a regular release. Review Smell On the nose I get rich vanilla and oak, and not much else. It reminds me a lot of Spanish-style rums. Taste It is very bold with the oak and vanilla, and quite a good body. At first, I thought it tasted just like how I remembered Havana Club 7, but after going back and trying Havana Club 7, it's like vodka in my mouth. It just doesn't hold a candle to the richness of this rum. The closest rum that I have to this rum is actually Doorly's 14 Yr. But, if anything, Doorly's 14 Yr is basically even more concentrated, and then Chairman's Reserve comes off as slightly anemic. Verdict {rating}/10 This is pretty much what I wish all Spanish-style rums were like. Screw the sugar, screw the solera, just do whatever Chairman's Reserve is doing. That said, much like with Doorly's 14, I can only rate you so high when your only flavor is barrel, and on top of that, it also comes across as a little weak, probably because it's only 40% while Doorly's is 48%. Still a very good rum. I just wish it was a bit higher proof. Then again, it's the same price as Doorly's 14, so might as well just get that.

So basically I've been on a ski vacation for Christmas and will have some stuff for New Years, so despite getting so many cool new bottles, I am mostly just posting stuff from the backlog. Sorry. But hey! I got some Barbancourt, finally! Super cheap too. The New Hampshire state stores were selling it for $21, which is unusually cheap. Also the review is the funny zoomer number. Review Smell Predominantly smells like an aged molasses rum. A bit of brown sugar, dried fruits, and vanilla. Taste It's quite fruity, sort of like a demerara dried fruit taste, that turns into green apple. The fruity flavor is kind of in the same ballpark as other clairins like San Zanj, but more muted in favor of a smoother, oakier experience, with a bold green apple finish. In a daiquiri, it's just alright. A bit harsher than expected, and a bit too oaky for a proper daiquiri. It probably would work better in a different cocktail. Verdict {rating}/10 I think this rum is okay. It doesn't really stand out in any way. The flavors are mild, it sort of stands with one foot in the traiditional aged rum space and one foot in clairins, so it doesn't really excel at either. There's some fruity flavors, but they're rather mild. It's smooth, but not that smooth. It's a good rum, and I got it for a good price, and I am not complaining at all. It's just sort of middle of the road, and solid, but not outstanding.

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Guess what review you're getting today in your stocking? Here's a hint: it's black and lumpy and tastes bad! Well, I was at a Christmas party about 2 weeks ago, and, of course, I tried a little bit of everything. A bit of egg nog, a bit of jungle juice, a bit of the brownies (this was a mistake!!), and also I asked if there was any rum behind the bar. turns out, the host indeed had one "premium rum" saved for a special occasion. Review Smell Big hit of alcohol fumes that reveal a strong smell of vanilla. I cant get any subtle complexities through the overwhelming alcohol and vanilla smell. Taste The alcohol is quite harsh. Often I get that if im just starting out the night, but this is after drinking egg nog and jungle juice. It's just simply not a smooth sipper. I'm getting a strong taste of sweetness and vanilla, and on the finish, there's an off taste. It's hard to describe, but it's like, the taste of a very oxidized beer. Just a slight taste of something super skunky (this is a freshly opened bottle). Verdict {rating}/10 Overall, this rum was, to my surprise, not horrible, like the original was. It's not great, but I like my rums sweeter, and this rum wasn't offensively sweet, and the amount of vanilla flavor seemed to be slightly too high to come from barrel alone, but it wasn't so high that it tastes like I'm drinking vanilla extract, like it was with Kirkland spiced rum. It's a believable amount of vanilla flavor. In harshness and lack of flavor and lack of body, it reminds me of other young Central American rums, like Ron Abuelo Añejo. I dumped it in a Moxie, and you can't even tell that it's slightly skunky! Not bad for just getting yourself drunk! But, obviously, it completely lacks the smoothness and complexity that I would expect from a $35 rum. It's a terrible value, but regardless, I'm giving it a 4/10, so it can hang out with other similar subpar rums like Viejo de Caldas 3 Yr and Havana Club (US version).

Trinidad rum and puncheon have historically gone hand in hand. Originally created in the Forres Park estate, it was named after the big puncheon barrels it was stored in, and became popular nationwide among the "baa-johns" looking to show how tough they are by drinking 75% ABV rum straight. It's meant to be very strong and quite light on flavor. Of course, when I bought it, I knew basically nothing about any of that. I am running really low on Wray & Nephew, and I thought that this might be something akin to a Jamaican white overproof, for some reason. I think the flames on the bottle reminded me of Rum Fire, and Wray & Nephew is often used by Jamaicans to make punch, so... I figured I'd give it a try. Review Smell Surprisingly light on the scent. When I first opened my bottle of Bounty 151, it smacked me in the face with alcohol, but with Forres Park, I can put my nose right up against it and barely get any alcohol fumes. I get maybe the slightest hint of a Bacardi-like vanilla and coconut rum smell, but it's pretty neutral. Taste I'm getting very spicy earthy notes. Vanilla, anise, chocolate... it's pretty intense in heat too. Definitely not fruity or Jamaican at all. Of course, it's very difficult to sip neat due to the high proof. I tried it in a daiquiri, and it's not very good. It's pretty neutral, and the earthy and spicy tastes don't really mesh well with a daiquiri. Perhaps it might be better for a savory drink, or maybe some other purpose. I am just not sure of how to use this. Verdict {rating}/10 It's just not very flavorful, and the flavors it does have, while not bad on their own, don't really work with any cocktails that I usually make. Maybe it can be used as a base for dissolving pimiento dram or something. I recall Bounty 151 also being pretty earthy and anise-forward, so they might be interchangeable.

I decided to do this rum as a follow-up to Doorly's 14 Year, as it has a lot in common with that rum. Review Smell Intense wood and vanilla. Not much difference in smell between this and the Doorly's 14. Taste Incredibly flavorful. Strong wood, vanilla, and just intense rum taste. Very full-bodied, and also melts on my mouth, except at 60%, I can't feel my tongue for a bit afterwards. Like Doorly's 14, it has that same Barbados taste that I get from The Real McCoy. Maybe it also has a hint of some spice Verdict {rating}/10 I have very similar opinions about this rum as I do Doorly's 14 Year. Exceptionally rich body, exceptional complexity, and very little flavor other than the barrel. Does bumping up the ABV to 60% improve it? In some ways, maybe a bit. In other ways, it becomes too harsh to sip except in very small sips. It's a very interesting rum, and I do genuinely find it very enjoyable. It's just that, again, I wish it was higher ester and more fermentation-driven. It's so close to perfect in every other way. The price, though. Ouch. If you like Barbados rums, I might just stick to Doorly's 14 Year.

Very excited about this one. This is the first entry where I actually got a 2oz sample sent to me by a cult I mean organization that promotes rum and I mean— I know a good accountant. Review Smell I get a smell of sweet vanilla and oak. Pretty similar to how Ron Abuelo 7 or other aged spanish rums smell. Taste Honestly, I am blown away. It's just so thick, so rich, so complex. I actually really like this rum, despite it tasting pretty much the same as The Real McCoy 5. The flavor is so dense and full-bodied, and it melts on my mouth perfectly. But it's very much dominated by the cask. I get vanilla and oak, but nothing else. Absolutely nothing fruity or anything— maybe a hint of some spice like cardamom. Verdict {rating}/10 I feel like this rum is perfectly executed in almost every way. The flavor is rich and dense, it's wildly interesting to just drop on my tongue and feel it unfold. Maybe it's even the perfect ABV, because 40% just feels kinda sad and flat, and 60% and above just burn my taste buds off, so around 50% feels perfect. There's basically only one flaw with this rum, and that's the terroir. Like Mount Gay, like The Real McCoy, like Planteray 5 Year, there's only so much you can do when your only flavor is barrel. Yeah, maybe that's a noob opinion to have. Maybe, as time goes on, I'll appreciate even higher ABV rum, and will appreciate Barbados rum for what it is, but right now, I feel like I would really love for this exact kind of rum to be made by Hampden or something. I just don't feel like I can ever go more than an 8/10 for a rum that is so one-note in flavor, despite being pretty much fantastic in every other category.

So, for Halloween I was in Connecticut, and that's where I got the Gosling's Gold Seal. That liquor store also had two Planteray rums: a cheap generic Barbados 5Yr for $23, and a Sealander without a price tag. I knew that it generally goes for about $35-$40, so I asked if they could price check it. They said it wasn't in the system and really shouldn't even be for sale. However, I asked the manager if I could just buy it for the same price as the Barbados 5Yr, and they said yes! So I got a bit of a steal on this one. >Note: Aged in their respective countries (distilled at WIRD, Barbados and aged 8 years, distilled in Saint Aubin, Mauritius and unaged, and distilled at Rum Co. Of Fiji, Fiji and aged 5 years) in ex-bourbon oak casks, then finished for 1 year in France in Ferrand casks. Review Smell It's a very sweet smell of brown sugar and prunes. The nose is rather light. Taste This rum tastes completely unique, like nothing I have had before. I haven't had rum from Mauritius nor Fiji, so it's hard for me to tell the components of this blend, but the first thing that I get is, of course, that this blend is quite sweet. There's also a spicyness to it, both because the rum itself is moderately harsh, and there's a cinnamon cardamom pie spice flavor, a vanilla oak profile from the aging, and an herbal green apple funk that I believe is the unaged cane juice. All together, it literally joins to form what tastes like an apple pie. Like, it's almost uncanny how much it tastes like an apple pie, and this rum isn't even spiced! Verdict {rating}/10 I thought about whether this rum deserves a 7/10, and maybe I am being a bit harsh, but it's a bit of a weird one. It's a bit rough drinking for being so sweet and merely 40%, and it doesn't have a very good body to it, or any real depth and complexity. But, the flavors are very interesting. It actually tastes like an apple pie cocktail. It's an enjoyable sip, to just turn your brain off and enjoy something sweet and fun. I might even try making a hot buttered rum from this because it's just so holidays-flavored. If you're one of those people who wishes that your Starbucks pumpkin-spiced venti frappa-crappa-macchiato crunch were 40% ABV, this is the rum for you. If my hot buttered rum turns out fantastic with this rum, I'll edit the score to a 7/10.

I actually have a long history with probitas. I tried it about half a year ago at a friend's housewarming party. So, probitas would have been one of my earlier reviews. So, why didn't I post my review? Well, because it's crap. I wrote that probitas basically has no flavor. How could I think that? Well, that friend also had Smith & Cross at his housewarming, and we had been drinking that bottle until it ran out, so when we switched to probitas, being lower ester, I just thought it was kinda flavorless. Ok, so where is the Smith & Cross review!? Well, it's also pretty low quality. I didn't quite know how to describe what I was tasting other than "funky" and "very good". I just genuinely want to leave that one for another day. For now, I have my own bottle of probitas... so here goes. Review Smell I love the aroma of Jamaican funk. It has a very distinct Hampden smell to it, though the aroma is not very strong. I am just getting the banana and pineapple notes typical of Jamaican rum, but specifically, it has a smell that I recognize as Hampden. Taste Very bold and fruity; it's actually so delicious. Light, crisp, and has a nice Jamaican funk to it. Not super high ester, but very enjoyable. The rums that it most reminds me of are Planteray 3 Stars and Hvítserkur. I tried all 3 side by side, and honestly, I can nitpick the differences, but if I wasn't literally trying them side by side, I might struggle to tell the difference. I made daiquiris with all 3 as well, and they were fantastic. This rum is made for daiquiris. Verdict {rating}/10 (Edited from 7/10 on 12/18/25) I thought about whether this rum deserves a 7/10, and maybe I am being a bit harsh, but it's a bit of a weird one. It's a bit rough drinking for being so sweet and merely 40%, and it doesn't have a very good body to it, or any real depth and complexity. But, the flavors are very interesting. It actually tastes like an apple pie cocktail. It's an enjoyable sip, to just turn your brain off and enjoy something sweet and fun. I might even try making a hot buttered rum from this because it's just so holidays-flavored. If you're one of those people who wishes that your Starbucks pumpkin-spiced venti frappa-crappa-macchiato crunch were 40% ABV, this is the rum for you. If my hot buttered rum turns out fantastic with this rum, I'll edit the score to a 7/10. June 11, 2026 Update: I went through and demoted Breezeway Blend, San Zanj, and Planteray 3 stars to 6.5/10, and honestly, Probitas also feels like it's in the same category. I tried all 4 today and they just don't stack up to some of the other 7/10 rums I have.