Review: Gosling's Black Seal Rum

Gosling's might be a bit of a regional thing. I had never even heard of it until I moved out to Boston, but it's everywhere here. And that's not a bad thing - it's a very respectable rum. It's one of the two ingredients in a perfect Dark and Stormy cocktail (the other being Barrett's - not Gosling's - ginger beer). If you haven't tried one, get on it! And it's not bad on its own either.

Gosling's bills itself as a black rum, but it pours out closer to a dark maroon. The aroma is, well, rummy, with molasses, spices, and quite a bit of alcohol bite. The alcohol, however, is thankfully much more muted on the palate. It's a very sweet rum, but with a reasonable degree of complexity - molasses, caramel, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and other spices. It's a bit thin on mouthfeel, but it's still not half bad to sip on neat.

It's nothing earth-shattering, but Gosling's is very solid. It works well on its own, and it's a must-have for making Dark and Stormies. And, for the price, it can't be beat.

Price: ~$15

Value: 19/20
Overall Quality: 16/20

Review: Ron Zacapa Centenario 23

Hailing from Guatemala is Ron Zacapa's well-regarded 23 year old rum. Guatemala isn't really thought of as being one of the typical rum-producing countries, and indeed, Zacapa isn't a typical rum - for one, it's distilled from sugar cane, rather than molasses. It's then aged in bourbon and sherry casks; though the bottle says that it's 23 years old, that's actually a bit of a misnomer, as Zacapa is aged according to the solera process. In this process, the rum is aged in a series of casks; each cask contains rum of a certain age. Occasionally, a portion of the rum from the oldest cask is bottled, and then the portion taken out of the oldest cask is refilled with some of the rum from the next-oldest cask, and so on and so on, with newly-distilled rum finally being added to the youngest cask. That's a bit confusing, but the point is that at any given time, each cask contains rum with a fairly continuous spectrum of ages. Here, the oldest rum in the bunch is about 23 years old, and so that's the age given on the bottle.

But this is a rum review, not a logic puzzle about cask aging, so here goes. The rum comes in a sharp-looking corked bottle, wrapped in a ring of woven fiber, which is kind of a neat touch. It pours out a dark brown - it's a little lighter than your typical dark rum (e.g. Gosling's or Myers'), but not by much. Subtle aroma of sugarcane (with a bit of cachaca character), vanilla, and cinnamon; these sweet smells contrast with an alcoholic edge. Sugarcane also dominates the flavor, but the cachaca character is gone - it's now undoubtedly rummy. Nicely sweet, it has notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and just a hint of citrus. The mouthfeel is excellent - rich, with little burn. The finish comes with a nice lingering sweetness, and a bit of woodiness.

This is an excellent rum, and given its age and quality, also an excellent value. The sugarcane character really makes it quite unique, and it's hugely pleasant to sip on. Highly recommended.

Price: ~$42

Value: 19/20
Overall Quality: 19/20

Review: Old Monk 7 Years Old XXX Rum

I feel like Chris Hansen is going to show up at my door for having a blog post with "7 years old XXX" in the title. But thankfully for everyone, this post is just about rum.

When I think of the quintessential rum-producing countries, I can't say that India is the first one to come to mind. Or the tenth. But that's exactly where Old Monk hails from. It's a vatted (blended) rum with a seven year age statement. I imagine that seven years is the age of the oldest rum in the blend, rather than the youngest, given that this seems to be the standard for most rums, and that Old Monk is quite inexpensive. But is it good? Let's find out.

Old Monk comes in a squat little bottle, with a snakeskin-like texture to the glass, and hastily glued-on labels. It's an interesting effect, adding to the uniqueness of this spirit. It pours a deep amber brown, similar in color to a dark rum like Gosling or Myers. Its aroma is strong: butterscotch dominates the nose, with sweet caramel and alcohol also in the mix. The flavor is similar - butterscotch is still dominant, with hints of molasses and cherry coming into play in the background. Old Monk is also unusually sweet, and quite easy to drink, though not much for complexity. It's very nice neat, but probably lacks in versatility; I haven't tried it in any cocktails, but I imagine that its distinctive and strong flavor would make it hard to mix with, and tough to substitute for a more conventional dark rum in most drinks.

But, the price is definitely right. If you like butterscotch, and want a new sipping rum that's a bit off the beaten path, then you can't go wrong with Old Monk.

Price: ~$16

Value: 18/20
Overall Quality: 15/20