Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum HMS Princessa. Regular readers should by now be familiar with Saint Lucia Distillers. We have featured all their Chairman’s Reserve range as well as all 6 of their annual 1931 series. We’ve also covered their Bounty Rum and one or two independent offerings. Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum was actually one of the first “Premium” rums I ever tried.

Now I have 3 reviews of the new Admiral Rodney range for you to enjoy. So this means that I need to mix things up to make each narrative ahead of the tasting as interesting as I can for you. So if there is anything you have read about the new range that you think I have “missed” in this review it is likely the information will follow in one of the other reviews.

First up there are going to be 3 permanent releases in the Admiral Rodney rum range. This HMS Princessa is the least expensive of the line up. Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa is a blend of rums aged between 5 and 9 years. The rums in the blend come from Saint Lucia Distillers Coffey Column still. More specifically from the bottom plates of their 45 plate Coffey Still.

There is no Pot Still rum to be found in any of these rums. I can hear groans of discontent amongst some enthusiasts already. A “Cask Collection” series is also planned and I will report on that when I get some more information.

HMS Princessa was ship which was part of the British fleet which protected Jamaica and the Windward Islands (of which Saint Lucia is a part) from the French/Spanish in 1782. Sir Francis Drake was the Rear-Admiral aboard this ship. Should you wish to read more here is the Wikipedia page. I don’t wish to turn this sight into some kind of Naval History website.

Presentation of these new Admiral Rodney rums is great with a distinctive stubby bottle and I’m pleased to see the huge wooden topped cork stopper remains. I like the new design though I don’t think there was anything wrong with the previous design either.

Still I am happy to see more rum from Saint Lucia. HMS Princessa is priced at around the £45 mark for a 70cl bottle which comes in at 40% ABV.

So this expression is younger than the previous Admiral Rodney (which is now the HMS Royal Oak) so it will be interesting to see how it compares. Other than the fact the rum has also been aged in ex-bourbon casks, I cannot think of any other information you may need at this stage. So without further ado I may as well let you all know how I found this rum.

In the glass Admiral Rodney Saint Lucia Rum HMS Princessa is a vivid orange/brown almost Mahogany colour. The nose is immediately recognisable as a Saint Lucia Distillers rum. Which for me, is definitely a good thing.

There is that distinctive touch of brininess, almost like fir trees. As this is mostly column rum it isn’t as dominant as it has been in some of the 1931 releases. Notes of raisins and some dark chocolate come to the forefront. Stoned fruits such as Apricots and a touch of blackcurrant. Further nosing reveals hints of tobacco and leather. This is all rounded off with a good burst of light vanilla and sweet spices.

The nose has a really good balance to it – it is a little more “boozy” than the old Admiral Rodney (now the HMS Royal Oak) but that is to be expected from a younger blend.

Sipped it is quite sweet with a good hit of demerara sugar, raisins and toffee. It’s quite light but very well-balanced. The mid palate reveals a smokiness, alongside some nice spicy bourbon-esque notes – zesty lemon and a good balance provided by some slightly sweet tobacco/leather notes.

It’s a very easy-going, well-balanced and very tasty rum. Do not worry that it is all column distilled – it still has a lot of character. The finish on this rum isn’t perhaps all it could have been though. It is quite short. Most of the flavour is delivered on the initial sip and mid palate. The finish fades quite sharply leaving behind only really some spicy oaky notes. It’s not a bad finish but it is a little short.

This is quite a good introduction to “pure rums” – it shouldn’t offend palates more used to sweetened nonsense too much. The alcohol burn is there but overall this is a rather mellow sipping experience.

Aside from the short finish I really enjoy Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa. It may be a little “simple” for some palates but I find it a good solid sipper with no off notes.

A really good start to the Saint Lucia Dsitillers update.