Despite the presence of Angostura in the rum and bitters market, it doesn’t seem that their younger rums have caught the imagination.

At least amongst the Rum Reviewing community as I have been unable to find any reviews of this 5 year old rum and only a couple for its older brother the 7 year old.  When it comes to Angostura it seems that life for many begins at 1919 and 1824.

Whilst the now defunct Caroni Rum Distillery continues to gain acclaim and their rums become more and more collectors pieces – Angostura on the other hand don’t seem to garner much interest amongst more “serious” rum drinkers.  It seems that Angostura will always be associated with Aromatic Bitters and to a lesser extent tropical cocktail competitions.  Not too mention the distain their 1919 rum attracts from the “serious” rum connoisseur.

Angostura 5 Year Old is a mix of light and heavier rums from their 5 column still set up.  The rums in this blend are aged between 5 and 8 years.  (All Caribbean rum should display the youngest rum in the blend if they use an age statement)  In the UK this rum retails at between £22-26 per 70cl bottle.  It is bottled at 40% ABV.

Despite its lack of presence at the more serious end of the rum market Angostura do have quite a healthy presence in bars and clubs up and down the UK.  Even if you do not buy Angostura branded products it is very unlikely any rum drinker isn’t exposed to rum from the distillery – all rum from Trinidad & Tobago (aside from the aged Caroni rum) is now from Angostura.  This includes brands such as VAT19 which were previously produced by the Fernandes Distillery -now just part of the Angostura power house.  Even if Angostura’s own brand rum is not selling by the truckload their rums will be found in all manner of Navy and Caribbean blended rums.

Personally I’m not very keen on some of the Angostura rums used in the cheaper supermarket blended “Dark” rums.  I find them overly sweet, cloying and slightly synthetic.  However, I have tried a Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference aged Trinidad Rum (8 years) which I found to be much more pleasant.  So I’m pretty open minded when it comes to this young rum.

The rum is a classic golden colour – in the glass it exhibits flashes of red and orange.  Nosing the rum will offer few surprises to anyone who has tried VAT19 or even the 1919.  It has that nice buttery almost floral, sweet vanilla-ed nose.  It’s pretty distinctive.  It’s not my favourite nose – I find it a little sickly personally.

Which is why I am relieved when I take a sip of the rum.  Despite the slightly perfumed nose the rum is actually quite nicely aged – it isn’t young or rough and has a very nice balanced oaked profile.  There is little burn but it still delivers a bit of a kick.  It is sweet with a nice hit of vanilla ice cream and some slightly spicy dark chocolate, almost cocoa like notes.

I actually much prefer this to the 1919 overall as a sipper – as it gives a much more authentic rum experience.  It also has the versatility to work very well as a “premium” mixer.  It’s a big step up from VAT19 despite the similariites.  I also feel it has the edge over the Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 8 Year Old but only just.  Value wise VAT19 and Sainsbury’s offerings are probably the best buys if you are mixing.  This would probably be a better buy if you were looking for a more easy going sipper/mixer.

It’s the kind of rum I wouldn’t rush out to buy but if it was on offer I would certainly put a couple of bottles away for a rainy day.  It’s a solid and nicely balanced rum.  Nothing spectacular but very decent.