Bacardi Spiced. Or more accurately Bacardi Spiced Spirit Drink. As the ABV on this offering is only 35% it does not hit the minimum 37.5% EU requirement to be labelled as a rum. The UK are no longer in the EU. We are still pretty much following all their rules and regulations though………

This offering has been around for a few years now replaces previous iterations of Bacardi Spiced Rums such as Oakheart.

I always found it a little strange that Bacardi Oakheart never enjoyed the same commercial success as the likes of Morgan’s Spiced Gold, The Kraken and Sailor Jerry. Not that the “rum” was particularly good but it was the kind of overly sweet rubbish that sells by the truckload over here. Dead Man’s Finger’s anyone?

Bacardi Spiced is available in quite a few supermarkets over here. It typically retails at around the £17 mark for a 70cl bottle and around £22 for a 1litre bottle. As it Bacardi both bottle sizes are frequently discounted to encourage sales and to hinder those of potential competitors.

There is no age statement for the rum contained within this bottling. As this is priced at the same price point of Bacardi Carta Blanca, I do not imagine the rum is aged for any length of time. This is further backed up by the fact Bacardi have recently released a 40% ABV Caribbean Spiced rum (it can legally be called that). That release is made with aged rum. I will be reviewing that shortly to see how the two compare.

For those worrying that I have made my return with a “Spiced Rum” and am suggesting another Spiced Rum review soon……the ethos of the site and my palate have not changed. I simply feel that to not have a up to date review of Bacardi’s Spiced portfolio is a big ommission when we consider how popular and familiar Bacardi are.

There’s not really a lot to say about the packaging on this one it comes in the standard bottom tier Bacardi bottle – which is a nice enough screw cap bar style bottle with some engraving on the neck and near the bottom. Label wise it follows the same type face and presentation of the flavoured and “standard” Bacardi releases.

There is no information on the actual rum in the bottle just a few suggestions of mixers and some notes about the “Maestros de Ron Bacardi”. With regard the spices used in this spirit drink are a “Secret Blend” which comprises of Mellow Vanilla, Natural Nutmeg and Cinnamon. It promises a smooth yet bold finish…

I’ve not got anything else to add so I might as well charge my glass and get cracking…….

In the glass Bacardi Spiced is a dark brown with a heavy orange hue around the edges which runs right through the rum. I suspect it has been coloured but it could also be this dark due to the spices used in the mix.

On the nose Bacardi Spiced is quite sweet with lashings of vanilla ice cream and caramel notes. Beneath this I get a little bit of spicy ginger, some traces of cinnamon and tiny hint of white pepper.

It is not hugely complex and it certainly doesn’t develop with time in the glass. Is this a sipper? Of course not even the rear label immediately suggests mixing this with Cola or Ginger Beer (for extra Spiciness). To be fair anyone expecting a serious sipper at this price point from Bacardi, or anyone for that matter, would have to be a bit deluded.

Sipped it’s initially very sweet on the entry with a lot of caramel and vanilla. I’m getting hits of Aspartame like sweetener, which are slightly bitter and not terribly agreeable.

Once you swallow you do get a fair hit of alcohol burn. It is slightly rough – this wouldn’t normally be a problem. Most quality rums do have a good degree of alcohol burn and heat. Sadly this doesn’t have the complex flavours associated with such rums. So all I am finding is a sweet sharp shock followed by a slight bitterness. The sip ends with a quite sharp hit of, well alcohol…….

To judge a Spiced Rum or a Spiced Spirit Drink as a sipper isn’t really fair. Particularly when it is as inexpensive as this offering.

So I will add a little cola to the mix and see how we go.

Bacardi mention “smooth” on the label. Much like Oakheart this is very “smooth” and easy going once it is mixed with cola. It’s the kind of sweet drink which can go down far too easily.

To begin with anyway. I’m roughly halfway through my second rum and cola and I’m already becoming (quite literally) sick of it. It’s just too much sweetness for me. The flavours noted on the label Vanilla, Ginger and Cinnamon all put in an appearance. Unfortunately as with many spiced rums this is just too vanilla heavy for my tastes. When the ginger can push through it is quite pleasant and the cinnamon makes a nice change. Even though I’m not usually a huge cinnamon fan.

Sadly there is little in this spirit drink that is particularly rummy. I dare say a similar result would probably be achieved if Bacardi replaced rum with vodka. Such is the influence of the Spices on this.

Additive wise this tips the Hydrometer at the 30% ABV level so around 17 g/L of additives based on it being a 35% ABV Spirit Drink. In fairness, not at all bad for a Spiced Rum/Spirit Drink. That said I do suspect a lot of the sweetness now present in such rums is provided via artificial means……in an attempt to circumvent EU regulations in particular.

Arguably, this better than Oakheart which set the bar pretty low. It doesn’t seem quite as sweet but it’s still not something I would be buying again.