Bristol Classic Rum are a wonderful little bottling and ageing experiment, overseen by drinks legend John Barrett.  They produce some of the rum worlds most interesting independent bottlings and they price them competitively and sensibly, so most can access their wares.

I did contact John Barrett regarding this rum but unfortunately he is a very busy man and to date hasn’t got back to me.  I’ll send him a copy of this review when I’m finished and see if I get a response.  I appreciate that people are very busy so I’m always very grateful and appreciative when people do respond to my queries.

As a result I will direct you all to a nice little video review from Andy Abrahams from Rumbustious Times.  I’ll also use some of his information in this review. Gorgeous!

Unfortunately, neither myself nor Andy have been able to get any information regarding what the base of this rum actually is or any of the spicings used etc.  Apologies for this, I have tried.  I guess you will just have to trust our judgement on how this one tastes.

The rum comes in the familiar Bristol cylinder, with a nice shiny metal top.  As Andy mentions in his review red, white and black are classic Bristol colours (I guess he isn’t a Bristol Rovers fan!).  The bottle is the usual stubby Bristol bottle and you get a a nice shiny metal topped cork stopper.  I like the presentation and I like the brand.  There is a liitle DIY effect to the stickers on the tube but they add charm for me.

Spiced Rum is very popular in the UK.  Possibly, more so than regular rum.  Morgan’s Spiced Gold is a serious unit shifter and I wouldn’t be surprised if its the UK’s best selling “rum”.  The market is flooded with reasonably priced vanilla flavoured concoctions.  So where does a Spiced rum from an Independent bottler come in?  Is this the Spiced Rum for the Rum Snob perhaps?  A kind of credibility test? Another wacky Bristol experiment?

Bristol Spiced is not cheap in comparison to nearly all Spiced Rums on the market.  I got my rum on sale for £30.99.  The usual retail price is £36.99 or thereabouts.  The rum is bottled at 42% ABV and comes in a 70cl bottle.

In the bottle the rum lives up to its name.  Its black, well almost.  When you pour the rum into a glass you see the red flashes that you get with other black rums such as Gosling’s.  It’s not really black just a very, very dark brown.

I’ve also just noticed that on the rear of the label it states this contains produce from Mauritius and Trinidad & Tobago.  It doesn’t state, if that is the rum and/or the spiced used.  Still its a bit of information I had stupidly missed.  I would guess the base rum is from Trinidad & Tobago (Angostura).

The nose of this rum is wonderful.  Christmas Pudding. It smells like that moment when you light the pudding after dousing it with some lovely warming brandy (or rum in my house).  It’s lovely and has all those beautiful spices you associate with Christmas Pudding and/or rich Christmas Cake.  Citrus peel, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, raisins, toffee and nuts.  It’s all very English and Christmas-ey, not a hint of artificial vanilla.  It offers a very different profile to most Spiced Rums.

Sipping this rum is a lovely experience and you get beautiful warming spiced flavours.  It’s very much a winter warmer of a rum and very suitable to my cold climbs!  Really fruity and spicy.  Rich plump raisins and bitter notes of orange peel and grinded zest of lemon and limes.  This takes the rules of Spiced Rum and re-writes how it should be done.  Only Dark Matter, Pusser’s and Foursquare have come close to achieving anything as authentic as this.

Mixing this, it is cola’s best friend and even works as a lighter long drink with some lemonade or even a splash of soda or tonic water.  A Dark and Stormy is a joy with this also.

This is a must buy even for a rum conisseur who turns their nose up at Spiced Rum.  This will make them think again.  I really hope John Barrett takes the time to read this review.  This is being judged as a Spiced Rum and it ticks all the boxes for me.

This is the best Spiced rum I have ever had and gets a very well deserve 5 star review on that basis.

As Andy Abrahams would say………Gorgeous!