I first came across this rum when travelling on a Thomson (TUI) cruise.  I was on an all inclusive package no dark rum’s listed on the menu.  I thought I may as well chance my arm and see what they would give me if I just asked for a dark rum and cola.  I was quite surprised how quickly the bartender understood my request (getting anything other than a Bacardi and Coke when you mention rum is still a problem in the UK!).  I was equally surprised how quickly he poured the measure and returned the bottle to below the bar.  I got a quick glance at the bottle and noticed only the “medals” at the bottom.  There was no charge for the drink so I sat down quite smugly thinking I might have been onto a bit of a winner.

I’ve done a little research into this rum.  Initially, I presumed that “Echter” would mean “dark” or something similar as they also carried a Cabo Bay White Rum.  However the direct translation from German to English is “truer”.  So this is not a dark rum but a Truer Rum.  I’m not really sure how much sense that makes or how much has actually been lost in translation.

Cabo Bay is a product of Braun Spirituosen http://www.braun-spirituosen.de/html/home_eng.html.  Luckily the website can be translated into English as my German is only very rudimentary.  There are actually quite a lot of products carrying the Cabo Bay name.  When translated into English this rum is noted as “brown”.  It shows the rum available in 3 ABV strengths (37.5%,40% and 54%).  The rum I tried was 40% ABV.  The distillery seems to be focused on volume and cheap pricing.

Right quite enough research (I do have an amusing link for later) and on with the presentation.  Cabo Bay comes in a standard bar room bottle.  Following my experience on the Thomson Cruise, I was quite surprised to find a bottle of this rum in Cyprus just a few weeks later (there is a Cabo Bay Hotel in Protaras).  The presentation is quite gaudy really and it all feels a bit cheap.  The screw top is fairly sturdy though and has decent amount of threads to it.  There is some information on the rear of the label (as pictured) however it doesn’t seem to mention much of any interest (eg origin of the rum etc).  The front of the bottle states aus ubersee (from overseas) but no further information is available regarding the origin of this rum.

So on with the tasting and I have to say that my usual tasting regime was quite different for the Cabo Bay.  Firstly I arrived on the cruise ship with the sun beating down on a beautiful Greek afternoon.  Secondly I also may have already enjoyed the benefits of a tax free item or three.  As noted earlier I asked for a dark rum and coke.  The servings are roughly 70/30 so I could definitely taste the rum in the mix.  It gave a nice kick.  It was despite the large measure still a very sweet drink.  I remember thinking that it wasn’t all that bad.  However, I was still a bit suspicious of the 3 gold medals.  I returned to the bar and asked for another and asked the waiter for a look at the bottle (he seemed a bit non plussed –  I think he thought that I thought he was ripping me off).  On closer inspection the “medals” are actually just part of the presentation.  I’m not sure whether this to deliberately confuse people or whether it is just something the producers have copied from other bottles.  To be honest I have rum’s which have won medals at supposedly prestigious competitions that are amongst the worst I have ever experienced.  I continued drinking the rum for the remainder of the day, with cola.

On the second afternoon I began to notice that the rum was a little sickly and overly sweet.  You go away with certain expectations when you go abroad – you know you won’t be drinking premium rum but this was becoming more and more unpleasant.  For the remainder of the holiday I drank Canadian Club (a very insipid non descript whisky) and Bacardi Superior.

So onto the second tasting and the origin of the bottle pictured.  I came across the Cabo Bay regularly in the supermarkets in Ayia Napa Cyprus just a few weeks later.  I wasn’t going to buy a bottle but I got short one night and it was only 7.5 Euro’s for a 700ml bottle (ABV 40%).  I figured I may as well give the rum a try as at very least I would have a slightly “different” review to write upon my return.

I actually nosed the rum this time but there wasn’t much to nose.  It was very sweet, like burnt caramel and toffee but nothing much else there to report other than the chemical smell of raw alcohol.  I then sipped the rum.  The sip was as one dimensional as the nosing.  Just not quite as pleasant as all I got was a very strong raw alcohol.  This is not for sipping and I really wouldn’t recommend anyone try.

When mixed with cola the rum offers a kick but it soon becomes very sickly and cloying.  It’s a rum which you would throw in a rum punch with a lot of fruit juice.  It’s not really something you would want to be serving up to your friends even with a lot of cola.

If you are travelling on a Thomson Cruise then give it a go if you have to pay for it I would spend those extra few Euro’s on something else.  Thankfully I think this a rum I am unlikely to see in the UK.  Though having said that with no idea of its origin at all it could well be lurking under another guise in some supermarket or off licence.  I do however think that other than Sainsbury’s Basics Rum all the supermarket rum’s are a step above this.

At the end of the day this rum is very cheap, there is likely to be little ageing or blending and it has probably been laced with flavourings and additives.  It was never going to be a classic.   I think the following link pretty much somes it up it certainly gets you drunk though it may also make you slightly unhinged – Everybody now “CaboCaboCaboCaboChameleon” https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cabo-Bay-Echter-Rum-der-gekonnte-Griff-ins-untere-Regal/162637330511611

Enough said.  I give it half a mark for the Facebook page!