Clarkes Court Superior Light White Rum. Clarke’s Court are a rum distiller and producer from the island of Grenada. They are the islands number  one producer. Their products do enjoy a bit of exposure beyond the domestic market but you will rarely hear anyone raving about their products beyond Grenada.

They don’t really have a particular rum that is their “signature”. Well they have a couple of “overproof” offerings, for which they are infamous for. The first which comes in a plastic bottle, to further enhance it’s kudos with your average wino or homeless vagrant is Pure Jab White Rum, which is bottled at a measly 55%. So, for your more upmarket but no less boozy drunk you can pick up their “Pure White Rum” in a glass bottle at an eye watering 69% ABV.

Today, though we are sticking with their “Superior Light”. Quite what it is superior to is unknown, as they don’t have a white rum below this in their range. Still it must be superior to something I guess, maybe cat’s piss or Uncle Delroy’s moonshine? Who knows.

Clarkes Court Superior Light White Rum comes in a very tall bar style bottle with a short neck and a blue screw cap, which is decent enough quality. The bottle I have for review is a 750ml import, it is bottled at 40% ABV. I understand it is bottled at 43% on the island. In the UK if you can track down a bottle expect to pay between £25-30. You can currently order it on Amazon for £25 including P&P, which seems reasonable enough.

Clarkes Court Superior Light Rum is produced on Grenada Distillers Limited’s John Dore Two Column continuous distillation still. It is produced using imported molasses, often from Guyana. The molasses is fermented for 36 hours prior to distillation using a proprietary yeast strain.

The resulting fermentation produces a “high wine” with an ABV of around 6%. This is then distilled on the John Dore column. The rum typically comes off the still at a near neutral 96% ABV.

For Clarke’s Court Superior Light White Rum the distillate is aged in ex-bourbon barrels for just under one year before being filtered, reduced to 40/43% ABV and bottled for retail. This bottle has been re-hashed a few times recently so you may notice something similar to the picture to the right. It’s the same juice

So, lets see how this white rum fairs against others.

In the glass we have a very clear spirit. No sign of any colour. The nose is quite sweet with notes of foam banana sweets, coconut, sugar syrup and a touch of mango. It’s actually, not at all bad. Beneath this you do get a hit of alcohol but that is to be expected.

This isn’t really a sipper and this will become evident should you try sipping it. Sharp, bitter/sweet young alcohol, is the main flavour when taken neat. It’s a short sharp shock of alcohol and sugar syrup. It burns a fair bit but it’s hardly tramp juice. You are getting some rum it’s just a bit rough and ready.

Further sips do reveal more of the sweeter notes of banana and coconut but it’s still a bit too heavy on the booze to be enjoyable. It’s very short as well. The flavour is short lived and it all quickly disappears. There is no real finish to speak of with this. Just a reduction in alcohol on the tongue. Less burn.

So it’s not going to win any awards as a sipper. Being fair it’s not marketed as any kind of a sipper on the Clarke’s Court website. So let’s see how it works in a few mixed drinks.

With cola it’s actually really nice, much like Chairman’s Reserve White Label (admittedl

y not as good though it doesn’t have the same depth of flavour), the sweeter coconut and banana notes really shine through, giving a slightly exotic flavour profile. Also the alcohol notes hold their own so you still feel like you are drinking rum.

It pairs best really, in more tropical cocktails where the sweet banana and coconut can compliment the flavours.

It’s light enough to be versatile but carries enough flavour to be interesting. It’s not a huge funky in your face white rum, but it’s not bad for what its marketed as. There are better rums at this price point but there are far more worse ones around.