Diablesse Clementine Spiced Rum. La Diablesse is a character in Caribbean fokelore. More specifically the island of Grenada.

She is depicted as a demon with a cows hoof at the end of one leg. It is said that she hides her “evil” face with a huge fan and leads unsuspecting men into dark forests, where she sacrifices them to the devil.

Diablesse achieves this by disappearing, using magic to confuse the men, who then run scared around the forest until they fall to their death or are eaten by the many predators in the forest. Sounds a bit like a few of my ex girlfriends…….

Diablesse Clementine Spiced Rum on the other hand is a unique blend of Demerara rum from the Diamond Distillery in Guyana, which has been flavoured naturally with Clementine, Clove, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Vanilla Pod (please, have gone steady with this part!), Ginger and Pimento.

So, it is a Spiced Rum which on the face of it appears a lot different to most of the vanilla infused concoctions we see all too often. Diablesse Clementine Spiced Rum is currently available at Master of Malt, The Whisky Exchange and several independent retailers. A 70cl bottle will set you back around £32. It has been bottled at a more than respectable 40% ABV. Unlike many other Spiced Rums.

You can find more information at the brands website which covers both their spiced and their Caribbean blended rum. Diablesse has already won awards for both of their rums at the recent The Spirits Business Rum and Cachaca Masters. This particular rum took home a gold.

Presentation wise, Diablesse is a very well branded rum with a very clear presentation. The stubby rounded bottles have very distinctive and very striking designs and the branding is very strong. Diablesse isn’t a word that I’ve come across before so this meant searching for information on this brand was really easy. You aren’t going to get this rum confused with any others on the shelves. There aren’t many Spiced Rums that go to the trouble of giving you a chunky cork stopper.

I think that pretty much covers everything, so lets see how I get on with this Spiced Rum. I’ve been trying recently to cover more of the “different” Spiced Rums, that have appeared on the market and avoid the numerous Sailor Jerry and Kraken copycats. This being a Clementine Spiced Rum I am seeing it more as a flavoured rum. However, I understand the spices in the mix pair with the Clementine, so its not all just about the orange citrus.

In the glass we have a very bright vibrant liquid, almost orange in appearance with a red hue. The nose is not what I was expecting. It’s rich and warming rather than full of orange/clementine. The clementine aromas are more like clementine peel. Sweet marmalade. This blends nicely with a real rich blend of spices. Christmas Cake, Ginger Cake, a touch of chilli spice. A slightly Asian feel to the aromas with the star anise.

Ginger and Orange are the most dominant spices in the mix and I really like it – it’s something different. Sipped its pretty smooth (there is a fair amount of sugar/additives in this), which were it a regular rum I might gripe about. I’ve not really quite got on the “no added sugar” Spiced Rum bandwagon which a few brands have tried to focus on.

It’s a nice pleasant almost liqueur kind of drink. A nice warming after dinner hit of Ginger Cake and marmalade. The initial entry is pretty sweet but the clementine and ginger flavours quickly add a slight bitterness which reduces the sweetness on the mid palate. The Pimento and clove come along nicely in the mid palate adding some extra complexity to the spirit. There is also a nice burn and hit of oak and a very definite rummyness to this spiced rum. The distinctive Demerara raisin notes are never far away. Which again, is refreshing.

The vanilla pod isn’t really all that apparent -it’s probably just adding a little sweetness to the mix. This is probably the type of Spiced Rum you don’t want to start drinking neat after a few more “normal” rums. I dare say a headache will undoubtedly await the next day. Alongside an empty bottle. The finish is of reasonable length and the ginger remains for quite a while in the mouth. It’s quite moreish though.

Diablesse recommend pairing this rum with Fever Tree’s Spiced Orange Ginger Ale – which sounds intriguing enough on its own. I’ll definitely seek some of that out as it will be right up my street. I’ll stick with some cola for now and see how this mixes with that.

It’s really nice and stands up well to the diet cola. The aroma remains of Ginger Cake and Clementine/Marmalade. Again its ridiculously easy to drink like this. It also works really nicely with lemonade and even with tonic. Rum and Tonic is becoming a bit of a thing. I like the fact you can still get some of the sweet raisin notes from the Demerara rum used in the blend

This is a pretty versatile Spiced Rum. It works nicely neat as a kind of after dinner drink and it mixes really well. There is enough “rum” in the mix to keep me interested when mixing the rum and I really like the balance of the spices. I also like the slight kick at the end that the Pimento offers.

If you like rum, oranges and ginger cake then you will very much enjoy this. If you don’t well you probably are best steering clear.

That said – who in their right mind doesn’t like ginger cake?