Don Papa Rum Aged 10 Years. Alongside Bumbu, Don Papa have become the poster boys for adultered rum masquerading as premium. You could throw a few other rums into the mix, that use additives but Don Papa’s offerings are met with dismay and derision by most serious rum enthusiasts.

Perhaps the biggest reason for this is the sheer success of the brand. So not content with offering us a 7 Year Old version of their delicious elixir they felt that a further aged version of their wonderous concoction, was just what the rum world needed.

Presentation wise Don Papa tick all the boxes for the type of Premium rum you will find in department stores such as Harvey Nichols. It is striking and for the average consumer you will see the overall package of this rum and think it is a considerable step up from supermarket offering such as Captain Morgan and Lamb’s. The truth is better rum can easily be found now in UK supermarkets, in the shape of Chairman’s Reserve and Appleton Estate. Amongst others.

The black and white colour scheme of this rum is offset by and orange labelling on the synthetic cork stopper. A black cork topped cylinder houses the rum. Which comes in a stubby bottle. Don Papa Rum Aged 10 Years has been bottled at 43% ABV. The trusty hydrometer indicates around 16g/L of additives are present. This may seem low but it has been shown in laboratory tests that it also contains glycerin and vanillan. Small amounts are needed to significantly sweeten things up. The hydrometer does not pick up such small amounts of intense flavour.

Anyone familiar with this site is probably not surprised by my apparent distain for this particular rum. Those of you arriving from a Google Search or visiting for the first time might wonder why I am effectively saying this rum is awful before I even conduct the tasting etc. I usually try not to do this but this brand are one that take the concept of “rum” a step to far. This product is at best a spiced rum and at worst a flavoured neutral spirit.

It’s popularity is fuelled by a natural human love of sweetness and complete ignorance of what rum actually is. We are sadly still in an age where rum is perceived as sweet as it is produced from sugar.  It is not produced from sugar. It is produced using the by products of sugar production. From the sugar cane. During distillation all the sugar turns to alcohol. Rum is not naturally sweet – at least not to the extent that rums such as Don Papa might lead you to believe.

This is a rum produced from molasses and aged for 10 years in American oak barrels. Ex-bourbon barrels.

In the glass Don Papa Aged 10 Years is a very dark brown. Almost black. It’s a bit of a push to say a 10-year-old rum would be this dark even if it has been aged in Sugarlandia (I am not making that up it’s what they call it).

The nose is very familiar – huge wafts of raspberry flavoured bubblegum.  Notes of sweet artificial saccharin. Cherry flavoured boiled sweets and a slight hint of some kind of spice trying to break out but its just overpowered by the artificial confected notes.

It smells like a liqueur – it is ludicrously sweet. It is as far away as a 10-year-old molasses based rum from say Barbados or Jamaica as it is possible. The very idea this can even be labelled as a rum is frankly, a complete embarrassment to the category.

Sipped you are overwhelmed by a synthetic tart, bitterness. It tastes like a reduced sugar Marmalade. Full of that slightly bitter artificial sweetener like taste.Luckily the huge burst of sugary orange quickly subsides. As does everything else.

Don Papa Aged 10 Years doesn’t really develop onto anything meaningful. Beyond the sweet/bitter orange on the initial sip you only really experience sweet saccharin notes on the mid palate. There is something which is trying to be oak ageing in there but its just overwhelmed by all the nonsense they have added to this putrid mess.

An easy comparison – to suggest this is a good rum would be like suggesting Cherry Lambrini is a good wine. No one in the wine community would put up with such nonsense so why the hell does rum put up with bullshit like this? Why will spirit professionals not speak up about this complete and utter insult to rum? Heads in the trough is why. Money, money, money. Wankers.

Fortunately because your taste buds have been assaulted in such a way you probably won’t even notice the finish. It’s very much a blink and you miss it kind of affair. A tiny hint of something sweet and woody – and its gone. All that is left on the palate is artificial bitterness.

I actually think the No.7 might be better than this. It is as a sipper virtually undrinkable to anyone with a palate. If you are a 12 year old chav with a love for White Lightning and Cinema Pick and Mix then this might be the “rum” for you. However you could buy around 4 litres of Morgan’s Spiced Gold or better still head to Lidl or Aldi for some even cheaper spiced nonsense – for the £50 plus you would pay for this bottled bullshit. For the record I am not advocating any 12 year old’s should be drinking this or any other rum for that matter. My 3-year-old could probably drink this festering gloopy mess it has no alcohol taste to it whatsoever.

I hate everything about this and the brand. An utter disgrace to rum. A joke in every sense. You will find sadly more favourable reviews online. Here’s a clue they were freebies. Lance over at the Lone Caner was more honest and gave it one of his lowest ever scores. Some of the feelings I have for this have also been expressed by Lance here. The first thing he says is exactly what I thought!

I hate this so much right now! I was actually given this by someone who had it gifted to them. They couldn’t actually drink this.

Gateway rum? Gateway to what? It’s certainly not rum that’s for sure.