A.H Riise XO Reserve Rum.  A highly popular rum brand particular in Denmark.  I have previously reviewed A.H Riise’s 40% Navy Rum.  In that review I gave some information regarding the brands (so called) history etc.  The review is here.

For the purpose of this review I will just focus on this bottling.  I have taken much of this information from the official website.

The rum in this blend hails from the US Virgin Islands (think Cruzan or even Captain Morgan).  It is hand-blended from a range of golden distillates aged upto 20 years.

The passage below is quoted directly from the site

“It’s hand-blended by a variety of Rum distillates which is up to 20 years old and have a beautiful golden color.  This ageing produces a full bodied and fruity rum with notes of honey, apricot and peach and a velvety soft and delicate sweetness filled aftertaste and a finish with a touch of vanilla and raisin. Each cask is specially selected by our “Master Distiller” and bottled individually “Single Barrel” and each bottle is marked with individual bottle number. This rum is produced strictly limited quantities “Limited Edition”.”

I can smell bullshit and its not just on this occasion the rum in the my glass! Though we will come to that later.

A.H Riise is aimed at the sweeter end of the rum market. The kind of person who buys bottles based on how fancy the bottle and how glitzy the website is.The sort of person that posts pictures of their latest haul of artificial, sugar laden monstrosities on more serious rum forums and wonder why they get “hated” on. Seduced by a pretty bottle and endless marketing bullshit and fairy tales these people just can’t help themselves.  Due to the ongoing popularity of this “rum” brand these people are clearly not in short supply.

A.H Riise Royal Danish Rum is without doubt the worst rum I have ever experienced.  It is so altered that it is a complete insult that it is even allowed to be marketed as rum.

Tighten your seatbelt folks because this is not going to be pretty.

The bottle tells me that this is “Super Premium Single Barrel Rum”. Bottle Number 2474, Cask 8, Batch 1. This was bottled on the 15th March 2014 and it is bottled at 40% ABV. In Europe this will set you back upwards of £55.

In the glass A.H Riise is a very strange yellow colour. It looks extremely in-natural.

The nose is strikingly similar to the Navy Rum. Which is strange because these are two completely different rums with totally different geography (Navy was Guyanese rum and this is from the US VIrgin Isles).

It’s the same confected overly sweet nose. It smells more like an fruit ice lolly than rum. Huge wafts of artificial orange cordial, Jif Lemon and a sort of tutti trutti candy.

There’s no oak, no spice, no vanilla and basically no rum aromas!

This isn’t as heavily sugared as the Navy Rum but you’d struggle to tell the difference. Further nosing and time in the glass just seems to make things worse. It gets sweeter and more gloopier.

Sipped it’s not as sweet as the nose initially. It’s quite bitter lemon and lime zest and even the tiniest hint of some oak. The problem is with each sip you get an extra nosing and it really is repulsive. There is a slight burn to remind you are drinking something vaguely alcoholic. The reality is however that this tastes more like children medicine than rum. Fake fruit flavours masking what must be near neutral spirit because it has no character whatsoever.

Beyond the initial tartness and a little bit of sweetness the rum quickly fades away to little more than a slight alcohol burn. No complexity. It is very much like drinking a very poor flavoured vodka with some essence to make it taste like a “brown” spirit.

No hang on I’m wrong there is a bit of an aftertaste and what some might call a finish. Aspartame and saccharin. I suspect that is what is giving this rum its sweetness – artificial.

I wouldn’t even bother mixing this as its an insult even to the cheapest nastiness cola or lemonade available.

Now some people will get upset by my critique and maybe I shouldn’t be so critical of people’s choices. If you know anyone who drinks and enjoys A.H Riise please direct them to this review. It might make them have second thoughts about the “rum” they are enjoying.

The reality is they are deluding themselves. If this is all they can take neat then they need to go back to mixing or beer/wine. You’re definitely not drinking rum and paying over the odds for it.

Easily as bad as its Navy counterpart. Avoid….please.