Hoxton Banana Rum. As well as being a part of East London, Hoxton is also the name taken by Gerry Calabrese, who is the founder of Hoxton Spirits London. He is, as his website declares a “Drinks Maverick”.

Cutting his teeth with Gin, Gerry initially introduced Hoxton Gin and Hoxton Pink Gin. Last year he released Hoxton Banana Rum. Which according to the Hoxton website consists of “Fresh Banana macerated for five weeks with the finest hand selected Caribbean rums”.

The website claims that for Hoxton “Quality is key to me when creating a Hoxton Product so we only ever use ethically sourced ingredients throughout our entire range and select only the finest alcohol at the core of the products we create. I am fanatical about detail and spend months developing each recipe”

It is perhaps a shame then that his fanaticism does not extend to giving customers information on what rum(s) is/are used in producing Hoxton Banana Rum, on the very same website…….

I went digging and unearthed an interview on Morning Advertiser which gave more details about the actual make up of the rum base. Here it is disclosed that it is a blend of rums from Barbados, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, the last of whom for some people, might not fit into their view of an ethical producer following the revelations made way back in 2015.

Still at least we have some information on the rums used in Hoxton Banana Rum. Further information details a 15% Pot Still to 85% Column Distilled ratio. The rums have been aged between 3 and 8 years but no average age is given. It’s pretty much nailed on that this is a blend sourced from E A Scheer in Amsterdam or Main Rum Company here in the UK. Rather than the “hand-selected” claims made on the website. More information can also be taken from this article which states both fresh and dried banana is used in the maceration.

Hoxton Spirits are currently being distributed by Emporia Brands, who are more famous for Chairman’s Reserve and the rest of the St Lucia Distillers range.

So that is what we are getting in the bottle, now lets take a quick look at that. Hoxton Spirits London certainly have good branding of their products and they have a distinctive look which is encapsulated by their small, square, squat bottles. There is a wax seal, which covers the synthetic cork stopper.

Colour scheme we get an unsurprising Yellow and Green. It is fair to say that Hoxton Banana Rum will certainly appeal to its intended “young and trendy”, share of the rum market. It may also move people from flavoured Gin over to flavoured Rum. At least for one drink anyway.

Hoxton Banana Rum retails at around £33 and can be found at most of the usual online stockists. It’s worth noting that the bottle size is a 50cl (1/2 litre) size. Not the more common 70cl.

As this is a flavoured rum then we should not be surprised to see that the Hydrometer does not bob at 40% when immersed in the spirit. 20% which gives around 64g/L of additives. To be honest this is not something that concerns me. It states clearly it is Banana Flavoured rum so it is to be expected.

In the glass the rum is a golden brown,. The nose is nowhere near as “banana-ey” as I was expecting,. There is quite a lot of molasses/treacle on the nose – Toffee and Caramel. There is some black almost booze soaked banana coming through but not a great deal.

Sipped there is a bit of sweet sugar syrup. A little taste of banana but it tastes more like banana skin than the actual fruit. It’s quite a weird tasting spirit. Hoxton Banana Rum not as sweet as I was expecting. Pretty boozy and more than a little harsh. Aggressive and boozy, it’s not the greatest base rum I have ever experienced. It does taste quite a lot of young alcohol and is pretty woody as well. Too much really to be nicely balanced.

There isn’t really a progression through this rum – it’s a bit molasses heavy on the initial sip with a lot of treacly sweetness. That then fades into the slightly odd banana flavour. In turn this just fades out rather than giving any kind of defined “finish”. You are just left with an odd tasting kind off sour Banana milk flavour in your mouth.

The best thing to do with this odd little rum is perhaps to mix it. It works better with lemonade and cola but it still tastes a touch off. It tastes quite vegetal and  again very much like banana skin rather than banana. A bit grassy even.

Not a great example of a flavoured rum. Certainly not the Stiggins’ Fancy of the Banana Flavoured Rum World. Bit of work needed on this one going forward.