JAH45 18ct Gold Jamaican Rum. No this isn’t the same rum, I reviewed earlier this year. That was the JAH45 Dark Jamaican Rum. This is the 18ct Gold variant. Though if I am being entirely honest, when putting the two rums side by side they are of a very similar colour. The label is a different colour though.

JAH45 are making a bit of a splash at the moment. They released no fewer than 5 Jamaican Rum expressions earlier this year. Dark, Gold, Silver, Spiced and Overproof. So they are covering all bases, aside from more Premium Aged Rum. I won’t be entirely surprised if they go down that route in the future as well.

JAH45 rums are presented to us by “Hellshire Club”. Hellshire is a famous beach in Portmore, Jamaica. The owner of the Jah45 brand Carl Stephenson formerly worked for Wray and Nephew, so he knows his stuff when it comes to Jamaican rum. Carl has also enjoyed success in his own right with the fantastic Elements Eight rum range. Elements Eight showcased rum from Saint Lucia and more recently a blend of Cuban and Panamanian rum called Republica.

Presentation of JAH45 18ct Gold Jamaican Rum continues the same ripped label poster type styling which fits in the with Jamaican Sound System that the rums are hoping to envoke. They presentation is bold and bright Whilst the bottle shape is standard you do get a decent quality metal screw cap.

To be fair, I am still surprised how inexpensive this line up rums are. Retail is noted as being £20 (you may see them for a pound or two more). Unlike many rums at this price it is presented at 40% ABV. It is a blend of rums from Jamaica. The distilleries they hail from are Clarendon/Monymusk and Hampden. Jah45 18ct Gold Jamaican Rum is a blend of pot and column distilled rums aged up to 3 years.

I am interested to try this and the Dark Jah45 alongside each other. Whilst I can see a slight difference in colour they do appear very similar and the make up, at least that noted on the bottle is the same. Admittedly neither really gives details beyond what I have already supplied.

So without further ado we will move onto tasting this new Jamaican rum and see if it as good value as the Dark.

In the glass JAH45 18ct Gold is a shade lighter than the Dark. It’s a bit more vibrant – more of an orange/red hue to it.

Nosing JAH45 17ct Gold is a more upfront affair than the Dark. Much like the nose it is just slightly dialled back from the dark side. We are getting more fruiter notes – slightly less of the molasses and caramel.

It is unmistakenly Jamaican rum with a really fruity toffee note. It reminds me of those toffee sweets you used to get in various different fruit flavour in the same packet (help me here). Along side notes of fudge and banana you get a really nice raisin-ey sweetness. There is also a brooding boozy menace about this rum which puts me in mind of Pussers Gunpowder proof. A strong toffee and alcohol mix which is pretty intense.

Obviously at this price point we have quite a boozy rum – but the young sweet alcohol notes really suit this punchy style of Jamaican mixing rum. This is fruitier and less caramel forward when compared to the JAH45 Dark.

Sipped, its quite bitter at first which leads onto a reasonable amount of alcohol burn. In all honesty taken as a sipper it is surprisingly “smooth” it is not quite as rough as I was expecting. However it doesn’t seem to have a great deal of flavour beyond a little fudge and a hint of coffee. Again in comparison, JAH45 Dark has a more notes of burnt caramel.

It goes down easy enough like this but it’s not a show stopper.

Mixing JAH45 18ct Gold Jamaican Rum is really where we should see some magic happen. It works really well with both Ginger Beer and cola. Best perhaps with the Ginger Beer. As we have seen all the way through this is a fruitier rum than the Dark. Both work nicely mixed but I prefer the 18ct Gold just  a tiny bit.

It’s a really good alternative to all the other Dark mixing rums – Myers’s, Captain Morgan, Gosling’s and even the likes of Wood’s and Lamb’s.

It gives quite a good hit of toffee, banana and a certain smokiness as well as some plump raisins and just a  of bitterness to keep it check. In terms of funk there is enough burnt banana and a touch of dunder to make you know its a Jamaican rum. It’s reminds me most of Myers’s only dialled back on the molasses.

Well worth giving JAH45 a spin.