Lost Years Four Island Rum. Up for review today is another offering from Turtle Savers Lost Years. This rum follows on from my review of their Navy Strength Rum a few weeks ago.

Lost Years Four Island Rum as the name suggests is a blend of rums (yes you’ve guessed it) from four different Caribbean Islands.

Firstly the blend is a little unusual in that it is a mixture of both molasses based and sugar cane juice r(h)ums. We have an 8 year old rum from Foursquare Rum Distillery, Barbados alongside a 5 year old rum from the Dominican Republic, 2 year old pot still rum from Jamaica and finally some unaged white agricole rhum from Guadeloupe.

The Lost Years website notes that no additives or colouring has been used in the blend. The additives bit I can confirm via a clean Hydrometer test.

Presentation wise Lost Years Four Island Rum comes in a short necked,rounded stubby bottle with a natural cork wooden topped stopper. The branding is clean and modern. The rear label gives the information on the blend and other relevant information relating to the rum and their work with the Sea Turtles. Expect to pay around £38. It is bottled at 40% ABV. Lost Years Four Island Rum is currently in stock at Master of Malt or you can buy direct from the Lost Years website.

I’ve mentioned already that “blended” rum seems to have made a bit of a comeback over the past couple of years. New brands from the UK in particular have been popping up with great regularity. Especially at a similar price point to this rum. So lets see how it stacks up against the competiton…….

In the glass Lost Years Four Island Rum is light/golden brown. The nose is surprisingly robust. Lots of oak, tobacco and some underlying funk and grassiness which adds an extra layer to the nose.

Further nosing reveals some light toffee, banana and papaya. The Guadeloupe element shows itself in the shape of a sweet, grassy aroma. Hints of vanilla float in and out of the mix. I get some green apple and some smokiness as well.

All in all its a very interesting nose. The profile overall is quite “dry” and you can really notice the barrel influence but that is balanced by the sweeter rum from Guadeloupe and the Dominican Republic.

As a sipper Lost Years Four Island Rum is surprisingly rounded it has a really nice balance. Even at 40% ABV it is still quite “punchy” and has a nice weight to it. The oak and spices work nicely alongside the fruitier elements in the blend.

My concern was that the Guadeloupe rhum might have dominated the mix. Maybe caused it to develop to the point, where the other rums were lost. That hasn’t happened. The Guadeloupe rhum sits nicely within the blend and doesn’t make is taste “odd” – like you might expect.

The initial sip is quite woody and dry but further sips reveal more of the fruitier and sweeter notes of the blend. Toffee and caramel mingle alongside the oak spices and the tobacco notes on the initial entry.

On the mid palate the Lost Years Four Island rum becomes fruitier with more sweetness. Some grassy funk comes in with plenty green apple, banana and a touch of raisin. It has a really nice balance to it and everything works together nicely.

As a sipper possibly due partly to the ABV and the use of some younger rums – the finish isn’t quite as long as you might like. That said it has a very nice, clean finish which fades out gently. The flavour does disappear a little quicker than I would like though.

Lost Years Four Island Rum is at a price point where I would still consider using it as a “Premium Mixer”. It makes for a really interesting and quite different rum and coke. I would also imagine that due to the different rums used in the blend that a talented mixologist could find a lot of uses for this particular blend. It could work as a shortcut to using 2 or 3 different rums?

Lost Years Four Island Rum is a very nice “everyday” kind of sipper. That said it’s not what I would call soft or overly easy going. It’s still quite a “rummy” rum – ie it still has a bit of “menace” about it.

It’s not quite as good as their excellent Navy Strength Rum but its still more than decent. Certainly well worth the price.