McDowell’s No1 Celebration Deluxe XXX rum. A first for this site, in that I am reviewing a rum from a cardboard box…..The ethos of this site has always been that I’ll review pretty much anything that has rum written somewhere on the label.

I know a lot of other review sites swerve from what they perceive as “inferior” spirits. At the end of the day the idea of this site is to try and inform your more average consumer. I like the idea that people can walk into a store and if they see something they are unsure of, they can search for a review online. Hopefully, they will come across a review from this site which will better inform them, whether to purchase or not.

I’ve also got a ten point scoring scale and again, unike most reviewers I use the full scale on a regular basis. It is also worth pointing out that McDowell’s No1 Celebration Deluxe XXX Rum is one of, if not the best selling “rum” in the world. So, why have I put “rum” in inverted commas? Well I will explain exactly how this and many other dark spirits are produced in India.

Indian-made foreing liquor or IMFL for short. This is the official government term which covers all types of “hard liquor” manufactured in India but not indigenous to India. The term also covers all bulk alcohol which is imported to India and then bottled in a licensed bonded warehouse in India.

A common characteristic of “Indian Rum” is one which is consistent with IMFL. Most IMFL is produced from a neutral spirit which has been obtained from the distillation of molasses. This neutral spirit is distilled to 96% ABV. It is then reduced to 42.8% ABV (I have no clue as to why it is this exact volume).

Then depending on the type of spirit being produced rum,brandy, whisky etc flavourings and sometimes other “real spirits” are added. It is then given a dose of caramel colouring.

If you have tried Indian rums such as Old Monk and Old Port you may have notice they all have a very similar vanilla heavy flavour and very dark colour. I suspect a very similar process and ingredients are  used across the board. I think I may be updating those reviews soon.

McDowell’s No1 Celebration Rum was introduced in 1991 and immediately began eating into the market share of it’s biggest domestic rival Old Monk. Since 2012 sales of McDowell’s No1 Celebration Rum have dwarfed those of it’s rival. This has lead to another rivalry with global powerhouse Bacardi for the official billing of top selling rum in the world. It’s worth pointing out that Diageo have over 50% of the shares in McDowell’s parent company.United Spirits of India.

I’ve never come across McDowell’s No1 Celebratin Deluxe XXX Rum in the UK or Europe. If the production detail of IMFL is followed for this (and I strongly believe it is) then in line with the Croatian Domaci “rum” it would have to be labelled as something other than rum in line with EU law.

That said Old Monk has no problem with distribution in Europe and whilst laws are in place. I must say enforcement is at times pretty lax.

The 180ml carton of McDowell’s No1 Celebration Deluxe XXX Rum retails for 180 Rupees in India. This would equate to around £2 . Which by any standards is pretty cheap. This is the drink of the people. It is available in a number of carton/bottles sizes for the discerning alcoholic.

There is little information to be found about this rums. I’m guessing it is produced on a column still, most likely a multi-column.Age wise nothing is noted one review noted it is aged for 3 years in oak barrels but I can find nothing to back this up.

With little else to say I may as well get my scissors out and get this little Tetra Pak opened.

When poured I get pretty much what I was expecting. A very dark spirit with a very, very red tinge to it. It’s clearly not the barrels providing this colour unless they were fired with Cherryade.

Nose – again I’m getting exactly what I was expecting. Wafts of vanilla coke and a sort of caramel/coffee aroma. It reminds me of Old Monk and Old Port. It is slightly different but it’s roughly similar. As silly as this sounds it isn’t actually unpleasant. It’s sweet but it’s not ludicrously cloying. I doubt I could drink much of it in one go but I’m not gagging. Not yet anyway.

Sipped it’s actually a little bitter and nowhere near as sweet as I was expecting. The main “flavour” is just really neutral alcohol. It’s kind of like an aromatised vodka. I’m not getting any sense at all of anything approaching an aged spirit. It just tastes a little bit flowery very briefly and then it all just disappears into a very short burn with little else to distinguish itself. There is maybe a little toffee and caramel flavouring but it’s very hard to make out.

I would imagine when this isn’t getting chugged down by tourists on beaches in Goa then it will be mixed. I’ve got some cola so I will see what I can do with the rest of the carton……

It tastes a bit like vanilla coke. To be honest it’s okay like this. It’s not cloying or overly sweet but it’s not quite as full flavoured as Old Monk. Whilst neither are really to my current tastes I think Old Monk is more flavourful.

Another few mouthfuls and it’s all getting very flowery and perfumed.

This isn’t good rum because truthfully this isn’t rum. As a drink it’s not something I would seek out either. It’s pretty poor really and in all fairness. It’s best if this stays in India.

As Radiohead once said “No Surprises”