Captain Morgan Black Spiced Premium Spirit Drink with Caribbean rum, select spices and natural flavouring – to give it its full name. The spirit drink is aged in Double Charred Blackened Oak Barrels. It is Blackstrap rum (very thick molasses), Rich Clove Spice and Premium Cassia bark.
Unlike the Spiced Gold this is not readily available in the United Kingdom as yet. I find this a little strange as even the presentation suggests this is the Captain’s answer to The Kraken (see my review). It also uses a predominantly black and white colour scheme and the bottle shape is very similar. It omits the two rings on the neck and gains an upper hand by having a synthetic cork enclosure (pictured below). The rum/spirit drink is 40% abv. I have seen this available in the United States at 47% abv. I’m not totally sure why such regional difference apply, whether it is down to taste or politics, I really don’t know. Often rums are stronger in the UK than their US counterparts so its a bit of a conundrum.
I purchased this rum mainly due to the demography. I hadn’t tried a rum from Belize, simple really. One Barrel also boasted of a number of gold medal awards, in major spirit competitions. A Gold Medal in the Dark Rum category at the second International Cane Spirits Competition in 2007. In 2007 and 2008 Gold Medals at the International Rum Festival.
Appleton Estate V/X Jamaica Rum was the entry level rum for the Appleton Estate brand. It has now been re-branded as Signature Blend – the juice I can reliably assure you all is exactly the same as before.
In 1884 Danish sailor Valdemar Hanschell created Cockspur rum in Barbados. The rum has been an integral part of island life ever since. Cockspur is distilled using, what at the time was considered a revolutionary continuous still, along with more traditional pot stills. Cockspur Fine Rum is the companies flagship brand. In most territories outside of Barabos it is to be found alongside their 12 year old rum (Cockspur 12/VSOR) and the companies more recent spiced variant (Cockspur Spiced). More information and background on the Cockspur brand is available at http://cockspurrum.com/home.
For those in the UK please don’t let the title confuse you. This is NOT the “Original” Sailor Jerry rum which was so radically altered back in 2010. This is a recent bottling of the “newer” recipe. For those outside the UK, Sailor Jerry has always been more in keeping with this formula. In the US the rum is bottled at 92 proof (46% ABV). In the UK it is bottled at 80 proof (40% ABV). It is also marketed as a Navy rum in the US. To be honest a lot of the information relating to Sailor Jerry is a bit confusing and contradictory. If you can clarify any of the information please feel free to comment below this review. The title of my review, as always is based on how the rum is described on its/my bottle.
La Hechicera pronounced etch-ee-see-rah is Spanish for enchantress. The rum is a product of Colombia. I have previously given a very favourable review to a Colombian rum – Dictador 12. The rum is produced by Casa Santana Ron Y Licores. The rum is marketed as fine aged premium sipping rum. Information available suggests that the rum is produced using the “solero” method. With rums aged between 12 and 21 years. No age statement is present on the bottle or alluded to.
Smith & Cross can trace their heritage back as far as 1788, producing of sugar and spirits. Importing vast quantities of rum and sugar from Jamaica. At one point they had a Sugar Distillery at 203 Thames Street at the old London docks. on the banks of the River Thames.