Peaky Blinder Black Spiced Rum. Peaky Blinder’s is a very popular programme in the UK at the moment. It is a Gangster Family Epic set just after the First World War. I’ve never seen it to be honest.

The term Peaky Blinder refers to the gangs Flat Caps which they stitched razor blades into to slash the foreheads of their enemies, causing blood to drip into their eyes rendering them temporarily blind and unable to defend further attacks on their person.

Sadler’s like the Peaky Blinders gang hail from ” The Black Country” which is a region in the West Midlands. They have been brewing for over 100 years. As part of their new Peaky Blinder range they are also marketing Gin and Irish Whiskey. There is no doubt when looking at their website that the TV series is definitely the inspiration behind the bottlings.

Priced at around £22-25 Peaky Blinder Black Spiced Rum is bottled at 40% ABV so is a true “Spiced Rum”. The Black colour is no doubt helped with some Caramel Colouring.

“Over a century’s worth of knowledge and passion has led the family to create this bold rum, blended with selected spices delivering notes of orange, nutmeg, vanilla and raisin.”

Presentation wise I like the stubby rounded bottle and the wax dipped cork stopper, adds a nice touch.

The nose is very sweet. Huge amounts of concentrated vanilla and caramel dominate. Surprisingly there is a little hint of oak spice and quite a sharp hit of alcohol. Clove and maybe a tiny hint of ginger. It has a kind of “burntness” to it. Like old coffee grinds.

Sipped its not as sweet as the nose would suggest. It’s quite artificial tasting – synthetic flavourings. It doesn’t really offer a great deal on its own. Tastes a bit like a sugar substitute with a really biter artificial after taste. There is a little bit of oak and spice but its mostly just young alcohol giving you a bit of a burn. Burnt toffee and some cloying clove and vanilla keep drifting in and out of the mix.

Up front it offers a quick sharp burst of sweetness. Followed by a fade of bitterness and just about no finish at all.

Mixing this with cola you get a different experience and a lot of coffee. Now I like coffee but I’m not that keen on overly sweet vanilla laden coffee. Which is what this gives you when you mix it with cola. Vanilla laden coffee with some steeped cloves. Lovely………

This is yet another spiced rum which seems reasonable enough, for about half of the first glass. To be honest as much as it was no show stopper sipped, at least it was drinkable. Mixing this just gives you a very sweet, cloying drink. Which only the sweetest sweet tooth will manage to drink beyond a glass or two.

The eagle eyed amongst you may notice similarities between this review and my review of Liberte Black Spiced Rum from Lidl. That is because beyond the label and the wax seal this is EXACTLY the same rum. Even the bottle is the same one. So if you are considering buying Peaky Blinder Spiced Rum you’d be much better off buying the Lidl offering as it is around £5 cheaper – and trust me it is exactly the same juice.

I knew this was a bit of a “cash in” on the series of the same name. In fairness I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. Sadler’s have a solid if uninspiring reputation. I was expecting something a little better though, maybe with a little more authentic flavouring.