Privateer International Distiller’s Drawer The Queen’s Share Rum Maggie’s Cut 26. They do like their short and snappy names for their rums don’t they? Well the thing is they release a lot of Single Cask rums. Privateer are very keen to give us rum fans as much information as possible. So the names do get a bit lengthy.

This particular cask was selected by former Privateer Head Distiller Maggie Campbell for Norfolk Whisky Group. Despite the spelling of Whisky, they are not from the home of Bernard Matthews rather they hail from from Norfolk, Virginia in the US of A. Which really, makes much more sense.

I found details of this rum listed at Norfolk Wine & Spirits.  So I’ll give you a run down of all the information available, regarding this particular bottling. It is not detailed on the Privateer site. So lucky I came across this site really.

First up this is another bottling which is sold out. Conceivably you might one day come across it at auction. Reviews of Privateer rums aren’t all that prevalent online, due to the fact most of their releases have been in the US. With limited supply elsewhere few European bloggers have covered them. Whilst a few years ago the US had a number of prolific rum reviewers – the numbers do seem to have dwindled more recently. Privateer don’t go down the free samples for reviewers that some bigger US brands tend to utilise.

Privateer International Distiller’s Drawer The Queen’s Share Rum Maggie’s Cut 26 retailed at $69.99 for a 750ml/75cl bottle. It was released at Cask Strength 58.6% ABV. It was aged in American Oak Char #3 barrel for 2 years 11 months and 24 days. I’m disappointed hours, minutes and seconds have not been included………

It was distilled on the 8th November 2015 and barrelled on the 16th of the same month. It was bottled on the 9th November 2018. The cask barrel number is P66. The mash bill (very Bourbon-esque) is 95% Navy Yard Seconds (Molasses), 5% Silver Reserve Seconds (Cane Juice Crystals, Real Boiled Brown). The rum has not been Chill Filtered or Coloured in anyway. No additives are used post distillation.

Presentation wise the rum comes in the tall thin contoured bottle favoured by Privateer for these releases. The presentation is reminiscent of how bottlers such as Cadenhead’s often sell their “Cask End” rums with a simple printed label with hand written effect details of each rum. It is sealed with a cork stopper.

I think that’s enough information on the rum.  So I may as well move on to the nosing and tasting part of the review.

Despite being less than 3 years old, the rum has already taken on a golden brown appearance. It has a distinct orange hue running through it.

The nose is woody with some nice bourbon-esque spicy/oak notes. There is also a nice hit of vanilla and a big chunk of dark treacly molasses. There are also notes of stem ginger and some barrel char.

The initial sip is a lot sweeter and a bit smoother than the nose suggests. I was expecting a lot more wood. The nose definitely suggested this. Instead, I get a nice balance of spicy oak, toffee, vanilla and some traces of dark roasted coffee. I also get a little trace of ginger.

It has a spicy note at the back of the throat as you move onto the mid palate but the woodiness and oak is tempered by the sweeter toffee and vanilla notes. These remain through the mid palate and towards the finish.

In some ways this rum tastes older than it is. However, in other ways you still get plenty of the youthful, sweeter alcohol notes you often find in unaged or lightly aged rums. A kind of mix of aged and “fresh” rum if you like.

It’s age is perhaps most noticeable by the slightly short finish. It does “dry out” and fade away quite quickly from the mid palate. This leaves behind only some light spices and wood. In terms of alcohol burn for 58.6% ABV, this really is quite minimal throughout.

It has a really nice balance. Whilst I would hardly call it a light sipper, it has a profile quite similar to something like R.L Seale’s Old Brigand. Certainly in terms of the balance of sweetness and wood.

Going forward things have changed at Privateer. Maggie Campbell and her husband (also a distiller with Privateer whose name escapes me) have now left. Privateer have also began distributing more in Europe via Velier. It will be interesting to see how things go, as Privateer moves more onto the International stage.