Royal Jamaican Rum Aged 12 Years. This is a rum brand from National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) and hails from the Monymusk distillery. I have seen this brand online but have rarely seen any reviews or discussion around it.

Monymusk does rather fly under the radar a bit, when it comes to online rum discussions etc. Appleton, Hampden and Worthy Park get much more coverage when it comes to Jamaican Rum. The only review I could find on this brand from any serious writer was a 20011 review of their Gold entry level rum by Lance over at The Lone Caner.

I had a quick look around online and was pleased to find that the brand has it’s own website. Sadly it only covers their entry level Gold and White rum for some reason. It’s pretty stark to be honest and offered little information beyond what would probably be found on the bottle. In this day and age I don’t understand why so many brands have such shitty websites. Either do it properly or don’t bother. Don’t do it half-arsed.

I didn’t give up though and found another website which is one of the distributors of Royal Jamaican Rum. They had 5 rums in the line up. Unfortunately once again the Aged 12 Years bottlings was missing. I have a feeling that it might have been replaced with the Aged 10 Years as it comes in a pretty much identical bottle and the 12 is, as mentioned already nowhere to be seen.

This rum seems to get exported to the US and I have seen UK specialists stockists such as the The Whisky Exchange have very small amounts of US sized bottles for sale. I am not aware of their being any widespread distribution in Europe. There may be just no one wants to stock this. I’ve certainly not heard much about the brand I just knew it existed but little else.

As noted already this Royal Jamaican Rum Aged 12 Years is produced at the Monymusk Distillery.  It is an 100% Pot Still rum which is then blended and aged for 12 years in ex-bourbon barrels. As well as being 100% Pot Still rum it is also 100% Tropically Aged. It is bottled at a fairly basic 40% ABV.

It comes in a fairly average normal bar style bottle and it’s only real talking point is the straw weave, around the neck. It’s okay presentation wise, but the stark black bottle used by the Gold is actually much more striking. It also feels a bit more branded. The 12 looks a bit generic.

In the US it seems to retail at around the $30 mark. Which doesn’t at face value seem a bad price for a 12 Year Old Rum. We shall see though……..

In the glass we have a dark brown spirit with a slightly reddish hue. On the nose I am immediately put in mind of a couple of the National Rums of Jamaica Velier releases that I have previously reviewed. It’s probably most in keeping with the Velier National Rums of Jamaica Ltd Cambridge ST♥CE 2005 rather than the Velier National Rums of Jamaica Ltd Long Pond TECC 2007.

Both of those rums to different degrees had a real vinegar note to them. This has a lot of that on the nose. It is accompanied by a big waft of slightly fermented Pineapple Juice and a fair chunk of more mellow woody spices and oak.

It’s quite an interesting nose and although some of the aromas are quite sharp it does have a nice balance to it overall.

Sipped, it is quite sweet and pretty easy going. Quite mellow. It’s fruity with a lot of tart citrus and Pineapple Juice. Touch of over ripe Banana. There is a certain mellowness to it a bit of warming cocoa and some nice oak spices and bourbon notes.

The mid palate is a real sweet/sour affair with the vinegary notes showing from the nose. This is a good progression from the initial entry and this continues on into the finish. The finish perhaps is a little on the short side and you are left with a dry very vinegary note on your palate. This will be something which will turn a lot of people off this rum. Especially those more familar with Appleton as a go to Jamaican rum.

It’s an odd rum and not one that I would have immediately guessed as being from Monymusk. It has a Long Pond feel to it, though it lacks a bit of the bite – the varnish and the more extreme notes of some aged Long Ponds.

I can understand why people might not rate this very highly or it might come across as a little strange.

I found it quite interesting and not half bad. I’d probably pick up a bottle at a reasonable price should I see one.