Rum Exchange Belize 2009. For those unfamiliar with Rum Exchange, they were responsible for bottling two Jamaican 5 year old rums last year. They return this year with a Single Cask offering from Travellers Distillery, Belize. They have also just released a Guyana rum, with a Single Cask offering from Barbados due later in the year.

As with the two Jamaican releases, Rum Exchange Belize is a Single Cask Rum, bottled at Cask Strength. As far as I am aware Travellers Distillery operates only column stills. This is noted as being “double column still”. Whether that is double distilled or  distilled in a “double” column still I’m not entirely sure. It is noted online that Travellers do double distilll their rums. So perhaps its more likely that.

Rum Exchange have their own website. However, the rums are not available there at present as it is still being re-vamped. It is available online at various stores throughout the EU. It retails at around €80-85. Rum Exchange Belize 2009 has been bottled, as mentioned already, at cask strength. Coming in this time at a hefty 60.8% ABV.

It was distilled in 2009 and bottled in 2019. If you are in the UK and looking for something a little closer to home then Craft Rum Club have it for sale though it is a bit pricier at £105. The single cask has yielded 252 bottles and the entire maturation took place in ex-bourbon barrels. It is also noted as being 100% tropically aged. I assume in Belize but you just never know……

I’ve not reviewed all that many Belizean rums. To be honest I tend to avoid the “standard” Travellers range due to an early (and very confected) disappointment with One Barrel Rum. An early and at the time for me, costly mistake.

I also wasn’t too impressed with Tiburon Rum. Offerings from FAIR and That Boutiquey Rum Company and Cadenhead’s did however fair (pun intended) better. It’s interesting to note that all these bottlings come in at around the 10 year old mark.

That said I have noticed a few noted enthusiasts giving some more recent bottlings og Belize rums quite rave reviews online in Facebook groups etc. haven’t noticed a great deal of actual reviews from fellow bloggers though.

In the glass we have a golden brown spirit with a reddish/orange hue.

Nosewise I am getting a lot of toasted coconut and vanilla. A bit of charred oak but nothing that throws anything of balance. Even at 60.8% ABV, it is quite light and nicely balanced. Further nosing reveals a little bit more wood influence. The toasted coconut is getting close to Coconut Ice – sweet but not overbearingly so.

Milk chocolate and some rich breakfast pastries. Warm and inviting is the best way to describe this rum.

Sipped, Rum Exchange Belize 2009 is not as sweet as the nose suggests. It has a lot more wood and a lot more of a dry mouthfeel. The initial entry is quite dry and woody but it quickly moves into a lighter more flavourful mid palate. Lots of vanilla and white chocolate. There is a nice hit of barrel char and some good spicy oaky, Bourbon like notes.

It’s a nicely balanced rum that is much more “Barbados” than the previous Belizean rums I have had. I can certainly see why some rum enthusiasts have been getting excited about Belizean rum recently.

At this ABV it has a good length and a really nice dry, peppery finish. There is a sweetness – vanilla custard running throughout this rum but it’s very nice and never gets too sweet.

A really pleasant surprise and the first Belize rum that rises above the ranks of average and good in my books. This is very good. Very interesting. It reminds me of both English Harbour and Mount Gay rums in equal measure.

Not bad company to be keeping. Rum Exchange Belize 2009 is a particularly good example of a column distilled rum. None of those nasty additives either.