Rum Nation Rare Rums Worthy Park. This is a rum from the second fully operational year for Worthy Park since the distillery was relaunched. The Rum Nation bottlings don’t seem to be as easy to get in the UK as they are in most of mainland Europe. I’m not really sure why this is the case as they would be pretty popular. This added to their fondness for a touch of “dosage” means I don’t review a great deal of their products.

From the limited experience of their Rare Rums Small Batch, they don’t seem to be sweetening these offerings. Which is encouraging. They don’t sweeten all their rums but you never know when they might. This rum is bottled at 57% ABV and the Hydrometer bobbed at 56% which gives a reading of slightly over 5 g/L of additives. Due to it being borderline I recorded it as 0-5 – so “clean”.

It will be interesting though when I taste the rum to see if I can detect any extra sweetness. I’ve had a fair few Worthy Park’s over the last couple of years. So I should notice if it goes down the same route as the Bacardi Single Estate bottling.

This rum is still currently available and retails around the €130 mark approximately £120 or thereabouts. It is bottled at 57% ABV. Which is probably near enough cask strength. Its worth noting that this is a blend of rums from 4 different casks. Numbers 25,32,42 and 58. It is 100% Pot still rum. Distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2017.

Presentation wise you get a nice cork topped stubby style bottle and a good quality canister to store the rum in. The presentation is clean and modern. You get a decent amount of information about you are buying. It continues Rum Nation’s use of “stamp” like labelling and looks a bit more contemporary than some of their bottlings.

Rum Nation are a European Independent bottler. As a result I would imagine that this has been aged mostly in Europe. With minimal ageing in the tropics. I have, however noticed that some Worthy Park rums have had up to 4 years of Tropical ageing, before being shipped to brokers to be sold as “bulk” rum.

In the glass the Rum Nation Rare Rums Worthy Park is a dark to golden brown with red and orange flashes. The nose is familiar and welcoming. Whilst clearly from Worthy Park it has a herbal note to it and a touch of brine which reminds me of St Lucia Distillers.

There is though enough toffee and a note of black stewed English breakfast tea to make it clearly a Worthy Park rum. It’s quite a rich sweet nose which reminds me of the tropically aged Velier 2005 Worthy Park.

Its nicely balanced and as you leave it in the glass it becomes less herbal and more full of toffee and chocolate notes.

Sipped at the full ABV it is spicy with a nice warming concentration of flavours. It has a zestiness to it. Yet it is mellowed by sweeter notes of banana, guava and toffee. It’s very drinkable and quite mellow. Balance is very much the key with this rum.

There is a touch of sea salt and a hint of pine cones. These notes combine well with the chocolate and toffee which leads into a very tangy and slightly peppery finish. The notes of breakfast tea are very much left in the nose and only really re-appear a little in the aftertaste on the finish.

This is pretty excellent to be honest. Up there with the best I’ve had from Worthy Park. The work Rum Nation have done in blending the casks together is impressive. This is a really first class rum.

If Worthy Park is your thing then you will really enjoy this one. Its quite easy going but it has a good deal of complexity going on. Rum Nation Rare Rums Worthy Park just wraps up into a very appealing and enjoyable sipper.

Balance is the key with this one with no bad or off notes.