Spice Hunter Boldest Spiced Rum. I’ve seen spiced rum described in many different ways but I’ve never heard anyone claim their spiced rum is the boldest before.

Not many spiced rums claim to add 13 different spices to the rum. Which is why as their website informs us – they have decided to call it “Boldest Spiced Rum”. They think it is a very bold move to infuse so many spiced into their rum.

Presentation is also quite bold with a very vivid orange, white and black colour scheme. The man in the boat on the front label is an 18th century “Spice Hunter” called Pierre Poivre.

The rum comes housed in a rounded 3/4 stubby style bottle with a chunky wooden topped synthetic cork stopper.

The actual rum is a column distilled rum from the Medine Distillery in Mauritius. Readers of this blog may find the name of that distillery familiar. It also gives us a bit more idea about the company behind this spiced rum. Spice Hunter is bottled at 38% ABV and a 70cl bottle currently retails at £28. You can currently find it on Amazon and in select Revolucion de Cuba bars around the country.

Spice Hunter is infused with 13 different spices – All Spice, Caraway, Cardamon, Chilli, Cinnamon, Clove, Cubeb, Elemi, Ginger, Nutmeg, Pepper, Pimento and that spiced rum staple Vanilla.

The rum has been released at 19 Revolucion de Cuba venues throughout the UK – so if you don’t want to take the plunge and buy a bottle you can try it there.

Now I wouldn’t normally get too excited or enthusiastic about a spiced rum. I don’t mind a good spiced rum but sadly there aren’t many of those about. Too many rely on synthetic tasting vanilla and sugar and little else. To many copycat brands all doing the same thing. I wasn’t even that fussed on Pink Pigeon which is a spiced/flavoured rum produced by the Medine Distillery using Vanilla.

However, the base rum for this is produced in Mauritius but the spices are blended here in the UK by Berry’s Bros & Rudd. So this is for me a bit of a “posh” rum. I’m assured all the spices used are authentic and they have taken a great deal of time and care making sure the blend is bold but very tasty.

So I have higher hopes for this spiced rum than I perhaps usually do.

In the glass the rum is a rich golden brown – if the spices have had only a minimal impact on the colour of this rum then the distillate appears to be at least 2-3 years old. That said, it could have been coloured at any stage.

The initial nosing reveals Cloves, Ginger and some peppery spices. It’s quite sweet but has a lot of punch to it as well. I certainly couldn’t pick out all 13 spices in the mix (I’ve not even heard of Cubeb before) but there is certainly a lot more there in terms of actual spiced than you get in most spiced rums.

This has more an infused vibe to it than a standard supermarket spiced rum. The sweetness of the cloves is quite dominant on the nose but you can still detect the spicier elements such as Pimento, Ginger and Pepper.

Sipped neat the sweetness of the cloves takes a back seat. This is quite “fiery” spiced rum – similar in many respects to Dark Matter. For me though the base spirit is a lot better and so the drink has a much better balance. No bitter or metallic elements with this.

Ginger, Pepper and the Pimento give this a really spicy kick – there is just enough sweetness from the Cinnamon and Vanilla to balance this out.

In terms of a spiced rum this really delivers and the flavours of the actual spiced really shine through the rum. Sipped it’s very pleasant – I wouldn’t normally recommend it but a cube of ice works nicely.

It’s punchy throughout but the finish is really spicy with lots of Chilli and Pimento heat. It’s a real winter warmer of a rum.

In mixed drinks it works really well with cola giving a really nice spicy rum and cola. If you are a fan of spicy Mexican food I think you will really enjoy this. Their website advises mixing with Ginger Beer/Ale that works well also.

However, like Dark Matter I find that this hot and spicy Spiced Rum works best in a Bloody Mary. If you think the idea of a Bloody Mary is awful – try one with Pusser’s Gunpowder.

This is a sophisticated “grown up” kind of spiced rum. I’d rank this up there with Bristol Black in terms of its standing in the Spiced Rum world. It might not be “sweet” enough for some but there is no doubting how “bold” this effort is.

Really excellent stuff.