St Abbs Six Spice Rum is as the title suggests another Spiced rum to be added to the already very crowded segment of the market.  St Abbs currently have three rums in their range.  The trademark Captain’s Table XO, Cask Silver (a white rum) and this their Six Spice Spiced Rum.

St Abbs Six Spices used the Cask Silver as its base rum.  It is then infused with six different spices and a dollop of blackstrap molasses. Giving colour and a bit of depth.  The six spiced used in the blend are Ginger, Vanilla, Clove, Black Pepper, Cinnamon and Star Anise.

In the UK a bottle will set you back around £30.  It is bottled at a very generous 40% ABV. Which makes it very much a spiced rum and not a rum based spirit drink.  Presentation is sleek and modern.  The tall thin bottle is nicely designed and does give you the feel of a more premium spiced offering.

As mentioned already St Abbs Six Spice is entering one of the most competitve areas of the rum market.  Fortunately they are offering a more “Premium” experience so they aren’t directly competing with those who are pushing the high volume low cost spiced rums/spirit drinks, such as Captain Morgan and Sailor Jerry.  St Abbs’ competition will likely be more in keeping with the likes of Elements Eight and Rumbullion from Master of Malt.

Luckily the team at St Abbs lead by entrepenuer David Owens are not without experience in rum.  Dave worked for Takamaka prior to taking on this project.  So he is not as inexperienced as some who have recently began trying their hand at rum.

Once again rumblings are being heard that “next year” will be rums year.  If that is to be the case in the UK, then it is likely Spiced Rum will lead the way.  It is still by far the most popular segment of the UK rum market.  If consumers buying at a supermarket level are to try more premium offerings it is likely to be in the shape of a spiced rum.  Maybe a few Christmas presents may inspire.

I was thinking about what to review in line with Halloween (for some reason Captain Morgan haven’t been in touch) and I had thought of a Spiced Rum.  Taking into account that spices used in this rum I thought now would be a very good time to put my thoughts down. I’ve been drinking this for around a year now.  A little sip here and there.

I covered the history behind the St Abbs brand in my Captain’s Table XO review. So I won’t repeat myself.  You can either read up on it a little there or take a more detailed look on their own website here.  The brand have been around for less than a year but have already seen all of their rums receive medals at various different competitions around the world.

So without further ado lets all get spooky and try this rum as nice winter warmer (this rum should also go down nicely on Bonfire night).

In the glass St Abbs Six Spice is a rich golden to red/orange brown colour.  The nose is not overly sweet.  There is a very distinct and pronounced spicy profile, its quite spicy as in heat spices and smells a lot like a smoky ginger cake.  Maybe even a very mild curry.  Fortunately for my taste buds it isn’t full of artificial vanilla.  What vanilla that is present is more “cask aged” than artificial essence.  Its almost like a bourbon barrel vanilla note.  The smell reminds me of baking day when I was a kid.

St Abbs Six Spice fails very much into the same camp of more authentic genuinely spiced rums such as Bristol Black and Elements Eight.  The nose is sophisticated and “grown up”.  Sugar seems to have been used very sparingly.

The rum in many ways is probably more of infused rum.  For a spiced rum this is also surprisingly sippable.  It’s actually more authentically “rummy” than a lot of sugared Premiums.  Initially its quite sweet but that quickly clears to reveal ginger and star anise, the cinnamon is present and adds a touch of heat to the mix.  Quite smoky with some burnt caramel notes and a lot of very interesting genuine “spicy” flavours.

It’s very complex and really rewarding as a sipper.  Offers a really different option.  There is a nice balance and it never becomes cloying or overpowering.

It can be mixed and it works very well with Ginger Beer.  With Cola it is perhaps a little overpowered and you lose some of the complex nuances of this rum.

Spiced rum gets a lot of stick.  Some people won’t touch it with a barge pole.  Over the past couple of years a number of more sophisticated – genuinely spiced rums have emerged on the market.  I would urge people to at least give them a run out.

This is another top rum from St Abbs.  A real contender for the best Spiced rum out there.