World’s End Rum Dark Spiced.  Now if I was going from name alone I would assume that this Belgian Spiced Rum was after some of the Kraken’s market share.  Perhaps another a Black Magic style knock off?

Well yes and no.  For a start the rum certainly is like the Kraken – dark and indeed spiced.  However, the presentation does not seek to mimic the Kraken.  Even the illustrious Captain Morgan tried a similar knock off bottle for their Dark Spiced concoction.

Instead of the stubby bottle and black and white seafaring theme, Lester Schutters owner of World’s End Rum has went for a more studied nautical route.  Rather than pirates and sea creatures (though they do mention Sea Monsters on the website none are present on the bottle).  The rum comes in a taller bar style bottle with a tapered base.  Also setting it apart from many spiced rums you get a corked enclosure.

The rum is not commercially available in the UK as yet.  It is bottled at 40% ABV – again refreshing for a Spiced Rum. I have seen it retailing in Europe at around 33 Euros (I’d say around £25-30). I came across World’s End Rum at the Boutique Rum Fest in London.  I was taken by Lester’s honesty and willingness to give as much information as he could.  The rum in the blend is a 3 year old Trini rum and a 5 Year Old Bajan rum.

Lester assured me that all the Spices used are authentic and natural with no essences etc being used. Lester advised me he was at the Boutique Rum Fest as he was looking for an importer/distributor in the UK.  World’s End Rum Dark Spiced has already won a Gold Medal at the German Rum Awards earlier this year.  So it does have some pedigree though I am always a little non-plussed by most awards.

So lets move onto the actual rum.  In the glass unsurprisingly it is a very vivid almost black “burnt” dark brown  – it also has a distinct orange/red hue to it. The nose is rich mixed berries, chocolate and there are some nice slightly floral spices which I cannot quite place.

Despite the strong scents I can still nose a rum at the heart of it all. For a Spiced Rum World’s End is surprisingly pleasant to sip on its own.  It reminds me of Bristol Black Spiced in that it has that zesty Christmas Pudding flavour to it.  It’s nice and rich and tangy.  It’s very fruity oranges, lemons and mixed berries and currants.  Very warming and yes it is very sweet but enjoyable nonetheless.

The finish is pretty short but it has a nice smokiness – which is also very pleasant. Mixed as no doubt 99% Spiced rums are drank it is all too easy to drink.  It works well with cola (though maybe a touch sweet) and with Ginger Beer.  It certainly works as well as Goslings Black Seal – in fact it makes quite a similar tasting substitute. With lemonade it isn’t bad but perhaps a bit overpowering and unbalanced overall.

All in all I preferred it best at room temperature neat as a winter warmer (ideal weather at the moment). At Rumfest this was selling this for £25 a bottle if Lester can get it into the UK market at that price then I would encourage any Spiced Rum fan to give this a try.  It is certainly without doubt one of the best Spiced Rums I have tried.  And I’ve had a few. Oh did I mention? – No horrible artificial vanilla flavour either.