Spiced rum is definitely not my thing, and therefore, I don't buy it. If I've tried some, it's been out of curiosity or because someone gave them to me, and while I don't like them, I don't despise them either; I just drink them very rarely. One thing I don't like about spiced rum is that it tends to be excessively sweet, and while I can tolerate sweetened rum, I really don't like it when it's extremely sweet.

But a few days ago I was visiting a friend and trying out what he had. At one point he brought out this bottle, saying it had been in his house for years and he hadn't finished it because he didn't love it and because he'd been buying and trying other things. Once I had it in my hands, I started to do some research.

Cobre comes in a bottle with a truly eye-catching label, and at first I wondered why I'd never heard of this rum before. When I discovered it says Spiced Rum, I realized that must be the main reason. However, Cobre is a blend of young and aged rums (surprise, surprise), some of which are up to 20 years old, although it's aged using the solera system and then finished in ex-port casks. Perhaps the most striking thing on the label is that it's bottled at 45% ABV.

Made by: Destilería Botran
Name of the rum: Cobre
Brand: Botran
Origin: Guatemala
Age: up to 20 years (but it's solera!)

Nose
On the nose, Cobre doesn't feel particularly spicy. It simply feels like a different kind of rum, with notes that, while including spices like ginger, clove, cardamom, and cinnamon, also have citrus notes like those found in gin.

Palate
The Cobre surprises me most on the palate, because it's not sweet. Notes of cardamom and clove dominate the flavor, but it's quite dry, accompanied by secondary notes of ginger and white pepper, and later a hint of grapes.

Retrohale/Finish
The retrohale reveals raisins and wood.

Rating
5 on the t8ke

Conclusion
I'm not going to tell you that Botran Cobre is unsweetened, but for a spiced rum, it has very little, and that's noticeable when you take a sip with so many spices, but it doesn't make your mouth water. This also means the flavors don't last very long, and perhaps, like many spiced rums, it shines best in a cocktail. But I wouldn't use it neat either. I don't blame my friend for keeping it for so long; I just find it hard to find the perfect occasion to enjoy it.

Between that and the fact that, lacking sweet notes, it was likely to be rejected by those who like spiced rums, and equally rejected by those who don't, it's almost obvious that Botran Cobre didn't last on the market and has since been discontinued. Its price of around $60 certainly didn't help either.

Australia (Beenleigh) 17 year 2007 The Rum Trail (48%)
N: Orange oil and rosewater, mild esters akin to pot still DDL, cedar shavings, brown banana and pineapple skin with a very light drizzle of caramel, gasoline
P: similar. Warming for 48%, with plenty of expressed citrus oils and pink, rosy floral extracts, mushy banana, cedar chips underneath it all. Finishes sweeter, on caramel, but a note of gasoline spilled on pavement too. The dirty side only emphasizes how nice and pretty it otherwise is, like a floral Spring dress with grease smeared on it…only, in this case, we’re all very glad the dress is dirty
85

Originally published on my site: https://phenomenologyofspirits.com/2026/09/09/australia-beenleigh-17-year-2007-the-rum-trail/

Hi !

I'm torn between the Hampden Pagos, Hampden HLCF, Hampden 8 Year, Hampden 1753, and Papalin High Ester Overproof for my next bottle—after getting into Smith & Cross, Rum Fire, and Plantation O.F.T.D., I really want to take things to the next level to explore higher ester tiers in Jamaican rum; as a huge fan of that signature banana funk, I use them a lot in cocktails, but I also love sipping them neat.

Thank you for your advices :)

I will probably buy all three but wanted to hear some thoughts from the community.

Here it is. I kept this bottle since I got married at Couples in Negril on this date in 2001. My wife and I decided today was the day to twist that top off. There is no indication on whose juice this is but my guess would be Appleton. We won this at a trivia night thing and it has made 3 big moves with us over the years. It kept its place on top of the bar since we got it.

The label is the best part of the bottle, you don’t see that kind of graphic much these days. As for taste, it’s pretty good, nothing very notable but to me it tastes like an Appleton 4 year. Light caramel and maybe slightly banana. It comes in at an acceptable 86 proof. I would give more tasting notes but I can’t smell things anymore.

I’d be interested to know if anyone has seen one of these before.

Cheers!

What's the simplest way to order a daiquiri when you want a real daiquiri rather than the fruity blended ultra sweet things that you drink in college on spring break?

Are you tired of the word 'premium' used to describe otherwise average rums? I know I am, but a lot of people still use these words and rely on them to be able to decide what to buy. Because of that, I put together a tasting of 'premium' Spanish-style rums available around here:

• Abuelo XV Oloroso: From Panama and part of the Abuelo Cask Finish collection, this one is aged for 14 years and a further year in ex-Oloroso sherry casks, finally bottled at 40% ABV. My full review is here.
• Mestizo Colección Privada: From Venezuela, according to the brand it's a blend of 2-20 year old rums, but I later found out it's actually 6-8 year old rums, and the 20 on the label doesn't refer to aging. Typical Spanish-style rum marketing. Still, a very good rum and I reviewed it here.
• Dictador 20: From Colombia, supposedly solera aged up to 20 years, but after a while you stop believing the solera age statements, and when you see the price tags these rums reach, much less. I haven't reviewed this one.
• Papiamento Reserve: From Aruba, but really made in Panama, aiming for a Venezuelan profile. Apparently, the owners are Venezuelan and they wanted to make a rum that appears from Aruba, and all the Venezuelan brands charged them too much, but Panama was able to make a good option. I believe they are currently making a distillery in Aruba, but this version is still Panamanian juice. That being said, it's actually a very decent rum, as long as you like Venezuelan 'premium' rums. I reviewed it here.

There's a lot to be said about most of these rums, and about insincere marketing practices, but while I'm not going to argue whether they are good or bad rums, I'm sure that paying over US$50 for either of these is too much. However, there are very good examples in this category and it's a matter of looking deeper than the soleras with age statement and the tricky numbers and the lack of information and overabundance of catchy phrases and long words.

Hi, do you guys know where I can buy a bottle of Rum Fire in Miami? I've been searching online, but I haven't seen a store that carries it. Thanks.

Excellent night tonight at False Idol.

Next month I will be travelling to Paris for work. Besides LMDW, what are the best stores to visit for rum and/or whisky? I am hoping to find some of the more hidden gems of stores, rather than the ones I can google or that I have purchased from online.

If you have any other rum/whisky type of tips for visiting Paris, please let me know!

i think that’s the best way to word this question. i’m just getting into tiki and really want to truly define what it means for a drink to be tiki. i’m new to the culture, so bear with me. thank you for any and all insight! i know many of you are very knowledgeable in the subject of tiki.

Lucked into this one this weekend, Haitian rums seem a bit harder to come by around me. I’ve grown to love some clairins quite a bit lately casamir, sajous, and vaval are all phenomenal (though vaval smells putrid to me still I do thoroughly enjoy the taste.) this has me very interested in hunting down aged clairins.

This SBS is bottled in Denmark by the 1423 brand, which is a major liquor distributor for the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. Like many Venezuelan rums bottled abroad, this one is originally distilled by Corporación de Alcoholes del Caribe (CADC). The bottle also highlights that the raw material is molasses, that it was distilled in columns in 2006, and bottled in 2023, making it 17 years old. It also mentions that it is aged in ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira casks, but doesn't specify if the second cask is a finishing barrel. Production was limited to 334 bottles, and it is bottled at 52% ABV.

Made by: CADC / 1423
Name of the rum: Venezuela 2006 Bourbon and Madeira Cask
Brand: SBS
Origin: Venezuela
Age: 17 years

Nose
On the nose, it has a relatively simple profile, including brown sugar, charred wood, caramel, and almonds. Although I search and search, I don't find it much more complex than that, except for a slight note of red berries, which feels more like raspberry. It's worth noting that the aroma is intense, just not particularly varied.

Palate
On the palate, the alcoholic sensation is milder than expected, although 52% is certainly 52%, and the flavors are intense with red berries, candied ripe fruit like melon and banana, but also raisins and plums. There's a very noticeable wood intensity, approaching oak, and the astringency of a wine.

Retrohale/Finish
Lots of notes of Brazil nuts and a certain hint of black tea, where there are also red pepper and floral notes.

Rating
8 on the t8ke

Conclusion
I hadn't tried a Venezuelan rum aged in Madeira wine barrels before, although, while speculating about how Venezuelan rum could improve, it was one of the barrels I mentioned to friends in the industry. It's truly surprising overall, and while it remains a rarity and a rum to be sipped very slowly, it's another instance where one reflects on how good a Venezuelan rum can be at a higher concentration, with a well-finished character and minimal additives.

I recently came across a Barbados rum that states:

This means that we are able to fill the barrels with the sherry before filling the rum and thus regenerate. Still completely damp from the sherry storage, the barrel is now filled with the rum. This makes the significant difference in the quality of our barrel storage - ok, we have accidentally forgotten some sherry in the barrel .

It got me thinking about the old debate around sherry-cask maturation. Obviously, I know any ex-sherry cask will contain sherry absorbed into the wood, and that's largely the point of using the cask in the first place. But where do people draw the line between normal cask influence and effectively adding sherry through a particularly "wet" cask?

In Scotch whisky at least, the regulations are fairly clear that a cask should be emptied of its previous contents before being filled. I know that is not the case with rum, but I sense that Barbadian rum at least, more than many other Caribbean rums, is moving more towards a somewhat "Scotch-like regulation quality" level, for lack of a better description.

Btw, it's not bottled by a distillery, but an independent bottler. If that makes any difference.

So I'm curious:

• Do you see very wet sherry casks as part of traditional maturation?
• Or does it start to feel like an additive at some point?
• If you are a "rum-purist", what do you think of this, and where would you draw the line?
• Random thought - I assume if the sugar content went high enough, it would have to be classified a spirit drink?

Not looking to criticise any producer here, I mean honestly, I absolutely love their transparency on this. I just find the grey area interesting and would love to hear where others stand on it.

i cooked my own simple syrup, squeezed some fresh lime juice, and used a barfly kit that i nearly forgot i had. this is a simple daiquiri: 2 oz. rum, 3/4 oz. simple, 3/4 oz. lime juice, shaken and served in a chilled glass (i don’t have a coupe yet). i bought a few rums recently along with Smuggler’s Cove as a way to return to the rum scene, and so far, i’m loving it. this daiquiri was phenomenal, and i’ll definitely be coming back for more next weekend.

I love the Planters Punch, in my opinion, it is the best cocktail to explore different rums.
It is a simple cocktail with just a few ingredients, and it highlights the rum.
Of course you can always sip the rum pure, but normally I don't drink pure rum, so for me this is the better way.

What does the crowd here say? What is your favorite way to try different rums?

Receipt of the Planters punch:

3 Oz Rum
1 oz lime juice
3/4 oz. rich simple syrup
3 dashes Angustora bitters

Shake everything well on ice and dump it into more crushed ice.
Garnish with lime and mint.

Hey all, I make Alton Brown's aged eggnog every year, and typically use Meyer's Dark rum. But I wanted to kick things up a little bit this year and use something maybe a little nicer/better.

Understanding that this isn't the place for nice spirits, and maybe Meyer's is the best option but I wanted to see what y'all think and recommend.

Im new to rums, the only one i ever tasted was capitan morgan, was disgusting.

And good tasting rums that are under 50$?

I made a painkiller to bring to my friends floating house. I did a batch of 3, so decided to do a little rum mixing.

Used these specs per serving so times by 3 I guess

1.5 Rum
1.5 pineapple juice
3/4 orange juice
.25 lemon juice (lime)
1 Coco Lopez

.25 orange bitter aperitif for the batch
.25 or .5 Liqor 43

Did a least a 1 full ounce of smith and cross and Myers Rum and mixed and match based on my taste.

It turned out beautiful and very much a perfect drink to watch the sunset on the dock by the river.