Greetings, loyal readers.  It has been many moons since I have imparted a review to our great little website, but I certainly haven’t been slacking on my tasting and exploring the liquor world during this time of women, binging, and assorted acts of debauchery.  One of the latest libations to reach my parched lips comes from our good friends at Flor de Caña in their Centenario Gold 18-year rum.  Since most Flor de Caña products we have tasted have fared very well in our tests (especially the Gold 4-year), we were quite excited to try a more age-refined offering. 
  
    Unlike many party rums such as Bacardi Limon or Flor de Caña Gold, I have not allowed the Flor de Caña Centenario Gold 18 to escort me to any parties or gatherings in fear that it may be consumed in mass quantities by people who lack discerning palates and cannot appreciate its delicious depth of flavor.  It would be a shame to waste such yummy booze on 20-somethings who would muck up my Centenario Gold with soda for their sloppy, drunken pleasure.  Centenario Gold is a true sipping rum and should be enjoyed as such.

    When taking that first sip of Centenario over ice, your tastebuds are greeted with a thick and smooth treat.  The trademarked slow-aging process Flor de Caña uses for its rums is fully realized with Centenario Gold.  The 18 years of aging in small oak barrels gives Centenario Gold a deep amber color and a complex yet smooth flavor.  Flor de Caña claims this rum is hand crafted and allowed to age at its own pace.  I’m not exaclty sure what that means, but whatever they are doing to this spirit before sending it my way definitely gets a BoozeBasher stamp of approval.  This rum goes down very smoothly, and you can really feel the almost thick texture of the spirit as it makes its way down your throat.  You can taste a large amount of oakiness paired with the rich sweetness of sugar cane from Flor de Caña’s San Antonio Sugar Mill in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.  The flavors pair nicely and give the spirit a caramel-like taste.  The finish is dry, almost like a Scotch, but the caramel-like aftertaste really stays on your tongue and keeps you thirsty for more.  There is absolutely no metalic taste or alcohol burn that you may associate with a cheap, unrefined rum.  Flor de Caña really hit one out of the park with Centenario Gold 18.

    Since I have stated that rum of this calibur should be enjoyed without a mixer, you might think that Centenario Gold doesn’t mix well with cola.  Well, you would be wrong!  I swear the taste that comes from Flor de Caña Centenario Gold and Coke is a taste of heaven.  The rum mixes so well with Coke that it accentuates it perfectly.  It gives the cola a little boost in thickness and a wonderfully-delicious aftertaste that leaves a hint of sugarcane and caramel on the tongue.  The finish isn’t as dry as before, and you could easily keep these drinks coming all night.  Although I personally see it as a grave sin to mix this rum, I have to admit that it tastes even better with a splash of soda.  If you do decide to bring Centenario Gold to a party full of young people, they will love the drinks you make them, even if they really don’t understand the true beauty of the spirit they imbibe.

    The drunk produced from Centenario Gold was an intense yet mellow buzz.  I lost all care and worry, and I was in fantastically-good spirits for the night.  I felt immune to all the nasty things happening in my life and around me in my home, and let’s be honest here, that’s what drinking is all about, right?  I’m not so sure this would be the best juice in the world to start off a long night of debauchery, as it mellowed me and evened away any stress and excitement both, but I would highly reccommed it for a relaxing evening at home or as a finisher when coming home from a long night of excitement.  As a matter of fact, I would even go so far as to call Flor de Caña Centenario Gold the PERFECT drink for a nightcap.  I never thought I would use that term, but there it is, and Centenario Gold fits that bill exactly.

    Though I admittedly didn’t have much more than four shots worth of Centenario Gold to test the hangover, the lack of any kind of discomfort in the morning was very welcome.  There was no hangover or dry mouth.  I was a little groggy and tired the next day, but it’s hard to tell if the rum was actually the culprit there since I didn’t get much sleep.  Still, Centenario will make a nifty mid-week treat for all you hard-working types out there.  The punishment the next day shouldn’t be anything you can’t power through.  

    Most rum drinkers begin their journey into the rum world with the likes of Bacardi Silver or other sub-par spirits.  We here at BoozeBasher are here to save you from that medocrity of the masses and promote the less-advertised and perhaps less-known yet superior spirits.  Flor de Caña is definitely a less-known brand that you should check out, and the Centenario Gold 18 is the most delicious of any product of theirs that I have consumed (though I have yet to try the Centenario 21).  Even though the Centenario Gold will hurt you in the wallet at nearly $40 a bottle, do yourself a favor, and give it a try.  If it isn’t good enough to make you slap your momma, it will certainly at least bring a big smile to your face after a hard day.  Cheers. 

Sipability – 7.5

Mixability – 8.5

Drunkability – 7.5

Hangover-ability - 8.5

Bang for the Buck - 4.0

Overall - 8.0  

     I want to start this review off with one question, how have I been living my life without this rum?  Sailor Jerry spiced rum is the kick in the ass that every rum drinker needs to get out of the boring rum cycle that many of us have come to know.  Sailor Jerry is here to make companies like Bacardi and Captain Morgan up their rum game.  Who says change is a bad thing?  This affordable, flavorful, 92-proof beauty of a rum shouldn’t be overlooked.

     After five years of selling shirts, jackets, socks, and ash trays, the people of Sailor Jerry felt something was missing.  That something was booze, so they decided to make their own.  They knew the booze they made would have to be consistent with the bold spirit and high standards of the tattooist, Sailor Jerry.  One of the few ways to see the world in the old days was being a sailor.  The downside was it took a heck of a long time to get to see these places around the world.  That meant lots of hours aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean with no women and no bars.  But one thing they did have on board was rum…barrels of it.  They also had loads of spices, dried fruits, and other items that the ships transported, so sailors got creative and came up with their own special recipes of spiced rum.  After collecting old recipes and late nights of taste testing, the fine people of Sailor Jerry developed Sailor Jerry spiced rum, a 92-proof blend of Caribbean-style rum with vanilla, lime, and other spices.

     Sailor Jerry’s has a a very unique taste.  I’m happy to say it’s unlike any other rum I have ever tasted.  There’s a light, almost non-existent taste when it first hits your tongue, but maybe a second later, there is a hard hit of spicy caramel rum flavor.  And where most high-proof rums give you a high-proof burn, Sailor Jerry’s burn comes along with a boat load of flavor.  I couldn’t decide if I was afraid or if I wanted it to last forever.  Seeing how I drank the whole bottle…then another, I guess I didn’t want it to end.  Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a burn.  When you drink something this strong you have to expect a burn.  The difference is this burn is backed by flavor.  And when poured over ice, that watered-down taste could cure the worst case of sea sickness.  When we start talking about Sailor Jerry’s mixed, I think I need to be Poseidon before I even speak of such an act.  To put it simply; I hope the people at Coke are paying the the guys at Sailor Jerry’s for making that stuff taste the way God himself intended.  NOTHING should be this good, NOTHING!  If you feel differently, you probably worship the devil(there, I said it).  Mated with something as simple as Cola, Sailor Jerry will change your life.  That 92-proof burn vanished; all you taste is delicious carbonated flavor.  There really isn’t a fair way to describe it.  All I can say is try it.  It’s easy to make, and it is delicious.

     Now at 92-proof, there is no question of whether or not it will get you drunk.  But if you haven’t gotten your sea legs, I’ll go ahead and tell you yes, it will.  If you can drink five shots of Sailor Jerry’s and still walk and talk at the same time, then you are a better man than I.  I was gone.  It surprised the hell out of me.  There wasn’t a single notion that I was getting drunk, but all of the sudden, I realized I couldn’t feel my legs.  That might be good on the high seas, but when you are walking through clubs and bars, things get difficult.  Hell, I even wanted to go see the original Sailor Jerry in Hawaii and get a tattoo from him.  You know you have to be a badass to get a delicious rum named after you.

     The hangover was almost as I expected.  There was a bit of headache, but I could still go to work and continue to do the stuff I hate.  For a 92-proof ass-whooping, I have to say the hangover wasn’t too bad.  When compared to the 151 hangovers where the act of crawling becomes a serious task, this one was nothing.  There was cotton mouth and a headache, but I still had the ability to eat and keep everything down.  For drinking a little more than a third of the bottle, that’s a good thing.

     As for price, unless you can’t afford to buy happiness at $23 for a half gallon, then maybe this isn’t for you.  But if you can forego buying pizza for a day, buy Sailor Jerry’s now.  No really, buy it now!  It’s really cheap and damn good.  What could you be saving the 23 dollars for?  College?  Child support?  Kid’s food? Abortions?  Wait…no, save money for abortions, they make the world a better place.  As for everything else, Sailor Jerry’s is more important.  Your mom can get her chemo money by some other means.  You need this.  I need you to have this.

     So honestly why are you still sitting here reading and not out buying Sailor Jerry’s rum?  It’s the closest most of us will ever get to true happiness.  If you aren’t afraid  to get a little hair on your chest(this goes for you too, ladies), you need to get a bottle of this rum.  There’s nothing else to say.  Go buy some Sailor Jerry’s, and you can thank me later.

Sipability – 8.5

Mixability – 9.0

Drunkability – 9.0

Hangover-ability – 6.0

Bang for the Buck - 9.0

Overall - 8.5  

    What is it about this time of year that makes me wants to drink from sun up to sun down?  Maybe it’s all the happy people buying gifts for the people they have to act like they care about once a year,  maybe it’s those annoying Christmas songs that seem to be playing everywhere, or maybe it’s the fact that I can’t turn around without having to see a picture of a fat old man and his disease infested pets.  Either way, I still feel the same.  Christmas sucks and I need to drink to make it through.  Luckily, the people at Captain Morgan delivered a real gift for all seasons.  Captain Morgan 100 was that gift, and it brought back my hope in men dressed in silly red outfits.    

    Any frequent visitor to our site knows by now how Captain Morgan creates their delicious rums, so I’m going to opt to tell the bottle history of this one.  Captain Henry Morgan, the legendary buccaneer, was appointed Governor of Jamaica in 1680.  He and his men became famous throughout the Caribbean for their love of adventure and their taste for the finest rum.  Legend has it, they stored their high-proof rum in charred oak casks in order to give it a smooth, mellow taste.  Today, this very tradition lives in Captain Morgan 100-proof spiced rum, a secret blend of fine Puerto Rican rums and select spices.  All of this can easily be read off the back of the bottle, but now that you read it here, you don’t have to worry about all that.

    When rums get to 100-proof, there’s not a lot of room for differences in taste.  Let’s be honest; it’s going to burn like chestnuts over an open fire.  This might be considered a good thing, seeing how the alcohol burn cancels out the burn from the holiday spirit that plagues us all this time of year.  The smell is a very enjoyable one.  It’s a sweet vanilla scent with a light rum chaser.  The taste, on the other hand, isn’t quite as nice.  It’s a weak vanilla flavor that tastes like it has been aged in a metal cask, but that could just be from the high alcohol proof.  Nothing 100-proof is going to taste like candy unless you have a serious drinking solution (I don’t like to use the phrase drinking problem because it implies something is wrong).  Another thing that this rum has in common with all other 100+ proof rums is that no matter how much you mix it, you still know what you are drinking.  The flavor stays the same even when its mixed.  Captain 100 doesn’t mix with others as much as it makes others mix with it.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing; it’s just that metal-vanilla aftertaste doesn’t go away, and I don’t think it ever will, no matter how much you water down the drink.

    Now on to business; Captain Morgan 100 clears all the jingle bells, sleighs, and other people’s happiness right out of the system and replaces it with a whole new definition of “happy” holidays.  Captain gives the one gift that only this man in red will bring, and that’s a good drunk.  It’s a damn good drunk.  One too many shots of this stuff, and you will be decking the halls with something that you will have to scrub up in the morning.  After about six shots, I was looking at the toilet wondering if we were going to become better friends that night.  Lucky for me, we didn’t, but I was wishing that we did in the morning.  I had about four more shots that night and later realized that was a mistake.  They aren’t called 100-proof hangovers for nothing.  My headache was brutal.  My head was throbbing at such a rate that a single ‘ho’ could have brought me down.  When I looked at the bottle, my body started to cringe.  Luckily, I didn’t have to go to work, and I could just lay in front of the TV for most of the day.

    So this Holiday season, one man in red will bring you the gift of a delicious light, vanilla, 100-proof drunk, and the other….well, he never really brings anything but those stupid candy canes and depression.  True Ol’ Saint Nick won’t leave you with a hangover in the morning like the Captain 100 will, but he does break into your house and does perverted things on your couch while you are sleeping.  The Captain is going to charge you around $26 for his gift.  Santa will steal cookies and milk from you, literally stealing food from your children’s mouths.  I’ll let you decide which one to trust for your special season.  You can choose the guy who will bring you the one gift you know that will be a great time for you and all your friends, or you can let this guy break in with his ‘ho’s and dirty animals just to leave you a pair of socks.

Sipability – 6.5

Mixability – 5.5

Drunkability – 9.0

Hangover-ability – 3.5

Bang for the Buck -  5.5

Overall -  6.0   

Related Booze Reviews